Victoria Keeton is an assistant professor at the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing at UC Davis. She brings pediatric and maternal-child health expertise to the school through her research on health inequities and the biopsychosocial impacts of social needs on children and families from minoritized communities. She also teaches and mentors students in the school’s Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) program.

Keeton’s research focuses on the social causes and health consequences of stress in caregivers and children, especially in Latinx families and communities of color who experience socioeconomic disadvantage. Specifically, she studies stress as a physiologic contributor to metabolic disease and emotional dysregulation and mechanisms of maternal-fetal programming that may predispose children to metabolic or mental health conditions. Keeton uses primarily quantitative research methods and statistical analyses, including multi-level modeling and other specialized approaches to dyadic data analysis. Her research also includes the use of biomarkers such as cortisol as physiologic measures of stress.