Gwen  Latendresse, PhD CNM FACNM FAAN
  • Associate Dean for Academic Programs, College Of Nursing
  • Professor, College Of Nursing

Research Summary

Dr. Latendresse’s research examines the impact of maternal depression, chronic stress, and SSRI use on pregnancy outcomes, such as preterm birth, postpartum depression and placental gene expression. Two currently funded projects focus on telehealth interventions for treatment and prevention of perinatal depression and anxiety. For more info on current studies and research team: https://nursing.utah.edu/research/groups-projects/mama-study

Education

  • BSN, Nursing, Metro State University- Denver
  • MS, Nurse-Midwifery, University of Utah
  • PhD, College of Nursing, University of Utah. Project: Bio-psych stress measure associations in mid pregnancy
  • Post-Doc Fellow, Summer Genetics Institute, National Institute of Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health

Biography

Gwen Latendresse is a professor at the University of Utah, College of Nursing. After many years of providing clinical care as a Certified Nurse-Midwife, she returned to academia and completed her PhD in 2008. Her post doctoral training included completion of a fellowship at the Summer Genetics Institute at the National Institutes of Health/National Institute of Nursing Research during 2009. Her research interest in adverse pregnancy outcomes has led her to biobehavioral investigations of chronic maternal stress, perinatal depression and anxiety, and environmental exposures during pregnancy, as well as potential interventions. She is currently the PI on an NIH/NINR funded R01 project: Prevention of Perinatal Depression among at-risk Individuals through Integration of a Multimedia, Web-based Intervention within the Healthcare System. She is also the director for a Utah Department of Health funded project: Telementalhealth: A Promising Approach to Reducing Perinatal Depression in Utah’s Rural and Frontier Communities,   She enjoys including undergraduate and graduate students in her research efforts.

 

Career Highlights

Gwen Latendresse was inducted as a Fellow in the American Academy of Nursing in 2020, a recognition of  accomplishment within the nursing profession. Academy Fellows have a responsibility to contribute their time and energies to the Academy and to engage with other health leaders outside the Academy in transforming America's health system.

A Certified Nurse-Midwife since 1988, Dr. Latendresse has provided clinical care to women in a variety of midwifery settings - hospital, birth center, public, faculty, private, and her independently owned midwifery practice in Salt Lake City until 2004.  A decision to become engaged in research and complete a PhD earned her several awards, scholarships and fellowships, including “Outstanding Doctoral Student” in 2006, “Outstanding Dissertation” in 2008, the “Mary Ann Shah Best New Author” award in 2006, and funding from the March of Dimes, the American College of Nurse-Midwives Foundation, and the National Institute of Nursing Research/National Institutes of Health. In 2009 she received the Carol A Lindeman Award for a New Researcher from the Western Institute of Nursing, and in 2010 was awarded “Best Article of the Year” from the Journal of Midwifery and Women’s Health.

In 2008 Dr. Latendresse became an Assistant Professor at the College of Nursing, primarily conducting research, teaching, and providing service to the academic and professional communities.  She was promoted to Associate Professor and awarded tenure in 2015, and promoted to Professor in 2021.

In 2010 she served on the Vanderbilt Evidence-based Practice Center AHRQ/HHS Technical Expert Panel: Progestogens for Prevention of Preterm Birth.

She authored the first "Genetics" chapter, newly introduced in the 2013 Varney's Midwifery, 5th edition, the premier text in midwifery education programs, both nationally and internationally. Subsequently, the 6th & 7th editions have been published. She is a contributing author to chapters in several editions of the text “Pathophysiology: The biologic basis for disease in adults and children”- by McCance & Huether.

In 2014 Dr. Latendresse was inducted as a Fellow into the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM), an honor bestowed upon those midwives whose demonstrated leadership, clinical excellence, outstanding scholarship, and professional achievements have merited special recognition both within and outside of the midwifery profession. She served as the Chair for the ACNM Division of Research Dissemination Committee 2018-2022.  Dr. Latendresse served as the Director of the Nurse Midwifery Specialty Track at the University of Utah College of Nursing from 2014-2018, and as the  Assistant Dean for the Master's and DNP Programs from 2018-2020. She is the current Associate Dean for Academic Programs at the UU College of Nursing.

Dr. Latendresse engages in interdisciplinary research. Her research interests include pregnancy outcomes related to chronic maternal stress, and perinatal depression and anxiety. The Utah Department of Health awarded Dr. Latendresse a 2-year project for 2017-2019, and again for a 5-year project for 2019-2024; Telementalhealth: A Promising Approach to Reducing Perinatal Depression in Utah’s Rural and Frontier Communities. In December 2018, the NIH/NINR awarded a $1.5 million grant to fund Dr. Latendresse's 3-year research project: Randomized Trial of Telehealth Group Intervention to Reduce Perinatal Depressive Symptoms in Diverse Populations. In October 2022 the NIH/NINR awarded a $1.9 million grant to fund Dr. Latendresse's 3-year implementation research project; Prevention of Perinatal Depression among At-risk Individuals through Integration of a Multimedia, Web-based intervention within the Healthcare System

She was the inaugural Chair for the Maternal Mental Health Committee for the state of Utah Women & Newborns Quality Collaborative until 2023 and continues to serve as a committee member..