Julienne Rutherford, PhD
Associate Professor
Associate Department Head
Department of Human Development Nursing Science
Pronouns: She/her/hers
Contact
Building & Room:
NURS 822
Address:
845 S. Damen Ave., MC 802, Chicago, IL 60612
Email:
CV Download:
CV Link:
About
I am an Associate Professor and Associate Department Head of Human Development Nursing Science in the College of Nursing at the University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC), serving masters level midwifery and women’s health nurse practitioner students as well as PhD students. I am a biological anthropologist (Indiana University, PhD, 2007) whose work integrates evolutionary theory with biomedical science. For 20 years, I have sustained a program of research exploring the intrauterine environment as a biosocial determinant of health. I study how maternal life history and lived experience shape this earliest developmental setting, and how, in turn, the intrauterine environment influences growth, health, and development across the life course and across generations. I primarily study the fetoplacental unit, with a conceptual emphasis on intergenerational connectivity in the context of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) theoretical framework. Under that umbrella, I conduct research in non-human primates, primarily common marmoset monkeys, and with humans in clinical and community contexts. Additionally, I am part of the landmark four-woman team that published the groundbreaking SAFE studies about sexual harassment and assault in the field sciences. I have been a Robert Wood Johnson Future of Nursing mentor, and have been the recipient of many awards including the UIC Researcher of the Year Rising Star in Clinical Sciences, American Society of Primatologists Legacy Award, National Academy of Science Kavli Foundation Fellow, the American College of Nurse Midwives Excellence in Teaching Award, an NIH Loan Repayment Program Award, and a UIC Teaching Recognition Program Award.
Selected Grants
National Institute of Aging (NIA) R56, Mapping the Marmoset: The impact of chimerism on development and aging, MPI
Alex and Rita Hillman Foundation Emergent Innovation (HEI) Award, The Covid-19 Pregnancy Experiences (COPE) Study: exploring how maternal stress and changes in obstetric care affect perinatal outcomes during a pandemic, Mentor
Department of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program (PRMRP), Zika countermeasures: pre-clinical pregnancy models to assess protective efficacy against placental damage and fetal demise, Co-Investigator
Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) R01, Womb to Womb: Programming Reproductive Development in Female Marmoset Monkeys, PI
CON Internal Research Support Program, Identifying novel placental biomarkers to predict risk of excessive blood loss at delivery, PI
Selected Publications
VanSickle C, Liese KLL, and Rutherford (2022) Textbook typologies: Challenging the myth of the perfect obstetric pelvis. Anatomical Record 2022:1-16.
Rutherford JN, Narapareddy LR, Ross CN, deMartelly VA, Ziegler T, and Tardif SD. (2021) Womb to womb: Maternal litter size and birth weight but not adult characteristics predict early neonatal death of offspring in the common marmoset. PLoS ONE 16(6): e0252093
Rutherford JN, Narapareddy LR, Ross CN, deMartelly VA, Ziegler T, and Tardif SD. (2021) Womb to womb: Maternal litter size and birth weight but not adult characteristics predict early neonatal death of offspring in the common marmoset. PLoS ONE 16(6): e0252093
Uwizeye G, Thayer ZM, DeVon HA, McCreary LL, McDade TW, Mukamana D, Park C, Patil CL, and Rutherford (2021) Double jeopardy: mental and physical health outcomes of exposure to genocidal rape versus genocide alone among Rwandan adults conceived during the 1994 genocide against Tutsi. Social Science and Medicine 278(2021): 113938
Thayer ZA, Rutherford JN, and Kuzawa CW. (2020) Maternal Nutritional Buffering Model: An evolutionary framework for pregnancy nutritional intervention. Evolution, Medicine, and Public Health 2020(1): 14-27
Narapareddy (formerly Riesche) SR, Wildman DE, Armstrong DL, Weckle A, Bell AF, Patil CL, Tardif SD, Ross CN, & Rutherford (2020) Maternal weight affects placental DNA methylation of genes involved in metabolic pathways in the common marmoset monkey (Callithrix jacchus). American Journal of Primatology 2020(82: e23101): 1-11
Rutherford JN, deMartelly VA, Ragsdale H, Lee NR, Avila JL, Kuzawa CW (2019) Global population in placental size and structure: Evidence from Cebu, Philippines. Placenta 85: 40-48
Rutherford JN (2019) Academic descent with intentional modifications: a reflection on mentoring as developmental environment. American Anthropologist, 121(2):482-483.
