We’re excited to announce that the Mother and Infant Research Institute is now the Woman, Mother + Baby Research Institute! This new name reflects our expanded focus on women’s health throughout life and its impact on pregnancy and beyond. We’re committed to improving health outcomes for women, mothers and babies across generations.
About
The research performed includes:
- Basic science research (e.g., using cells in culture or model animal systems)
- Translational research (e.g., applying state-of-the-art molecular techniques to human material such as blood or saliva samples)
- Clinical research that involves direct “hands-on” interaction with a pregnant woman or her newborn infant
Multiple labs dedicated to mother-infant research
Each group is described as a laboratory even though, in some cases, an investigator works with patients in the hospital (bedside) and not in a laboratory. The Woman, Mother and Baby Research Institute laboratories are directed by Tomoko Kaneko-Tarui, MD, PhD.
The Woman, Mother and Baby Research Institute laboratories include:
- The O’Tierney-Ginn Laboratory works to understand how placental function is altered by the maternal environment and how these changes affect fetal growth and fat deposition.
- The House Laboratory uses a bioengineering strategy to investigate cervical biomechanics, specifically cervical function, as it relates to the cause of spontaneous premature birth.
- The Yen Laboratory utilizes non-invasive salivary transcriptomic and brain imaging data to understand the sex-dependent impact of prenatal opioid exposure on the developing brain, particularly the hypothalamus and reward areas that regulate neonatal feeding behavior.