
Chief, Division of Reproductive Sciences in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Associate Professor in the Division of Environmental Science and Policy
Associate Professor in Pathology
Member of the Duke Cancer Institute
Overview
Susan K. Murphy, PhD, is an Associate Professor and Chief of the Division of Reproductive Sciences in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Murphy has secondary faculty appointments in the Department of Pathology and in the Duke Nicholas School of the Environment, Division of Environmental Science and Policy.
As a molecular biologist with training in human epigenetics, her research interests are largely centered around the role of epigenetic modifications in health and disease.
Dr. Murphy has ongoing projects on gynecologic malignancies, including approaches to eradicate ovarian cancer cells that survive chemotherapy and later give rise to recurrent disease. Dr. Murphy is actively involved in many collaborative projects relating to the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD).
Her lab is currently working on preconception environmental exposures in males, particularly on the impact of cannabis on the sperm epigenome and the potential heritability of these effects. They are also studying the epigenetic and health effects of in utero exposures, with primary focus on children from the Newborn Epigenetics STudy (NEST), a pregnancy cohort she co-founded who were recruited from central North Carolina between 2005 and 2011. Dr. Murphy and her colleagues continue to follow NEST children to determine relationships between prenatal exposures and later health outcomes.
Publications
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Hedges, Jason C., Carol B. Hanna, Lyndsey E. Shorey-Kendrick, Emily R. Boniface, Jasper C. Bash, Travis L. Rice-Stitt, Fernanda C. Burch, et al. “Cessation of chronic delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol use partially reverses impacts on male fertility and the sperm epigenome in rhesus macaques.” Fertil Steril 120, no. 1 (July 2023): 163–74. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fertnstert.2023.02.034.
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Lin, Yan, Emily Craig, Xiaodong Liu, Yihui Ge, Jessica Brunner, Xiangtian Wang, Zhenchun Yang, et al. “Urinary 1-hydroxypyrene in pregnant women in a Northeastern U.S. city: socioeconomic disparity and contributions from air pollution sources.” J Expo Sci Environ Epidemiol, May 9, 2023. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41370-023-00555-9.
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Sosnowski, David W., Alejandra Ellison-Barnes, Joan Kaufman, Cathrine Hoyo, Susan K. Murphy, Raquel G. Hernandez, Joddy Marchesoni, Lauren M. Klein, and Sara B. Johnson. “Correction: Financial stress as a mediator of the association between maternal childhood adversity and infant birth weight, gestational age, and NICU admission.” Bmc Public Health 23, no. 1 (May 5, 2023): 831. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15783-9.
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Fuemmeler, Bernard F., Trevin E. Glasgow, Julia C. Schechter, Rachel Maguire, Yaou Sheng, Tatyana Bidopia, D Jeremy Barsell, et al. “Prenatal and Childhood Smoke Exposure Associations with Cognition, Language, and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder.” J Pediatr 256 (May 2023): 77-84.e1. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.11.041.
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Lo, Jamie O., Rahul J. D’Mello, Lester Watch, Danny J. Schust, and Susan K. Murphy. “An epigenetic synopsis of parental substance use.” Epigenomics 15, no. 7 (April 2023): 453–73. https://doi.org/10.2217/epi-2023-0064.
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Sosnowski, David W., Alejandra Ellison-Barnes, Joan Kaufman, Cathrine Hoyo, Susan K. Murphy, Raquel G. Hernandez, Joddy Marchesoni, Lauren M. Klein, and Sara B. Johnson. “Financial stress as a mediator of the association between maternal childhood adversity and infant birth weight, gestational age, and NICU admission.” Bmc Public Health 23, no. 1 (March 30, 2023): 606. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12889-023-15495-0.
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“Correction to: Tobacco Retail Outlets, Neighborhood Deprivation and the Risk of Prenatal Smoke Exposure.” Nicotine Tob Res 25, no. 4 (March 22, 2023): 846. https://doi.org/10.1093/ntr/ntac217.
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Crute, Christine E., Chelsea D. Landon, Angela Garner, Samantha M. Hall, Jeffery I. Everitt, Sharon Zhang, Bevin Blake, et al. “Maternal exposure to perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) during pregnancy: evidence of adverse maternal and fetoplacental effects in New Zealand White (NZW) rabbits.” Toxicol Sci 191, no. 2 (February 17, 2023): 239–52. https://doi.org/10.1093/toxsci/kfac126.
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King, Dillon E., Anna Clare Sparling, Dillon Lloyd, Matthew Joseph Satusky, Mackenzie Martinez, Carole Grenier, Christina Michelle Bergemann, et al. “Sex-specific DNA methylation and associations with in utero tobacco smoke exposure at nuclear-encoded mitochondrial genes.” Epigenetics 17, no. 12 (December 2022): 1573–89. https://doi.org/10.1080/15592294.2022.2043591.