Rutherford JN, Asiodu IV, and Liese KL. (2019) Reintegrating modern birth practice within ancient birth process: what high cesarean rates obscure about physiologic birth. American Journal of Human Biology 31(2): e23229
Rutherford JN. (2017) The Borderless Fetus: Temporal Complexity of the Lived Fetal Experience. In Han S, Betsinger TK, and Scott AB; The Fetus: Biology, Culture, and Society, pp. 15-33. Berghahn Books: New York.
Publication Aggregators
Service to Community
Board of Directors, Breastfeed Chicago (2019-2021)
Professional Leadership
History and Honors Chair and Executive Committee (2021-2024), American Association of Biological Anthropology
International Scientific Advisory Committee (2018), International Federation Placenta Association
Advisory Board (2018-present), University of Illinois Committee on the Status of Women
Faculty Chairperson (2017-2019), Collegue of Nursing, University of Illinois at Chicago
President (2013-2018), Midwest Primate Interest Group
Editorial Board (2017-present), Frontiers in Physiology, Embryonic and Development Physiology Section , 2017-present
Invited reviewer (2015, 2016), Human Placenta Project, Eunice Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
Steering Committee (2015-2016), American Association of Physical Anthropologist Presidential Panel on Harassment
Biological Anthropology Section Editor (2013-2015), Anthropology News, Newsletter of the American Anthropological Association
Executive Committee (2013-2015), Biological Anthropology Section, American Anthropological Association
Notable Honors
2021, Teaching Recognition Program Award, UIC Vice Provost of Faculty Affairs
2015, Excellence in Teaching Award, American College of Nurse Midwives
2014-2017, Loan Repayment Program, National Institues of Health, Contraception and Infertility Division
2014, Kavli Fellow, 16th annual Chinese-American Kavli Frontiers of Science Symposium, Beijing, National Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Sciences
2013, Researcher of the Year Rising Star in the Clinical Sciences, University of Illinois at Chicago
2011-2012, Leadership Mentoring Fellow, American Anthropological Association
Education
2007-2009 Postdoctoral Fellowship, Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
Institute for Policy Research and Cells to Society (C2S): The Center on Social Disparities and Health; Laboratory for Human Biology Research, Department of Anthropology
2007 Ph.D., Indiana University (Bloomington, IN), Biological Anthropology; Minors: Animal Behavior and Medical Sciences (Gross Anatomy and Histology)
2003-2006 Predoctoral Internship, Southwest National Primate Research Center. Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research (San Antonio, TX)
2004 M.A., Indiana University (Bloomington, IN), Biological Anthropology
1994 B.A., Miami University (Oxford, Ohio), Anthropology and Zoology
Professional Memberships
American Anthropological Association
American Association of Physical Anthropologists
American Society of Primatologists
International Federation of Placenta Associations
Marmoset Research Group of the Americas
Midwest Nursing Research Society
Midwest Primate Interest Group
Perinatal Research Society
Placenta Association of the Americas
Selected Presentations
INVITED KEYNOTE AND PLENARY PRESENTATIONS
INTERNATIONAL
2018 PLENARY: Womb to Womb: Programming Reproductive Development in the Female Common Marmoset Monkey. International Federation Of Placenta Associations Developmental Origins of Health and Disease symposium, Tokyo, Japan (September 24)
* Placenta 69: e4
NATIONAL
2022 PLENARY: Developmental interconnectivity at the nexus of primates, pregnancy, and professionalism. American Association for Anatomy at Experimental Biology (April 3)
2021 KEYNOTE: Womb to Womb: Intergenerational influences on reproductive development and pregnancy outcomes in the marmoset monkey. United States Developmental Origins of Health and Disease Society (November 8)
2015 PLENARY: The Legacy of Placental Function in Primate Brain Development and Evolution. LEGACY AWARD ADDRESS. American Society of Primatologists annual meeting (June 16)
2014 PLENARY: The infinite fetus: connecting person and placenta through time and space. Cusp Conference (October 23)
https://www.cuspconference.com/videos/julienne-rutherford-2014/
2013 PLENARY: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the BIRCWH. The Art and Science of Interdisciplinary Research, 10th Anniversary Interdisciplinary Women’s Health Research Symposium,
National Institutes of Health (October 24)
INVITED CONFERENCE PRESENTATIONS & PUBLISHED ABSTRACTS
- Rutherford JN (2022) The biocultural fetus: internalizing Portmann’s “Social Womb.” American Association of Biological Anthropologists. Denver, CO/virtual. Part of invited symposium, Building on the legacy of Adolf Portmann: Interdisciplinary approaches to human evolution and development.
