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The Boeldt Lab is focused on developing new therapeutic options for preeclampsia. Currently there is no cure for preeclampsia and treatments are of limited effectiveness. Our understanding of the cause of preeclampsia is limited and therefore our ability to design drugs to specifically target disease progression and symptoms at the cellular and molecular level is insufficient. The Boeldt Lab is utilizing human tissue and blood samples to better understand the underlying vascular dysfunction of preeclampsia. Our approach to this problem is to use the latest technology to map the cell signaling networks responsible for appropriate vascular function in healthy pregnancy and contrast them to those responsible for preeclampsia progression. We may then be able to design intelligent therapies based on our findings.
Projects: The Boeldt Lab has two major concurrent projects 1) Investigating the role of growth factors and cytokines on endothelial cell function, with a focus on endothelial dysfunction in preeclampsia. This project includes testing novel therapeutics to known cell signaling targets as well as identifying new cell signaling targets for future drug development. 2) Utilizing endothelial cell/immune cell co-cultures to understand the role of inflammatory pathways in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction in preeclampsia. This project models the functional consequences of the unique immune environment presented in preeclamptic pregnancies.