Assistant Professor
Dr. Rebecca (“Becky”) Salomon is an ANCC-certified psychiatric mental health nurse practitioner and nurse scientist whose research examines how mothers perceive safety and stress in daily life and how those perceptions influence autonomic regulation, psychoneurological symptoms, and maternal functioning. Her program of research integrates biobehavioral approaches, ambulatory psychophysiology, and multilevel perspectives to better understand how social experiences become biologically embedded in maternal mental and physical health.
Her current work focuses on maternal neuroception—the subconscious appraisal of safety—and the ways social, occupational, geographic, and policy contexts shape physiological regulation and well-being, especially during the perinatal and early parenting periods. Dr. Salomon’s research draws on methods including heart rate variability monitoring, biomarker assessment, and community-engaged approaches, and her current and planned work increasingly incorporates ecological momentary assessment and systems science methods. Her long-term goal is to develop multilevel interventions and generate evidence that informs policies and environments that support maternal and family well-being.
Dr. Salomon completed postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco School of Nursing and the UNC School of Nursing and earned her PhD in Nursing and Philosophy of Science from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with a minor in Neuroscience and a graduate certificate in Nursing Education. Her work bridges nursing, psychology, neuroscience, behavioral medicine, and public health to better understand how social and environmental experiences shape biological and mental health outcomes. She teaches in the PhD and DNP programs with interests in stress science, theory development, interdisciplinary research, and the thoughtful integration of generative AI into nursing education.
Dr. Salomon is particularly interested in mentoring students whose research interests align with maternal mental health, stress physiology, psychophysiology, psychoneurological symptoms, and biopsychosocial or multilevel approaches to health.
Dr. Salomon’s scholarly trajectory has been recognized through competitive national and institutional awards spanning nursing science, psychosomatic research, and doctoral excellence. Her honors reflect sustained engagement with interdisciplinary approaches to maternal mental health, stress physiology, and biobehavioral science.
Selected honors include:
— American Psychosomatic Society Young Investigator Colloquium “Rising Star” Award (2023)
— American Psychosomatic Society Scholar Award (2022)
— Sigma Theta Tau International Rising Star Award (2019)
— Jonas Nurse Leaders Scholar, Jonas Foundation (2016)
— Abstract of Distinction, State of the Science Congress on Nursing Research, American Academy of Nursing (2021)
— International Society of Psychiatric-Mental Health Nurses Best Student Poster, 2nd place (2016)
— UNC School of Nursing Research Scholar Awards (multiple years, 2016–2018)
— University Doctoral Merit Assistantship, UNC Graduate School (2014)
— Wellesley College, cum laude (2008)
Dr. Salomon’s scholarship spans maternal mental health, stress physiology, psychoneurological symptoms, implementation science, and conceptual work in symptom science. Her publications reflect an interdisciplinary approach bridging nursing science, biopsychosocial medicine, and public health.
Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications
— Salomon, R., & Weiss, S. (2024). Relationships among number of stressors, perceived stress, and salivary cortisol levels during the third trimester of pregnancy. Journal of Obstetric, Gynecologic & Neonatal Nursing, 53(2), 160–171.
— Salomon, R., et al. (2022). Antiracist symptom science: A call to action and path forward. Nursing Outlook, 70(6), 794–806.
— Salomon, R., Waldrop, J., et al. (2022). Integrating maternal depression screening into an early intervention program: An implementation evaluation. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 28(5), 355–365.
— Salomon, R., Muscatell, K., et al. (2021). Psychoneurological symptoms in low-income mothers: A preliminary analysis. Nursing Research, 70(5), 325–333.
— Salomon, R., et al. (2020). Minimally invasive methods for examining biological changes in response to chronic stress: A scoping review. International Journal of Nursing Studies, 103, 103419.
Santos, H., Tan, X., & Salomon, R. (2017). Heterogeneity in perinatal depression: A systematic review. Archives of Women’s Mental Health, 20(1), 11–23.
Selected Conceptual / Editorial Work
— Jolink, T. A., & Salomon, R. E. (2024). Health during relationship transitions: Policy implications for dating, new parenthood, and bereavement. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
— Beeber, L., Naegle, M., Pearson, G., & Salomon, R. (2016). Health needs of persons with mental health disorders: Addressing federal funding for intervention research. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association.
Dr. Salomon’s research program is supported through a progressive portfolio of federal, institutional, and interdisciplinary funding that traces a clear trajectory from foundational training to independent investigator status. Her work integrates biobehavioral measurement, maternal mental health, and systems-oriented approaches to understanding stress and health.
Current and Active Funding
— MAPS Study: Maternal Appraisal of Policy and Place-related Safety Signals (PI); UNC School of Nursing Dean’s Office Pilot Award (2026)
— Behavioral and Physiological Response to Infant Distress in Pregnancy: A Feasibility Study Using Technologically Advanced Infant Simulators (Co-Investigator); UNC School of Nursing Pilot Grant (2025–2026)
— CIRCLE OF Care: Caregiver Insights and Evaluation of Integrative Health Resources in Pediatric Hematology-Oncology (Co-Investigator); Dhillon Jordan Shah Innovation Fund, UNC School of Nursing (2026)
Foundational Funding (Completed)
— Psychoneurological Symptoms in Situationally Stressed Low-Income Mothers (PI); NIH/NINR F31 Predoctoral Fellowship (2017–2019)
— Supervisor Support and Psychosocial Safety in the Workplace (PI); Carolina Center for Total Worker Health Pilot Award (2022–2023)
Interdisciplinary Innovation Funding
— Generative AI, Nursing, and Innovations in Education (GenIE; PI);
UNC CFE / Lenovo Instructional Innovation Grant (2024–2025)
Dr. Salomon’s work sits at the intersection of nursing science, psychophysiology, and systems thinking. Her research program examines how biological, psychological, and structural forces jointly shape maternal health, with particular attention to how stress and perceived safety are embodied, measured, and dynamically influenced by context. Across this work, she is especially interested in how complex, multilevel processes become visible through both physiological signals and lived experience.
Core Areas of Expertise
— Maternal mental health and perinatal symptom science
— Maternal neuroception and the embodied experience of perceived safety
— Stress physiology and psychoneurological symptoms
— Biobehavioral and psychophysiological methods, including ambulatory heart rate variability (HRV)
— Implementation science in maternal and early childhood interventions
Emerging Areas of Inquiry
— Structural and policy determinants of maternal stress, safety, and health
— Systems science approaches to health, including causal loop modeling and complex systems thinking
Scholarly Orientation
Students in my lab will engage with research that integrates theory, measurement, and multi-level thinking to better understand maternal health in real-world contexts. This work is well suited to those interested in bridging biological and social perspectives, developing advanced methodological skills, and participating in interdisciplinary research that connects physiology, lived experience, and structural conditions.