Sarah Merrill.

Sarah M. Merrill, Ph.D

Assistant Professor

Pronouns
she/hers
College
College of Fine Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Department
Psychology
Phone
978-934-2561
Office
Coburn Hall - Room 370B
Email
Sarah_Merrill@uml.edu
Links

Expertise

Social Epigenetics, DNA Methylation, Biological Embedding, Psychosocial Intervention, Parenting, Attachment, Biomarker Characterization and Development, Social Determinates of Health

Research Interests

1. Social Epigenetics and Social Determinates of Health – Understand the biological embedding of early life experience through a theoretical framework: the Developmental Origin of Health and Disease (DOHaD) hypothesis. This hypothesis proposes that early life experiences, prenatally through young adulthood, are biologically adapted to and subsequently result in later life mental and physical health differences. Specifically, the work of my colleagues and I examines the molecular tag of DNA methylation, which can both mark and change the function of DNA without affecting the underlying sequence itself. Our work has endeavored to bring statistical robustness to high dimensional investigations of environment during childhood to elucidate the links between early life experiences of adversity and trauma, and molecular pathways such as those involved in oxidative stress, immune function, and inflammatory pathways.

2. Early Life Adversity and Psychosocial Intervention – Examine how the molecular adaptation to traumatic environments may be altered by psychosocial interventions that are trauma-informed and resilience-building in vulnerable population. Our recent studies, published in Psychological Science and JAMA Open, have demonstrated that such interventions significantly improve DNAm outcomes in children with developmental delay or trauma exposure, compared to those in a control group. Despite these promising findings, outstanding questions remain in the field. For instance, what specific molecular pathways are most responsive to psychosocial interventions, and how do these pathways differ across diverse populations? How malleable is DNA methylation and does that responsivity depend on when interventions are implemented? What are the long-term impacts of these interventions on both molecular and psychosocial outcomes? By addressing these questions, our work aims to further elucidate the mechanisms through which early interventions can mitigate the biological impact of trauma, ultimately informing more effective strategies for fostering resilience in at-risk populations. As such, we have ongoing collaborations with scientists implementing psychosocial resilience-building interventions with children exposed to trauma in the US, infants whose mothers are experiencing post-partum depression in Canada, families with complex psychosocial difficulties in the US and Denmark, and Syrian refugee families with children and adolescents living in Jordan.

3. Biomarker Characterization and Development – Characterize a rapidly emerging area of exploration in epigenetics: biomarker development. Most especially, the estimation of biological age and the discordance of this age from chronological age known as epigenetic age. While a burgeoning research tool, not much is known about the associations of epigenetic age and other epigenetic-predicted biomarkers in unique populations, and our work has endeavored to show both their utility, such as an in a clinical setting with premature infants and pediatric upper respiratory infections, and their potential failings, such as the vast underestimation for adults in high longevity regions. We endeavor to explore and characterize what aspects of experience and health these biomarkers are reporting on and build useful biomarkers for the future.

4. Methodological Robustness in Pediatric DNA Methylation Research – Inform the methodology to address the inherent complexity of the field of social epigenetics, as the literature and best practices are constantly evolving. Much of my and my colleagues’ work has endeavored to put the inherently multidisciplinary field into appropriate context, primarily within a biopsychosocial framework. Additionally, we strive to provide actionable recommendations, both in the immediate and in the future for methodological considerations in the field of social epigenetics, such as approaching examinations of trauma sensitively; accounting for differences in cell type; and interpretations for future health considerations. This work continues to build on the foundation of the field for open, robust, replicable, and responsible social epigenetics research.

Sarah’s research has been funded by the Novo Nordisk Foundation, the National Science Foundation (NSF), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Education

  • Postdoctoral Research Fellows Program: Intervention Epigenetics, (2024), Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University – Providence, RI
  • Postdoctoral Research Fellowship: Social Epigenetics, (2023), University of British Columbia – Vancouver, BC
  • Ph.D.: Developmental Psychology, (2018), Cornell University - Ithaca, NY
  • MA: Developmental Psychology, (2014), Cornell University - Ithaca, NY
  • BA: Neuroscience, (2010), Wellesley College - Wellesley, MA

Biosketch

The research Sarah Merrill, Ph.D., has conducted broadly focused on the biological embedding of early social environments and experiences through epigenetic mechanisms – specifically, DNA methylation. Her work is guided by biopsychosocial perspective and interdisciplinary approaches to contribute to our foundational understanding of how social experiences may affect our biology and health in the short- and long-term, as well as how psychosocial interventions may enhance or mitigate these biological associations.

Selected Awards and Honors

  • 2019 Social Exposome Cluster Research Award
  • 2017 Eastwood, Ruth Ada Birk Scholarship
  • 2014-2017 National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program (NSF GRFP) Recipient
  • 2013 Kinsey Institute Grant Award Recipient
  • 2012-2013 Cornell University Graduate Fellowship Recipient

Selected Publications

Selected Presentations

  • Merrill, S.M. & Bush, N.R. [Co-Chairs] (2023, March). Stopping the Clock: Evidence Suggests Psychosocial Interventions Attenuate Pediatric Biological Age Acceleration. Society for Research on Child Development (SRCD), Salt Lake City, UT, USA.
  • Merrill, S.M. (2022, July). The Biological Embedding of Attachment as Investigated Through DNA Methylation. Invited Talk for the Society for Emotion and Attachment Studies (SEAS) Special Interest Group on the Social Neuroscience of Human Attachment (SoNeAt), University of Essex, UK.
  • Merrill, S.M., Gladish, N., Konwar, C., Moore, S.R., Giesbrecht, G.F., MacIsaac, J.L., Letourneau, N.L., & Kobor, M.S. (2021, August). Associations of Toddler Attachment Disorganization and Security with Peripheral Tissue DNA Methylation and Estimated Cell Type Differences During Infancy. Talk presented at the Integrating Genomics and Social Sciences (IGSS) Conference, Boulder, Colorado.

Selected Contracts, Fellowships, Grants and Sponsored Research

  • 2024-2029 CIHR Operating Grant, Co-Investigator: “Experiential and Epigenetic Pathways to Depression and Resilience in Youth”, University of Calgary
  • 2024-2027 Novo Nordisk Fonden, Co-Investigator: “Promoting Health in Children from Families with Complex Psychosocial Problems: An evaluation of the ATTACH™ program in Three Danish municipalities”, Københavns Universitet
  • 2022-2028 CIHR Health Research Training Platform, Co-Investigator and Research Partner: “Alliance against Violence and Adversity (AVA) Training Platform: Health and Social Service Research Training Platform for System and Population Transformations in Girls’ and Women’s Health”, University of Calgary
  • 2021-2022 CIHR COVID-19 Grant, Co-Investigator: “Epigenetic Impacts of COVID-19 Pandemic Chronic Stress on Youth: A Prospective Investigation of DNA methylation”, University of Calgary
  • 2020-2025 CIHR Project Grant, Co-Investigator: “Childhood Epigenetic Age Deviations and Developmental Differences (CEAD3)”, University of British Columbia
  • 2019-2024 CIHR-SPOR, Co-Investigator: “Attachment and Child Health (ATTACH™) Program: Promoting Vulnerable Children’s Health at Scale”, University of Calgary
  • 2018-2017 American Institute of Bisexuality Grant, Co-Investigator: “Biology, Prevalence, and Mental Health of Bisexual Men”, Cornell University
  • 2013-2014 Kinsey Institute Graduate Grant, Principal Investigator: “Formation of Partner Preference Templates”, Cornell University