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Ceasrine, Alexis M., Benjamin A. Devlin, Jessica L. Bolton, Lauren A. Green, Young Chan Jo, Carolyn Huynh, Bailey Patrick, et al. “Maternal diet disrupts the placenta-brain axis in a sex-specific manner.” Nat Metab 4, no. 12 (December 2022): 1732–45. https://doi.org/10.1038/s42255-022-00693-8.
Lab Members
Doctoral Students
Emma Dolan, PhD Candidate, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology (co-mentor Donald McDonnell)
Reshma Nargund, PhD Candidate, Environment (co-mentor William Pan)
Karina Cuevas-Mora, (rotation) Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, BIOCORE
Guru Ulaganathan, Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, Environment
Undergraduate Students
Manasvi Reddy, Public Policy
Staff
Carole Grenier, Laboratory Research Analyst
Alumni
Fellows
Shilpi Agrawala, MD, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Jessica Selter, MD, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Stephanie Smeltzer, MD, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Kelly Acharya, MD, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Sanaz Keyhan, MD, Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility
Brittany Davidson, MD, Gynecologic Oncology
William J. Lowery, MD, Gynecologic Oncology
Gregory Sfakianos, MD, Gynecologic Oncology
Jason Cory Barnett, MD, Gynecologic Oncology
Marcus Bernardini, MD, Gynecologic Oncology (visiting fellow)
Amy BonDurant, MD, Gynecologic Oncology
Paula Lee, MD, Gynecologic Oncology
Monique Spillman, MD, PhD, Gynecologic Oncology
Postdoctoral Researchers
Michelle Taylor, PhD
Monica Nye, PhD
Takako Okamoto, MD, PhD
Ellen Stevens, PhD
Lihong Zhu, MD
Abayomi Adigun, PhD
Ken Yamaguchi, MD, PhD
Eiji Kondoh, MD
Tsukasa Baba, MD, PhD
Noriomi Matsumura, MD, PhD
Doctoral Students
Dillon King, PhD, Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, Environment (co-mentor Joel Meyer)
Christine Crute, PhD, Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, Environment (co-mentor Liping Feng)
Rose Schrott, PhD, Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, Environment
Rashmi Joglekar, PhD, Integrated Toxicology and Environmental Health Program, Environment (co-mentor Joel Meyer)
Masters Students
Valerie Rojas, MS, Pharmacology and Cancer Biology
Medical Students
Cassie Hobbs
Barbara Blachut
Isabel Rodriguez
Jaemin Park
Kerone Walker
Patricia Convery
Vanessa Teaberry
Undergraduate Students
Ismail Khaderi, Biology
Elizabeth Shaffer, Neuroscience, Chemistry
Yannet Daniel, Biology, Global Health (Independent Study)
Taylor Lipsich, Biology (Independent Study)
Jim Liu, Biology (Independent Study, Honors Thesis, Graduation with Distinction)
Michael Williams, Biological Sciences Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
Kaycie Hutcheson, Global Health
Olivia Neely, Sexual, Reproductive and Maternal Health (Independent Study)
Katherine Maitland, Biology (Independent Study, Honors Thesis)
Katarina Stephan, Biomechanics, Dance
Kamyar Yazdani, Biology (Independent Study)
Brad Foster
Melody Iro
Rema Shaw
Ethan Whitaker
Catherine Birtles
Sabrina Simpson
Marie Boudreau
Michelle Dalson
Zachary Visco, Biomedical Engineering
Kelly Tomins (Independent study)
Brittany Wenger
Lisa Guo (Independent Study, Honors Thesis)
Sonya Jooma (Independent Study)
Jason Chin (Independent Study)
Clara Lee (Independent Study, Honors Thesis)
Shamaita Majumdar (Independent Study, Honors Thesis)
Christopher Bassil
Masashi Ono
Jack Fitzgibbons (Independent Study)
Cara Davis
Nancy Anoruo
Natasha Dugan
Lisa Chen (Independent Study, Honors Thesis)
Jacob Berchuck
Yaqing Wen (Independent Study)
High School Students
Andy Liu
Esther Son
Deepika Senthil
Kennedy Bridges
Danielle Dejournet
Staff
Nadine Channelle Marsh, Administrator
Zhiqing Huang, MD, PhD, Senior Research Scientist
Jamie Wylie, Administrator
Dale Montana, Administrator
Cara Davis, Research Technician
Allison Barratt, Research Technician
Darby Kroyer, Research Technician
Erin Erginer, Research Technician
Ali Gusberg, Research Technician
Teresa Nichols, Research Technician
Projects
CIPHERS
The Cannabis-Induced Potential Heritability of Epigenetic Revisions in Sperm (CIPHERS) Project at Duke University seeks to explore epigenetic changes in the sperm of both men that used cannabis and rats exposed to THC (tetrahydrocannabinol, the psychoactive compound in cannabis).

NICHES
The Center for Study of Neurodevelopment and Improving Children’s Health following Environmental tobacco Smoke exposure (NICHES) is a Children’s Environmental Health and Disease Prevention Research Center funded by grants from the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The NICHES Children’s Center will investigate how secondhand smoke (SHS) exposure during early life increases the risk of developing attention-deficit / hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).
