Brooks-Gunn is the Virginia and Leonard Marx Professor of Child Development at
Columbia University, in both
Teachers College and the
College of Physicians and Surgeons at Columbia University where she is co-director of the National Center for Children and Families at Teachers College, Columbia University. Her current studies include the
Fragile Families and Child Wellbeing Study, Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods, and
Early Head Start. Brooks-Gunn has written numerous books and edited volumes, and has published over 500 articles.
Representative work In one of her books, Brooks-Gunn and colleagues focused on developmental outcomes for adolescent mothers and their children in relation to school, work, the presence of the baby's father is in their lives, and other factors. In another study, Brooks-Gunn and colleagues focused on the epidemic of obesity which many people suffer from today, including young children. They predicted racial/ethnic differences in obesity in a sample of 3-year-olds from low income families. They found evidence of obesity start at age three, with children of obese mothers having a higher chance of being overweight, and with heightened risk of obesity among Hispanic children. Another study compared behavioral problems associated with acting out in children growing up in a single parent versus dual parent households. Child behavioral outcomes were associated with parental resources, parental mental health, parental relationship quality, parenting quality, and father involvement. Children coming from so-called "fragile families" fared worse than those with more stable family structures. ==Awards and honours==