|
Lots
of great news from Aleks Stanic, MD, PhD, of the UW Ob-Gyn Divisions of
Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and Reproductive Sciences!
Stanic’s
article “Decidual-Placental
Immune Landscape during Syngeneic Murine Pregnancy” was recently published
in the journal Frontiers in Immunology. The study examined the roles of immune
cells in gestational tissue dynamics. Read the whole
study here.
Stanic
also received a Burroughs
Wellcome Fund (BWF)-supported RSDP seed
grant for his research project “Distribution and function of
Innate-like T lymphocytes at the maternal-fetal interface.” The $25,000 pilot grant will fund his research
through June 2019. Research abstract:
“Disordered immune response at the
maternal fetal interface and/or pro-inflammatory bacterial colonization is
thought to be a major underlying cause of Preterm birth (PTB), the leading
cause of maternal/fetal morbidity. Attempts to treat with antibiotics and an
extensive search for causative organism(s) has not yet resulted in validated
therapeutic targets have emerged. Dr. Stanic’s primary RSDP-supported
project, while focused on Innate Lymphoid cells, unexpectedly revealed
expansion of effector-phenotype T cells, resembling mucosal-associated
invariant T (MAIT) cells. MAIT cells play key roles in immunity and
exhibit a complex interaction with the microbiota, protecting against
bacterial infections, but also requiring a host microbiome for fetal and adult
development. Research in Stanic lab suggests that MAIT cells may be
pathologically relevant at the decidual : placental (maternal-fetal) interface.
RSDP Seed support will provide pilot funds to establish
firm preliminary evidence for MAIT relevance in human decidual physiology.”
Congratulations, Dr. Stanic!
|