9-90™ is a groundbreaking study that looks at how pregnancy impacts our lifelong health—from 9 months to 90+ years. The program creates an infrastructure for bringing together researchers from different disciplines, from geneticists, biologists, and epidemiologists, to people who study decisions. In each issue of Magee Magazine, we will look at some current questions the investigators are tackling.
How is your research related to the 9-90 study?
In my research, we’re looking at assisted reproduction using a mouse model to determine whether any of the procedures to treat infertility lead to any changes in epigenetic information in the early embryo. Epigenetics is information on top of the DNA that controls gene expression at all stages of human development. There are three prominent syndromes that we are investigating to determine their links to assisted reproductive treatments. They are: Beckwith-Wiedemann Syndrome, an overgrowth disorder, Silver-Russell Syndrome, an undergrowth disorder, and Angelman Syndrome, a neurological disorder. Although assisted pregnancy therapies are generally considered safe, evidence suggests these three syndromes occur at somewhat higher rates during assisted reproduction.
What are the goals of your research?
We want to determine if particular procedures are giving rise to these syndromes. If we identify what increases the susceptibility to these syndromes, we can investigate how to get around that risk. We are also trying to identify why particular procedures or techniques are leading to higher risks. My work fits right into the 9-90 initiative since we are looking at the long-term effects of exposures during embryonic development. This idea has been around for a little while, but the research to look at how this is happening has been very limited. So this initiative is really on the cutting edge on how exposure during the first nine months—and in my research the first week of life—can shed light on longer-term health issues.
What are the recent developments in your work?
We are embarking on a new area of research. The major cause of infertility that assisted reproduction helps with is advanced maternal age. In the last 20 years, the age at which women are attempting pregnancy has gone up. The rates of infertility have increased now to about 10 -15% in the U.S. population. Compared to 1984, when it was about 5% of the population. Some of this can be attributed to advanced maternal age, among other factors. We’re trying to build a natural mouse model of aging to see if advanced maternal aging itself can lead to changes in epigenetics information that can cause these diseases. People may not realize this, but from a biological perspective, the optimum age for pregnancy is between 20 to 30 years old. A woman in her 40’s trying to conceive will have much greater difficulties because egg quality and pregnancy rate are much lower. Our research will determine whether advanced maternal age leads to changes in epigenetic information that affect these outcomes.
Why is Magee an ideal place to conduct your research?
Magee has a specialty in reproductive biology from both the male and female perspective. There are so many great researchers working in this field right here. It’s a fantastic environment to troubleshoot ideas or just engage in conversations about our work. Magee is a national leader in reproductive biology research and our donor network is amazing. Reproductive biology sometimes falls behind in research dollars compared to research to fight diseases like cancer or neurological diseases. But what should be considered is that the embryonic period we are investigating has a connection to health later in life, impacting conditions like obesity, cardiovascular diseases, hypertension, and cancer. For more information on