- Liese KL and Rutherford JN (2021) Pushing Through The Pandemic: The Impacts Of Covid-19 On Maternity Care, Anxiety, And Childbirth Experiences In The United States. American Association of Physical Anthropologists. Virtual. Part of invited symposium, Building Intersections of Covid-19 Scholarship, Health Inequities, and Systems of Care in Pregnancy and the Postpartum (organized by Gildner, Liese, Rutherford, Thayer). American Journal of Physical Anthropology 174(s71): 62
- Rutherford JN. (2016) Primate Placental Plasticity: Consequences for developmental and evolutionary processes. “Plasticity and Individual Variation: Evolutionary significance and conservation consequences” symposium, International Primatological Society, Chicago, IL (podium)
- Rutherford JN (2015) “Nothing to see here”: a response to American Anthropologist claims of gender equity in authorship. “Contributing to the scholarly conversation: gender, citation, and authorship in anthropology journals” symposium. American Anthropological Association, Denver, CO (podium)
- Wildman DE and Rutherford (2015) Comparative placental ecology at the maternal-fetal interface. “Costly and Cute:How Helpless Newborns Made Us Human“ symposium, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, St. Louis, MO (podium) American Journal of Physical Anthropology 156(S60): 325
- Rutherford JN, deMartelly VA, Phillips K, and Lamar M. (2015) Placentergetics: Exploring placental investment in fetal somatic and brain development. “Energetics in Human and Non-Human Primate Evolution “ symposium, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, St. Louis, MO (podium) American Journal of Physical Anthropology 156(S60): 274
- Rutherford JN (2014) A placentifesto: maternal ecology and fetal programming among primates. Invited speaker, American Association for the Advancement of Science, “Building Babies: Development, Evolution, and Human Health” symposium, Chicago, IL (podium)
- Rutherford JN (2013) The borderless fetus: temporality and complexity of the fetal biological experience. Invited speaker, “Four Field Anthropology of the Fetus” symposium, American Anthropological Association, Chicago, IL (podium)
- Rutherford JN (2011) Liminal identities: Exploring placenta power across the human/nonhuman primate divide. Invited speaker, American Anthropological Association, “Calculated Legacies” symposium, Montreal (podium)
- Rutherford JN, Tardif SD, and Ross C. (2011) Energetics and life history plasticity in callitrichine primates: a view within and across generations. Speaker and organizer, “Eating for Two: Maternal Ecology and Nutrition in Human and Non-human Primates “ symposium, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Minneapolis, MN (podium) American Journal of Physical Anthropology 144(S52): 260
- Abrams ET and Rutherford (2011) Risky business: An evolutionary perspective on placental nutrient transport and postpartum hemorrhage. “Eating for Two: Maternal Ecology and Nutrition in Human and Non-human Primates” symposium, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Minneapolis, MN (podium) American Journal of Physical Anthropology 144(S52): 72
- Tardif SD, Power M, Ross C, and Rutherford (2011) Growth in the marmoset monkey: toward a model of childhood obesity. Growth and Development symposium, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Minneapolis, MN (podium)American Journal of Physical Anthropology 144(S52): 290
- Rutherford (2009) The intrauterine environment as life history precursor: perspectives from the callitrichine primates. Invited speaker, “Human Life History in Primate Perspective” symposium, American Association of Physical Anthropologists, Chicago, IL (podium) American Journal of Physical Anthropology 138(S48): 226
- Rutherford (2008) Fetal strategies, placental adaptations: Balancing conflict and Placental function in common marmoset monkeys. Invited speaker: “Evolutionary Endocrinology” plenary session, organized by M. Flinn, P. Nepomnaschy, and V. Vitzthum. Columbus, OH (podium) *American Journal of Human Biology 20: 232.
