PubMed

• Extracellular vesicles from vaginal Gardnerella vaginalis and Mobiluncus mulieris contain distinct proteomic cargo and induce inflammatory pathways March 22, 2024
  Colonization of the vaginal space with bacteria such as Gardnerella vaginalis and Mobiluncus mulieris is associated with increased risk for STIs, bacterial vaginosis, and preterm birth, while Lactobacillus crispatus is associated with optimal reproductive health. Although host-microbe interactions are hypothesized to contribute to reproductive health and disease, the bacterial mediators that are critical to this […]
  Andrea Joseph
• Placental transfer dynamics and durability of maternal COVID-19 vaccine-induced antibodies in infants March 6, 2024
  Completion of a COVID-19 vaccination series during pregnancy effectively reduces COVID-19 hospitalization among infants less than 6 months of age. The dynamics of transplacental transfer of maternal vaccine-induced antibodies, and their persistence in infants at 2, 6, 9, and 12 months, have implications for new vaccine development and optimal timing of vaccine administration in pregnancy. […]
  Paola A Lopez
• Mending mentorship February 5, 2024
  No abstract
  Michal A Elovitz
• The role of neighborhood deprivation in the cervicovaginal microbiota January 21, 2024
  CONCLUSION: Neighborhood deprivation was associated with Lactobacillus-deficient cervicovaginal microbiota and may partially explain Black-White disparities in the cervicovaginal microbiota. Mechanistic studies to explore how environmental exposures modify the cervicovaginal microbiota are warranted to identify novel opportunities for future interventional strategies to prevent preterm birth. As the findings demonstrate a potential biological effect from neighborhood conditions, […]
  Heather H Burris
• Vaginal microbes alter epithelial transcriptomic and epigenomic modifications providing insight into the molecular mechanisms for susceptibility to adverse reproductive outcomes November 28, 2023
  The cervicovaginal microbiome is highly associated with women's health with microbial communities dominated by Lactobacillus spp. being considered optimal. Conversely, a lack of lactobacilli and a high abundance of strict and facultative anaerobes including Gardnerella vaginalis, have been associated with adverse reproductive outcomes. However, the molecular pathways modulated by microbe interactions with the cervicovaginal epithelia […]
  Michal Elovitz
• Regulatory T cell adoptive transfer alters uterine immune populations, increasing a novel MHC-II^low macrophage associated with healthy pregnancy October 30, 2023
  Intrauterine fetal demise (IUFD) - fetal loss after 20 weeks - affects 6 pregnancies per 1,000 live births in the United States, and the majority are of unknown etiology. Maternal systemic regulatory T cell (Treg) deficits have been implicated in fetal loss, but whether mucosal immune cells at the maternal-fetal interface contribute to fetal loss […]
  Emma L Lewis
• Cervicovaginal Microbial-Immune State and Group B Streptococcus Colonization in Pregnancy August 9, 2023
  CONCLUSION: Pregnant individuals with CV microbiota characterized by CST IV-A and CST II had significantly elevated risk of GBS RV colonization in the third trimester compared with those with CST I, and β-defensin-2 was an effect modifier of the association between CST IV-A and GBS RV+ status. Future research should investigate if manipulation of the […]
  Jennifer A McCoy
• Intrauterine colonization with Gardnerella vaginalis and Mobiluncus mulieris induces maternal inflammation but not preterm birth in a mouse model July 26, 2023
  CONCLUSIONS: Despite inducing an immune response, intrauterine infusion of live G. vaginalis or M. mulieris is not sufficient to induce sPTB in our mouse model. These results suggest that ascension of common vaginal microbes into the uterine cavity alone is not causative for sPTB.
  Andrea Joseph
• Impact of exposure to air pollution on cervicovaginal microbial communities June 24, 2023
  CONCLUSION: PM(2.5) was associated with CST IV, a risk factor for sPTB. Additionally, PM(2.5) exposure may partially explain racial differences in the prevalence of CST IV. Further research is warranted to discover how environmental exposures affect microbial composition and perpetuate racial health disparities.
  Inumidun H Oyebode
• The impact of postpartum social support on postpartum mental health outcomes during the COVID-19 pandemic June 2, 2023
  Social support is an influential component of postpartum recovery, adjustment, and bonding, which was disrupted by social distancing recommendations related to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study reports on changes in the availability of social support for postpartum women during the pandemic, investigates how those changes may have contributed to postpartum mental health, and probes how […]
  Lauren K White
• Questioning the fetal microbiome illustrates pitfalls of low-biomass microbial studies January 25, 2023
  Whether the human fetus and the prenatal intrauterine environment (amniotic fluid and placenta) are stably colonized by microbial communities in a healthy pregnancy remains a subject of debate. Here we evaluate recent studies that characterized microbial populations in human fetuses from the perspectives of reproductive biology, microbial ecology, bioinformatics, immunology, clinical microbiology and gnotobiology, and […]
  Katherine M Kennedy
• Intrauterine Inflammation Leads to Select Sex- and Age-Specific Behavior and Molecular Differences in Mice January 8, 2023
  Sex-specific differences in behavior have been observed in anxiety and learning in children exposed to prenatal inflammation; however, whether these behaviors manifest differently by age is unknown. This study assesses possible behavioral changes due to in utero inflammation as a function of age in neonatal, juvenile, and adult animals and presents potential molecular targets for […]
  Ana G Cristancho
• Clinician-reported childbirth outcomes, patient-reported childbirth trauma, and risk for postpartum depression August 28, 2022
  Childbirth trauma is common and increases risk for postpartum depression (PPD). However, we lack brief measures to reliably identify individuals who experience childbirth trauma and who may be at greater prospective risk for PPD. To address this gap, we used data from a racially diverse prospective cohort (n=1082). We collected survey data during pregnancy and […]
  Rebecca Waller
• Changes in preterm birth during the COVID-19 pandemic by duration of exposure and race and ethnicity August 16, 2022
  CONCLUSION: We detected no overall pandemic effects on PTB, but potential indirect benefits for some patients which could widen disparities remains possible.
  Anne M Mullin
• Gardnerella vaginalis alters cervicovaginal epithelial cell function through microbe-specific immune responses August 3, 2022
  CONCLUSIONS: The results of this study show microbe-specific effects on CV epithelial function. Altered epithelial barrier function through cell death and immune-mediated mechanisms by G. vaginalis, but not L. crispatus, indicates that host epithelial cells respond to bacteria-associated signals, resulting in altered epithelial function and ultimately CV disease. Additionally, distinct immune signatures associated with Gardnerella […]
  Lauren Anton