The main themes of my research are:
(1) Understanding the role of fetal sex-differences in placental function in normal and complicated pregnancies
(2) The role of metabolism in placental development.
My current research focuses on the role of placental metabolism in mediating sex-specific responses during pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction. I am testing the hypothesis that genes which escape X-chromosome inactivation specifically in the placenta mediate sex-differences in placental function with consequences on adverse fetal outcomes. A key feature of my research is the combination of a variety of models including primary human cells and animal models, and the use of clinical human samples to answer questions of biological and clinical significance.
