Mass General Pregnancy Biobank

About the research

Biorepository for Understanding Maternal Immunity and Pregnancy (BUMP) aims to create a biorepository of samples across all trimesters of pregnancy to accelerate the understanding of key scientific and clinical questions in pregnancy. We are looking to understand:

1. Trimester-specific pregnancy immunity at baseline and in response to viral or bacterial illness and vaccines
2. The biology of uncomplicated pregnancy, as well as mechanisms underlying pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia or preterm birth
3. How maternal pregnancy exposures may impact the developing fetus, and offspring risk for neurodevelopmental and cardiometabolic disease in the future

A pregnancy biorepository which pairs pregnancy and lactation-specific fluids and tissues, with details including maternal medical comorbidities and pregnancy outcomes has demonstrated a clear benefit in gaining insight and mechanistic understanding into maternal and fetal/neonatal morbidity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We now seek to apply our acquired experience and skill set in establishing one of the largest biorepositories in the country for COVID-19 and the COVID vaccines in pregnancy and lactation, to establishing a general pregnancy biorepository to answer more broad-based questions about normal pregnancy physiology, immune response to vaccination in pregnancy, and pregnancy morbidity.

Why it is important

Despite centuries of research into common pregnancy complications such as preeclampsia and preterm birth, there remains a significant knowledge gap about the mechanisms underlying these pregnancy-related conditions and many others. The relative lack of effective prevention and treatment for many pregnancy-specific conditions is rooted in this lack of understanding. Establishment of a rigorously phenotyped pregnancy biorepository, including longitudinal samples spanning all trimesters of pregnancy and the postpartum period, will provide a unique resource for researchers now and in the future. Uniting tissues with pregnancy outcomes from uncomplicated and complicated pregnancies, and from non-pregnant reproductive-age women, provides the greatest power to answer key questions about pregnancy to improve the health of mothers and babies now and in the future.

Our goals

We hope to better understand the biology and immune profiles of different pregnancies. These findings may lead to new approaches to the treatments of and interventions for different pregnancy-related conditions in the future.

• Kaitlyn James, PhD, MPH, Director of MGH Ob/Gyn Research Accelerator Unit
• Daehee Han, PhD, Senior Scientist
• Paola (Andy) Lopez Zapana, PhD, Research Scientist
• Laura Ibanez-Pintor, MD, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Prabhat Upadhyay, PhD, Postdoctoral Fellow
• Shiri Barbash-Hazan, MD, Research Fellow
• Rachel Yinger, BS, Lab Technician
• Sophia Feinerman, BA, Clinical Research Coordinator
• Oscar Jimenez, BS, Lab Technician
• Josh Remland, BS, Lab Technician
• Liza Pobezinskaya, BS, Clinical Research Coordinator
• Bridget O’Connor, BS, Departmental Project/Program Manager

Alumni:

• Olyvia Jasset, BA
• Alexa Silfen, BA
• Caroline Bald, BS
• Caroline Bradford, BS
• Layla Siraj, MD, PhD
• Emily Gilbert, BA
• Zhaojing (Ariel) Liu, BA

Recent news and publications

Jasset OJ, Lopez Zapana PA, Bahadir Z, Shook L, Dennis M, Gilbert E, Liu ZA, Yinger RV, Bald C, Bradford CG, Silfen AH, Klein SL, Pekosz A, Permar S, Konnikova L, Yonker LM, Lauffenburger D, Nelson A, Elovitz MA, Edlow AG. Enhanced placental antibody transfer efficiency with longer interval between maternal respiratory syncytial virus vaccination and birth. Am J Obstet Gynecol. 2025 Jun;232(6):554.e1-554.e15. doi: 10.1016/j.ajog.2024.10.053. Epub 2024 Nov 7. PMID: 39515450; PMCID: PMC12056162.

Study Reveals Best Timing for Getting the RSV Vaccine During Pregnancy to Protect Newborns