Marci Lobel’s research focuses on stress, coping, and their effects on physical health, particularly women’s reproductive health.  Her research and teaching reveal common misconceptions about topics such as premenstrual syndrome, postpartum depression, menopause, and infertility.  ​Lobel and her collaborators conducted some of the first scientifically rigorous investigations to establish the adverse impact of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) on human birth outcomes. Studies by her research team also address public health problems such as racial disparities in premature birth, rising rates of Cesarean delivery, and domestic abuse in pregnant women.