Division of Reproductive Sciences brings research to 2025 SRI Annual Scientific Meeting
The Society for Reproductive Investigation hosted the 2025 Annual Scientific Meeting in Charlotte, North Carolina March 25-29, 2025. Researchers from the UW Department of Ob-Gyn Division of Reproductive Sciences led sessions, gave presentations, and brought posters to the conference.
- Jessica Vazquez, PhD, moderated the session Immune Cell Programming and Consequences.
- Sathish Kumar, DVM, PhD, moderated the session Developmental Programming II.
Oral Presentations:
Maternal Biology and Health: Pregnancy-Specific Programming of Hypertension and Vascular Dysfunction in Postpartum Rats Exposed to Gestational Intermittent Hypoxia. Ruolin Song, Pankaj Yadav, Alissa Hofmann, Jay Mishra, Sathish Kumar
Developmental Programming I: Elevated Maternal Testosterone Induces Neurodevelopmental and Behavioral Deficits in Rat Offspring. Sathish Kumar, Jay Mishra
Preeclampsia I: PFAS Exposure Impairs Vascular Function in Placental Chorionic Plate Arteries and Increases Preeclampsia Risk. Pankaj Yadav, Alissa Hofman, Ruolin Song, Jay Mishra, Sathish Kumar - Winner of Kusum Lata Excellence Award
Reproductive Biology II: Serial Intravascular Labeling Highlights Tissue Residency Alterations in Trafficking NK Cells during Pregnancy. Mona A Mohamed, Jessica Vazquez, Fernanda Leyva Jaimes, Aleksandar K Stanic
Summary: During pregnancy, natural killer (NK) cells—key players in the immune system—support healthy development by helping reshape the blood vessels that nourish the placenta. However, how these cells move in and out of the uterus has remains poorly understood. Mona Mohamed and colleagues in the Stanic lab used a novel technique called serial intravascular labeling to track NK cell movement in pregnant mice. This allowed them to identify which immune cells are circulating, entering, or staying in uterine tissue throughout pregnancy. They discovered that decidual NK cells change their behavior and surface features at different stages of pregnancy, especially around mid-gestation, when they show signs of becoming more "resident" in tissue and alter their cell surface receptors which govern leukocyte migration and residency. These findings offer new insight into how the immune system adapts to support pregnancy and could lead to better understanding—and potentially prevention—of pregnancy-related complications.
Posters:
Preeclampsia, Related Disorders: Sexually Dimorphic Regulation of MiR-29a/c-3p in Human Endothelial Cells. Si-yan Zhang, Chi Zhou, Jing Zheng
Preeclampsia, Related Disorders: Cytokine-Induced Changes in Endothelial Cell Gene Expression May Promote Preeclampsia via Th1 and Th17 Signaling. Luca Clemente, Ian M Bird, Derek S Boeldt
Reproductive Biology: Serial Intravascular Labeling Suggests a Quiescent Near-Term Decidua in the Non-Human Primate Model. Jessica Vazquez, Ann Mitzey, Thaddeus Golos, Aleksandar Stanic
Preeclampsia, Related Disorders: Longitudinal Serum Biomarkers Through 10 Days Postpartum in Patients with and without Hypertensive Disorders of Pregnancy. Jeannette M Larson, Fernanda B Leyva Jaimes, Sophia J Beaulieu, Natalia Gontarczyk Uczkowski, Amy Godecker, Janine S Rhoades, Aleksandar K Stanic
Reproductive Endocrinology, Infertility: Role of the Ovarian Immune Environment in Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome. Andrea Killian Wegrzynowicz, Soma Banerjee, Fernanda Leyva Jaimes, Laura Cooney, Aleksandar K Stanic
Maternal Biology, Health: PFOS Impairs Insulin Secretion and Glucose Tolerance during Pregnancy via Reduced cAMP Production in Pancreatic β-Cells. Alissa Hofmann, Pankaj Yadav, Ruolin Song, Jay Mishra, Sathish Kumar
Congratulations to all!