Summary
Spontaneous preterm labor, or the onset of uterine contractions prior to 37 weeks of gestation, represents a leading cause of neonatal morbidity and a major health disparity. There is a need to improve our understanding of the regulation of labor and to develop new therapeutic approaches to manage preterm labor. Our laboratory is working to understand factors that regulate uterine contractions and birth timing, and to create engineered uterine tissue models representative of normal and pathological pregnancies to facilitate preterm labor research.
Education
- B.A., Biology, University of Colorado, Boulder
- Ph.D., Animal Sciences (Reproductive Biology), University of Illinois, Urbana