Dr. Mor's research team awarded $1.1 million NIH grant
Dr. Gil Mor (Project 4: Placental Mammal Model) and his team received a three-year $1.1 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). This grant, from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, will fund the project, “Impact of benzene-induced MIA on fetal T cell development, " to provide better understanding of the outcomes associated with the impact of VOCs exposure on the development of an appropriate neonatal immune responses.
The study proposes that inflammation at the maternal fetal interphase due to maternal exposure to VOCs alters the development of the fetal immune system, which results in an aberrant post-natal immune response to respiratory viral infections. The completed study should provide better understanding of the outcomes associated with the impact of VOCs exposure on the development of an appropriate neonatal immune responses.
“Exposure to volatile organic compound, collectively abbreviated as VOCs, during pregnancy, a vulnerable life windows of susceptibility, is an important determinant of maternal-fetal health, with implications for preterm birth, and child sensitivity to infections, asthma and other adverse health outcomes,” Dr. Mor said. “The central theme of this application focuses on deciphering the signaling pathways by which exposure to VOCs during pregnancy have an impact on early development of the fetal immune system.”
“Our preliminary studies suggest that although the fetus may be protected against microbial infection, the outcome of maternal exposure, protective or deleterious, depends on the nature and the severity of the inflammatory process at maternal/fetal interface. The mechanisms underlying the response of the fetal immune system and how indirect training by the maternal inflammation takes place is unclear and understudied,” explained Dr. Mor.
In addition to Dr. Mor, the project team includes Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Jiahui Ding, M.D., Ph.D.; Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology Douglas Ruden, Ph.D.; Assistant Professor of Pharmacology Michael Petriello, Ph.D.; and Associate Professor of Biological Sciences and of Molecular Medicine and Genetics Marianna Sadagurski, Ph.D.