Studying Environmental Insults to Peri-implantation Human Pregnancy—Can Misguided Efforts in Reproductive Immunology Guide Us?

Five decades of research in human reproductive immunology have resulted in an almost full erasure of proven tests and interventions for common disorders of early pregnancy (e.g., isolated and recurrent early pregnancy loss) and common disorders of abnormal placentation (pre-eclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction). However, we have learned from these misguided efforts that to study normal and anormal human peri-implantation biology, consistencies in species, timing and location are all essential. This lecture will use the many lessons learned from the study of human reproductive immunology as a case study on the informed development of in vitro models to study human peri-implantation biology, including their uses, advantages, limitations and misuses. The audience should come away with an excellent understanding of human reproductive immunology and a set of in vitro approaches that can be leveraged to study the effects of environmental toxins and exposures that can adversely impact human pre-implantation embryo development, embryo implantation, post-implantation placentation, the health of mother and baby during pregnancy and, ultimately, the long-term health trajectories of both the mother and her offspring.

THIS IS A HYBRID SEMINAR WITH IN-PERSON & REMOTE ATTENDANCE OPTIONS.
This seminar will be held in Field Auditorium (room 1112), Grainger Hall.
Visit the seminar website for a livestream link to tune in virtually.
Both attendance options (in person and virtual) are free and open to all.