
Institute for Reproduction and Perinatal Research
The University of Kansas Medical Center, Kansas City, KS
RESEARCH FOCUS
Our laboratory investigates specialized survival strategies used by the embryo as it grows within the uterus. Central to the embryo's survival is the formation of an organ derived from the embryo called the placenta. This organ gains access to the maternal blood supply and facilitates the delivery of nutrients to the fetus. We study how early stem cells develop into the placenta. We have learned that the placenta is built in response to cues present in the maternal environment; and diseases of pregnancy, such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction, result when the embryo is not successful in its adaptations to the maternal environment. Inadequate in utero adaptive responses have potentially long-lasting impacts on adult health and disease.
UPCOMING EVENTS
Society for the Study of Reproduction Annual Meeting
July 11-14, 2023
Ottawa, Canada
Society for Reproductive Investigation
March 21-25, 2023
Brisbane, Australia
Greenwald Symposium on Reproductive and Developmental Sciences
November 2-3, 2023
Kansas City, KS & MO
American Society for Reproductive Medicine
October 14-18, 2023
New Orleans, LA
RECENT UPDATES
![]() Ayelen Moreno won an Award for Best New Investigator Poster Presentation - SRI 2022 | ![]() Mikaela Simon gave an oral presentation at the 2021 SSR meeting. |
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![]() Kaela Varberg won an Award for Best New Investigator Poster Presentation - SRI 2022 | ![]() Marija Kuna was a 2022 Greenwald poster award winner. |
![]() Regan Scott was a 2022 Greenwald poster award winner. | ![]() Esteban Dominguez won a 2021 SSR Trainee Travel Award |
![]() Vinay Shukla was selected to give an oral presentation at the 2022 SRI annual meeting | ![]() Khursheed Iqbal received an R21 grant for his project entitled "A new animal model for investigating the invasive trophoblast lineage" |
RECENT PUBLICATIONS

January 2021
ASCL2 reciprocally controls key trophoblast lineage decisions during hemochorial placenta development
PNAS