Babbette LaMarca, PhD, University of Mississippi Medical Center- to present “The Importance of T and B Lymphocytes in Causing Pathophysiology of Preeclampsia” Jan 26th

Please join us for a presentation by Babbette LaMarca, PhD, University of Mississippi Medical Center – “The Importance of T and B Lymphocytes in Causing Pathophysiology of Preeclampsia”

Dr. LaMarca is currently an Associate Professor at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology and Pharmacology / Toxicology.

Babbette’s laboratory is interested in identifying immune mechanisms that cause hypertension during pregnancy.

Babbette LaMarca, PhD

Specifically, her research focuses on the interactions between lymphocytes and autoantibodies in the pathophysiology of hypertension in response to placental ischemia. Over the years, they have developed models designed to identify how immune cells or their products cause changes in blood pressure during pregnancy. Moreover, they have developed an autoantibody specific clinically relevant inhibitory peptide to block hypertension and endothelial dysfunction which could have potential clinical use in the future.

They have a strong translational research component with their tight collaborations with the Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) Division in the Obstetrics and Gynecology Department. Dr. LaMarca has served as MFM Thesis Director since 2006. Through this collaboration, they obtain human tissues to study alterations in genes and/or proteins in response to low oxygen environment or placental ischemia. Furthermore, they examine how novel therapeutics may provide an avenue for treatment in preeclamptic women by modulating specific immunopharmacological pathways that play a role in causing hypertension during pregnancy.