Amanda Kentner, PhD

Publications

• Martz J, Hammer B, Langen TJ, Berkowitz BN, Berkowitz B, Storm JA, Lu J, Lehri D, Wijenayake S, Marrocco J, Kentner AC. Investigating milk-derived extracellular vesicles as mediators of maternal stress and environmental intervention. Mol Psychiatry. 2026 Apr;31(4):1933-1945. doi: 10.1038/s41380-025-03346-w. Epub 2025 Nov 17. PMID: 41249551; PMCID: PMC12674164.
• Merengueli JA, Kentner AC. Maternal immune activation during the lactational period alters offspring behavior, reproductive development, and immune function in mice. Horm Behav. 2025 Jul;173:105776. doi: 10.1016/j.yhbeh.2025.105776. Epub 2025 Jun 20. PMID: 40543230; PMCID: PMC12258413.
• Martz J, Shelton MA, Geist L, Seney ML, Kentner AC. Sex differences in offspring risk and resilience following 11β-hydroxylase antagonism in a rodent model of maternal immune activation. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2024 Jun;49(7):1078-1090. doi: 10.1038/s41386-023-01771-5. Epub 2023 Nov 25. PMID: 38007547; PMCID: PMC11109257.
• DeRosa H, Caradonna SG, Tran H, Marrocco J, Kentner AC. Got milk? Maternal immune activation during the mid-lactational period affects nutritional milk quality and adolescent offspring sensory processing in male and female rats. Mol Psychiatry. 2022 Dec;27(12):4829-4842. doi: 10.1038/s41380-022-01744-y. Epub 2022 Sep 2. PMID: 36056174; PMCID: PMC9771965.
• DeRosa H, Caradonna SG, Tran H, Marrocco J, Kentner AC. Milking It for All It's Worth: The Effects of Environmental Enrichment on Maternal Nurturance, Lactation Quality, and Offspring Social Behavior. eNeuro. 2022 Aug 25;9(4):ENEURO.0148-22.2022. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0148-22.2022. PMID: 35995560; PMCID: PMC9417599.
• Kentner AC, Speno AV, Doucette J, Roderick RC. The Contribution of Environmental Enrichment to Phenotypic Variation in Mice and Rats. eNeuro. 2021 Mar 12;8(2):ENEURO.0539-20.2021. doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0539-20.2021. PMID: 33622702; PMCID: PMC7986535.
• Kentner AC, Bilbo SD, Brown AS, Hsiao EY, McAllister AK, Meyer U, Pearce BD, Pletnikov MV, Yolken RH, Bauman MD. Maternal immune activation: reporting guidelines to improve the rigor, reproducibility, and transparency of the model. Neuropsychopharmacology. 2019 Jan;44(2):245-258. doi: 10.1038/s41386-018-0185-7. Epub 2018 Aug 21. PMID: 30188509; PMCID: PMC6300528.
• Kentner AC, Cryan JF, Brummelte S. Resilience priming: Translational models for understanding resiliency and adaptation to early life adversity. Dev Psychobiol. 2019 Apr;61(3):350-375. doi: 10.1002/dev.21775. Epub 2018 Oct 11. PMID: 30311210; PMCID: PMC6447439.
• Kentner AC, Scalia S, Shin J, Migliore MM, Rondón-Ortiz AN. Targeted sensory enrichment interventions protect against behavioral and neuroendocrine consequences of early life stress. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 2018 Dec;98:74-85. doi: 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2018.07.029. Epub 2018 Jul 30. PMID: 30121011.

Complete List of Published Works Available in MyBibliography: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/amanda.kentner.1/bibliography/public/
ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Amanda-Kentner
ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7069-486X

Awards and Honors

• 2026-2028 | Kentner, A.C. Maternal hypothalamic reorganization and brain-derived extracellular vesicles as early biomarkers of pregnancy-induced hypertension risk. Massachusetts Life Sciences Center Women's Health Initiative Grant, $180,000. July 1st 2026 to June 30th 2028, Co-PI.
• 2022-2026 | Kentner, A.C. Targeted inhibition of stress associated pathways to promote resilience against maternal immune activation. National Institute of Mental Health 1R15MH114035-02, $383,006. March 1st 2022 to Feb 28th 2026, PI.
• 2022 | MCPHS University-Wide Faculty Scholarship Award "Discovery" - for Best Published Research Paper (Zhao et al., 2021 - Genes, Brain, and Behavior, 20, e12755).
• 2018-2022 | Kentner, A.C. The protective role of environmental enrichment on placental mediators of hypothalamic pituitary adrenal axis dysfunction in a prenatal inflammatory rat model. National Institute of Mental Health 1R15MH114035-01A1, $377,550. June 1st 2018 to February 28th 2022, PI.
• 2018 | Gail P. and Edward A. Bucher Trustees' Award for Excellence in Student-Faculty Research Collaboration
• 2017 | MCPHS University-Wide Faculty Scholarship Award "Discovery" - for Best Published Research Paper (Kentner et al 2016 - Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, 57, 151-160).
• 2016 | Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Faculty Mentor Award
• 2014 | Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Faculty Mentor Award
• 2013 | Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship Faculty Mentor Award

More Affiliations

• 2025-present | Full Member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
• 2025-2026 | Member, Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (NICHD) National Institutes of Health (NIH) Mental Health Working Group for the Prioritization of Therapeutic Research Needs for Pregnant, Postpartum, and Lactating (PPL) Women
• 2024-present | Chartered Member, National Institute of Health (NIH)/Center for Scientific Review (CSR) Developmental Brain Disorders Study Section
• 2024-present | Senior Editor, Neuroscience, Society Journal of the International Brain Research Organization (IBRO)
• 2021-2025 | Member, Membership Committee of the PsychoNeuroImmunology Research Society (PNIRS)
• 2021-present | Fellow of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS)
• 2021-present | Member, Trainee Professional Development Awards Selection Committee for the Society for Neuroscience (SfN)
• 2020-2025 | Associate Member of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP)
• 2018-2021 | USA Councilor of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS)
• 2019-2020 | Chair, Ethics & Diversity Committee of the International Behavioral Neuroscience Society (IBNS)
• 2017-2024 | Social Media Manager, Society for Behavioral Neuroendocrinology (SBN)
• 2017-2026 | Councilor, Boston Area Neuroscience Chapter of Society for Neuroscience
• 2016-present | Editorial Board Member of the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity (BBI)