Frances Champagne's research has revealed how natural variations in maternal behavior can shape the behavioral development of offspring through epigenetic changes in gene expression in a brain region specific manner.[2] She won the NIH Director's New Innovator Award in 2007[3] and the Frank A. Beach Young Investigator Award in Behavioral Neuroendocrinology in 2009.[4] She has been described as the "bee's knees of neuroscience".[5] She serves on the Committee on Fostering Healthy Mental, Emotional, and Behavioral Development Among Children and Youth in the United States.[6]