Morgan Firestein, PhD

Dr. Morgan Firestein is an Assistant Professor of Pediatrics at the Child Health Institute of NJ, Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. She obtained her B.A. in psychology from Columbia University in 2013. She received her Ph.D. in psychology from Columbia University in 2019 in the lab of Dr. Frances Champagne where she examined the role of the placenta in regulating fetal exposure to maternal sex steroid hormones and neurodevelopmental consequences of fetal exposure to aberrant levels of maternal hormones. Dr. Firestein completed her postdoctoral training in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center, during which time she investigated the relationship between extracellular vesicles of maternal, fetal, and placental origin and child neurobehavioral outcomes. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Firestein was also a key contributor to the Columbia University COVID-19 Mother Baby Outcomes Initiative (COMBO), which resulted in the first report demonstrating that birth during the COVID-19 pandemic, but not prenatal exposure to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection, was associated with infant neurodevelopment. Dr. Firestein previously served as the Founding Director of the Columbia University Medical Center PeriNatal BioBank (PNBB). Dr. Firestein joined the faculty of the Child Health Institute of NJ in September 2025.

The Firestein laboratory studies how the perinatal environment shapes brain development and behavior. The lab is particularly interested in understanding how the placenta regulates fetal exposure to endogenous and exogenous factors and how suboptimal placental regulation can contribute to the etiology of autism and other neurodevelopmental disorders. Active avenues of research include:

• Investigating extracellular vesicles during pregnancy as a potential biological mechanism underlying the association between certain gestational conditions (e.g., preeclampsia, gestational diabetes) and neurodevelopmental outcomes in children
• Uncovering pathways through which maternal and fetal extracellular vesicles contribute to fetal programming and brain development
• Examining the impact of endogenous, exogenous, and synthetic sex steroid hormones on fetal and early childhood neurodevelopment.

Drawing from the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) framework, the overarching goal of the lab is to understand how early experiences shape brain development and behavior. We apply translational and clinical research approaches to investigate a network of perinatal pathways through which maternal, fetal, and placental biology and physiology impact fetal brain development and risk for neurodevelopmental disorders. This approach prioritizes the identification of early-emerging biomarkers that can be measured non-invasively during the prenatal and early postnatal periods to recognize children at risk for autism and related neurodevelopmental outcomes, with the possibility of expediting access to early intervention services. Currently, the lab is conducting several studies aimed at evaluating how extracellular vesicles during pregnancy may contribute to the etiology of autism and other neurodevelopmental outcomes. Further, differences in extracellular vesicles may play a role in the known association between certain maternal metabolic conditions (hypertension, gestational diabetes) and risk for autism in children.

• Vacher, C., Tsompanidis, A., Firestein, M.R., Penn, A.A. (2025) Placental regulation of neuroactive steroid exposure and neurodevelopment: insights from humans and rodent models. Journal of Neuroendocrinology.
• Firestein, M.R., Manessis, A., Warmingham, J., Hu, J., Finkel, M.A., Kyle, M., Hussain, M., Ahmed, I., Lavallée, A., Solis, A., Chavez, V., Rodriguez, C., Goldman, S., Muhle, R.A., Lee, S., Austin, J., Silver, W.G., O’Reilly, K.C., Bain, J.M., Penn, A.A., Veenstra-VanderWeele, J., Stockwell, M.S., Fifer, W.P., Marsh, R., Monk, C., Shuffrey, L.C., Dumitriu, D. (2024). Positive Modified Checklist for Autism in Toddlers-Revised Screen Rates in Pandemic-Born Children. JAMA Network Open.
• Firestein, M.R., Romeo, R.D., Winstead, H., Goldman, D.A., Grobman, W.A., Haas, D.M., Parry, S., Reddy, U.M., Silver, R.M., Wapner, R.J., Champagne, F.A. (2022). Hypertensive disorders during pregnancy and polycystic ovary syndrome are associated with child communication and social skills in a sex-specific and androgen-dependent manner. Frontiers in Endocrinology. PMID: 36246897.
• Firestein, M.R., Kliman, H.J., Sania, A., Brink, L.T., Holtzer P.H., Hofmann K.M., Milano K.M., Pini, N., Shuffrey, L.C., Odendaal H.J., Fifer, W.P. (2022) Trophoblast inclusions and adverse birth outcomes. PLOS ONE. PMID: 35231069.
• Firestein, M.R., Romeo, D.R., Winstead, H., Goldman, D., Grobman, W.A., Haas, D., Mercer, B., Parker, C., Parry, S., Reddy, U., Silver, R., Simhan, H., Wapner, R.J., Champagne, F.A. (2022). Elevated prenatal maternal sex hormones, but not placental aromatase, are associated with child neurodevelopment. Hormones and Behavior. PMID: 35131524.
• Shuffrey, L.C.*, Firestein. M.R.*, Kyle, M.H., Fields, A., Alcántara, C., Amso, D., Austin, J., Bain, J.M., Barbosa, J., Bence, M., Bianco, C., Fernández, C.R., Goldman, S., Gyamfi-Bannerman, C., Hott, V.,  Hu, Y., Hussain, M., Factor-Litvak, P., Lucchini, M., Mandel, A., Marsh, R. McBrian, D., Mourad, M., Muhle, R., Noble, K.G., Penn, A.A., Rodriguez, C., Sania, A., Silver, W.G., O’Reilly, K.C., Stockwell, M., Tottenham, N., Welch, M.G., Zork, N., Fifer, W.P., Monk, C., Dumitriu, D. (2022). Association of Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic With Neurodevelopmental Status at 6 Months in Infants With and Without In Utero Exposure to Maternal SARS-CoV-2 Infection. JAMA Pediatrics. PMID: 34982107.