Xuemei Ma is working as a Postdoctoral Research Associate at IoPPN. She is interested in adolescent health and nutritional psychiatry, and her research focuses on the role of the inflammatory system and nutrition in the relationship between early life adversity and psychopathology in adolescents.

She received her Ph.D. Degree at IoPPN, supervised by Prof Paola Dazzan, Prof Chiara Nosarti and Dr Ana Rodriguez-Mateos. She got her Bachelor's Degree of Medicine and Master's Degree of Medicine at Fudan University, Shanghai, China, where she spent eight years studying preventive medicine and perinatal epidemiology.

Research interests

• Early life adversity
• Inflammation
• Nutritional psychiatry
• Resilience
• Perinatal epidemiology

Key publications

Ma, X., Xu, Y., Li, Y., Gibson, R., Williams, C., Lawrence, A.J., Nosarti, C., Dazzan, P. and Rodriguez‐Mateos, A. (2024). Association between higher intake of flavonols and lignans and better mood: evidence from dietary and biomarker evaluation in healthy individuals. Molecular Nutrition & Food Research, 68(20), p.2400112. https://doi.org/10.1002/mnfr.202400112

Kretzer, S., Lawrence, A.J., Pollard, R., Ma, X., Chen, P.J., Amasi-Hartoonian, N., Pariante, C., Vallée, C., Meaney, M. and Dazzan, P. (2024). The dynamic interplay between puberty and structural brain development as a predictor of mental health difficulties in adolescence: A systematic review. Biological psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2024.06.012

Ma, X., Li, Y., Xu, Y., Gibson, R., Williams, C., Lawrence, A.J., Nosarti, C., Dazzan, P. and Rodriguez-Mateos, A.(2023). Plant-based dietary patterns and their association with mood in healthy individuals. Food & function, 14(5), pp.2326-2337. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2FO02951K

Xu, Y., Li, Y., Ma, X., Alotaibi, W., Le Sayec, M., Cheok, A., Wood, E., Hein, S., Yang, P.Y.T., Hall, W.L. and Nosarti, C. (2023). Comparison between dietary assessment methods and biomarkers in estimating dietary (poly) phenol intake. Food & Function, 14(3), pp.1369-1386. https://doi.org/10.1039/D2FO02755K

Li, Y., Xu, Y., Ma, X., Le Sayec, M., Wu, H., Dazzan, P., Nosarti, C., Heiss, C., Gibson, R. and Rodriguez-Mateos, A.(2023). (Poly) phenol intake, plant-rich dietary patterns and cardiometabolic health: a cross-sectional study. Food & function, 14(9), pp.4078-4091. https://doi.org/10.1039/D3FO00019B

Wei, Q., Zou, J., Ma, X., Xiao, X., Zhang, Y. and Shi, H. (2023). Prospective associations between various prenatal exposures to maternal psychological stress and neurodevelopment in children within 24 months after birth. Journal of Affective Disorders, 327, pp.101-110. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2023.01.103

Zhang, S., Ma, X., Wei, Q., Zhang, Y., Wang, L. and Shi, H. (2022). Maternal pre-pregnancy BMI and gestational weight gain modified the association between prenatal depressive symptoms and toddler’s emotional and behavioral problems: a prospective cohort study. Nutrients, 15(1), p.181. https://doi.org/10.3390/nu15010181

DOI https://doi.org/10.1039/D2FO02755

Pollard, B., Chen, P. J., Mackes, N., Lawrence, A., Ma, X., Matter, M., Kretzer, S., Morgan, C., Harding, S., Schumann, G., Pariante, C., Mehta, M., Montana, G., Nosarti, C., Desrivieres, S., Rodriguez Mateos, A. M., & Dazzan, P. (2022). The eBRAIN study: The impact of early adversity on trajectories of brain maturation and mental health in young adolescents – A prospective cohort study. Brain, Behavior, & Immunity - Health. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbih.2022.100539

Ma, X., Biaggi, A., Sacchi, C., Lawrence, A., Chen, P. J., Pollard, R., Matter, M., Mackes, N., Hazelgrove, K., Morgan, C., Harding, S., Simonelli, A., Schumann, G., Pariante, C., Mehta, M., Montana, G., Rodriguez Mateos, A. M., Nosarti, C., & Dazzan, P. (2022). Mediators and moderators in the relationship between maternal childhood adversity and children's emotional and behavioural development: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychological Medicine, 52(10), 1817-1837. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0033291722001775

Chen, P. J., Mackes, N., Sacchi, C., Lawrence, A. J., Ma, X., Pollard, R., Matter, M., Morgan, C., Harding, S., Schumann, G., Pariante, C., Mehta, M. A., Montana, G., Nosarti, C., & Dazzan, P. (2022). Parental education and youth suicidal behaviours: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences, 31, e19. [e19]. https://doi.org/10.1017/S204579602200004X

Ma, X., Yang, Y., Wei, Q., Jiang, H., & Shi, H. (2021). Development and validation of the reproductive health literacy questionnaire for Chinese unmarried youth. Reproductive Health, 18(1), 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12978-021-01278-6

Wei, Q., Shi, H., Ma, X., Shi, Y., Zhang, Y., & Wang, L. (2021). The impact of maternal stress on offspring birth weight and the mediating effect of dietary patterns: The Shanghai Maternal-Child Pairs Cohort study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 278, 643-649. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2020.09.077

Ma, X., Wei, Q., Jiang, Z., Shi, Y., Zhang, Y., & Shi, H. (2020). The role of serum oxytocin levels in the second trimester in regulating prenatal anxiety and depression: A sample from Shanghai Maternal-Child Pairs Cohort study. Journal of Affective Disorders, 264, 150-156. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.12.019

Ma, X., Wang, Y., Hu, H., Tao, X. G., Zhang, Y., & Shi, H. (2019). The impact of resilience on prenatal anxiety and depression among pregnant women in Shanghai. Journal of Affective Disorders, 250, 57-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jad.2019.02.058