INVITED ORGANIZED CONFERENCE SYMPOSIA/WORKSHOPS
2021 Building Intersections of Covid-19 Scholarship, Health Inequities, and Systems of Care in Pregnancy and the Postpartum, American Association of Physical Anthropologists; invited virtual symposium organized with Theresa Gildner, Kylea Liese, and Zane Thayer
2018 The False Meritocracy of Choice within Social Constructs of Health, American Association of Physical Anthropologists; invited podium symposium organized with Robin Nelson
2014 Being a Scientist Online: Possibilities, Pragmatics, & Pitfalls, American Society of Primatologists; workshop organized with Amanda Dettmer, Corinna Ross, and Katie Hinde
2012 Anatomy Education and Career Workshop, American Association of Physical Anthropologists; workshop organized with Alison Doubleday
2011 Eating for Two: Maternal Ecology and Nutrition in Human and Non-human Primates; American
Association of Physical Anthropologists; invited podium symposium organized with Kathryn Clancy
INVITED LECTURES
2021
We don’t blame the marmosets: developmental origins of pregnancy loss and the limits of mother-blaming narratives. Department of Anthropology, Boston University, Boston, MA (virtual, March 5)
2020
Pregnancy, placentas, and professionalism: developmental interconnectivity in people and primates. Department of Anthropology, Emory University, Atlanta, GA (February 26)
Toward an integrative anthropology: structuring safe and inclusive developmental environments. Department of Anthropology, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN (February 14)
2018
Womb to Womb: Maternal birth condition and current gestational obesity status predicts offspring perinatal mortality and adult reproductive outcomes. Division of Endocrinology, Metabolism, and Molecular Medicine; Northwestern University; Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, IL (April 19)
SAFE science: Sexual harassment and assault in academic field work. DePaul University, Department of Anthropology, Chicago, IL (February 21)
SAFE science: Sexual harassment and assault in academic field work. UIC, Department of Anthropology, Chicago, IL (February 19)
SAFE science: Sexual harassment and assault in academic field work. Women’s Leadership and Resource Center, UIC, Chicago, IL (January 31)
SAFE science: Acknowledging and eradicating sexual harassment and assault in the academicworkplace. SUNY Broome, Broome, NY (January 18)
2017
SAFE science: Sexual harassment and assault in academic field work. DePaul University, Department ofAnthropology, Chicago, IL (March 2)
2016
The infinite fetus: connecting person and placenta through time and space. UIC College of Nursing 65th Anniversary Alumni Breakfast (October 1)
Research Currently in Progress
RESEARCH FUNDING (continuous FEDERAL FUNDING since 2006, $4.97 M in TOTAL AWARDS)
Active
2021-2023 Alex and Rita Hillman Foundation
Hillman Emergent Innovation (HEI) Award
Role: Mentor (MPIs: Kylea Liese, Pam Pearson, and Karie Stewart)
Melanated Maternity Community Care ($50,000)
(Funding period 12/1/21-6/30/22, awaiting disbursement of funds with March 2022 anticipated
start)
2021-2022 UIC Center for Health Equity Research Chicago (CHER)
U54 MD012523-05, National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities
Role: Co-I (PI: Kylea Liese)
The Covid-19 Pregnancy Experiences (COPE) Study: exploring how maternal stress and changes in obstetric care affect perinatal outcomes during a pandemic ($79,300 total)
(Funding period 7/1/21-6/30/22, notice of award received 3/3/22)
2021-2022 National Institutes of Health, National Institute of Aging
Role: Multiple PI (with Cory Ross and Ian Cheeseman)
Mapping the Marmoset: The impact of chimerism on development and aging ($371,926 total)
(Originally submitted as R01 with funding period of 9/1/21-8/31/26, awarded as an R56 with funding period 9/1/21-8/31/22, NCE into 2023 is being requested)
2019-2022 U.S. Department of Defense Peer-Reviewed Medical Research Program
Role: Co-I (Co-PIs: In-Jeong Kim and Jean Patterson)
Zika countermeasures: pre-clinical pregnancy models to assess protective efficacy against placental damage and fetal demise ($2,605,173 total)
(Funding period 7/1/19-6/30/22, NCE into 2023 is being requested.)