Dr. Perng is a nutritional epidemiologist who focuses on maternal and child health. Her research interests fall under three lines of inquiry: (1) elucidating early-life determinants of childhood obesity and related metabolic sequelae; (2) identifying biological pathways that underlie excess weight gain during early life; and (3) understanding how maternal condition during the peripartum period predict her future cardiovascular and metabolic health. Dr. Perng conducts her investigations primarily in Project Viva, a Boston-area pre-birth cohort, the Early Life Exposure in Mexico to ENvironmental Toxicants (ELEMENT) cohort, a birth cohort in Mexico City.