Physician Investigator,
Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology, Massachusetts General Hospital

Assistant Professor of Obstetrics,
Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School

Assistant in Gynecology & Obstetrics
Obstetrics & Gynecology, Massachusetts General Hospital

---

The Edlow laboratory focuses on the effects of maternal obesity on fetal brain development and offspring behavior, and how these effects are modified by fetal sex.

The Edlow lab was one of the first to use amniotic fluid supernatant and umbilical cord blood to investigate real-time fetal brain development in obese human pregnancy.

Gene expression profiling of these two biofluids identified abnormal gene expression signatures in fetuses of obese women, highlighting dysregulated brain development and increased inflammation.

Using a validated mouse model of maternal diet-induced obesity, we have demonstrated significant sex differences in the impact of maternal obesity on embryonic brain development, catecholamine neurotransmitter signaling, and offspring neurobehavior.

Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation also significantly influences in utero brain development and offspring behavior.

Ultimately, we anticipate this work will provide targets for a lifestyle/behavioral intervention, and possibly for prenatal therapies that could be given orally to obese pregnant women, to reverse or ameliorate deleterious structural and functional brain changes.

News: 

• Research reveals compromised transfer of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies through the placenta (Dec. 23, 2020)
• Pregnant women with COVID-19 don’t pass virus to newborns, but also may pass fewer-than-expected antibodies to newborns (Dec. 22, 2020)

Dr. Edlow’s research is funded by:

• The Reproductive Scientist Development Program/Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development
• The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists
• The American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology
• The Burroughs Wellcome Fund
• The March of Dimes
• The Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard (NORC-H)
• Boston Area Diabetes Endocrinology Research Center (BADERC)