The placenta as a mediator of psychological stress effects on neurodevelopmental reprogramming: lessons from human in-vitro model systems

Stress-related mental illnesses like depression and anxiety are prevalent and relevant during pregnancy, affecting over 25% of women of reproductive age.

According to the developmental origins of health and disease hypothesis, and consistent with perinatal longitudinal studies, the interplay of genetic predisposition with environmental exposure shapes individual differences in health outcomes.

Unfortunately, little is known about the human-specific molecular and biological determination of maternal exposures and their outcomes on the fetus, given limited access to primary samples.

I aim to explain how the environment – via stress related agents like cortisol hormones and markers of low-grade inflammation like cytokines – is transmitted from mother to fetus, to shape brain development and ultimately establish offspring health risk and resilience.

I will model maternal stress-related exposures in primary tissues and in-vitro organoids to study tissue responses in both placenta and brain, while also linking analyses to human clinical cohorts and health registers.

This multi-disciplinary approach to studying a fundamental human development process will be paired with state-of-the-art biology techniques that will create significant new knowledge relevant for perinatal health, neurodevelopment and psychiatry.

Findings will also facilitate investigations of other pregnancy environmental exposures and inform clinical management of mental illness with both mother and baby in mind.