Maternal-Fetal Medicine Annual Research Report
Check out all the incredible work our Maternal-Fetal Medicine faculty have accomplished this past year!
Mission
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Our aim is to conduct rigorous and equitable clinical and basic science research to address scientific questions relevant to pregnancy and reproductive health. We are focused on understanding infectious diseases and immune responses in pregnancy, vaccines and therapeutics, maternal-fetal communication, hypertensive diseases in pregnancy, and placental biology. Through this important work, we strive to enhance reproductive outcomes for our patients across their lifespan.
Notable Achievements
- Among the first to describe the association of genital tract and intrauterine infections with preterm birth
- Among first to use mass-spectrometric proteomics to discover biomarkers for infection, preterm birth, and preeclampsia
- Known for testing immunotherapeutics for the prevention of preterm labor in our nonhuman primate model
Principal Investigators
Kristina Adams Waldorf, MD
Research Interests: bacterial and viral infections in pregnancy, host-pathogen interactions in pregnancy, mechanisms of preterm labor, therapeutics and vaccines in pregnancy, tolerance mechanisms within the placenta, innate and adaptive immunity in pregnancy and fetal development, Group B Streptococcus, Zika virus, Influenza A virus, SARS-CoV-2
Centers & Networks: Center for Reproductive Sciences, Center for Innate Immunity and Immune Disease, Center for Emerging and Reemerging Infectious Diseases, Center for Human Development and Disability, the Pathobiology Program (Department of Global Health) and the Washington National Primate Research Center
Bibliography
Michael Gravett, MD
Research Interests: Preterm labor, perinatal infectious diseases, proteomics, and the maternal-fetal interface
Centers & Networks: Nuffield Dept.of Women's & Reproductive Health University of Oxford, Preterm Birth International Collaborative Global
Bibliography
Alisa Kachikis, MD, MSc
Research Interests: preventing pre-term birth, infections and immunizations in pregnancy, global health and health equity
Centers & Networks: Center for Reproductive Science
Bibliography
Stephen McCartney, MD, PhD
Research Interests: placental and reproductive immunology, preeclampsia, preterm birth, infections in pregnancy, biological therapeutics
Centers & Networks: Center for Reproductive Science
Bibliography
Raj (Swati) Shree, MD
Research Interests: pregnancy and microchimerism, maternal fetal health
Centers & Networks: Center for Reproductive Sciences, Brotman Baty Institute for Precision Medicine, UW Cell-free DNA Working Group
Lucia Vojtech, PhD
Research Interests: Immune tolerance to pregnancy, sexually transmitted infections, reproductive and mucosal immunology
Centers & Networks: Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium, The Human Placenta Project