Pregnancy and Neonatology Study Section – PN

Topics

• Placental development and maintenance: trophoblast invasion and differentiation; endocrinology; transport; the development of utero-placental blood flow; maternal/fetal immune-tolerance mechanisms; hypoxia; epigenetics; application of novel technologies or approaches to assess placenta development/function across pregnancy.
• Parturition: cervical ripening; myometrial contractility; production of factors leading to labor; obstructive labor; clinical obstetrics.
• Complications of pregnancy: preeclampsia; gestational diabetes; maternal metabolic changes and obesity; fetal origins of disease involving fetal/neonatal/maternal endpoints; spontaneous abortion; pre-term labor; recurrent pregnancy loss; diabetic embryopathy; intra-uterine growth restriction.
• Fetal biology: growth, development, and metabolism; fetal physiology, pharmacology, toxicology, and neurobiology; fetal diseases; in utero infection; maternal-fetal interactions; fetal microchimerism.
• Neonatology: transition to extra-uterine life; neonatal physiology, endocrinology, and pathophysiology; jaundice; complications of low birth weight; SIDS

Shared Interests and Overlaps

There are shared interests with Cellular, Molecular and Integrative Reproduction [CMIR] in the investigation of factors that modulate early embryo implantation. Grant applications that focus on post-implantation and trophoblast invasion may be reviewed in PN. Applications focused on preimplantation embryo development up to implantation may be review in CMIR.

There are shared interests with Nutrition and Metabolism in Health and Disease (NMHD) in the investigation of maternal and postnatal nutrient and dietary exposures and effects on fetal health outcomes. Applications focused on nutritional effects on maternal and infant programming and metabolic health may be reviewed in NMHD, while those focused on other metabolism-related complications, including gestational diabetes, on fetal development and health may be reviewed here.

There are shared interests with Clinical and Integrative Diabetes and Obesity Study Section [CIDO] in the investigation of maternal obesity and diabetes. Grant appliations that focus on understanding complications to pregnancy, fetal development, or the neonate by gestational diabetes or obesity may be reviewed in PN. Applications that focus on maternal nutrition and gestational diabetes effects on childhood or adult obesity may be review by CIDO.

There are shared interest with Integrative and Clinical Endocrinology and Reproduction [ICER] in the investigation of reproductive toxicology. Applications that focus on endocrine or reproductive function may be reviewed by ICER. Applications focused on effects on pregnancy complications or fetal development may be reviewed in PN.

There are shared interests with Human Studies of Diabetes and Obesity (HSDO) in the investigation of maternal obesity and diabetes. Grant applications that focus on understanding complications to pregnancy, fetal development, or the neonate by gestational diabetes or obesity may be reviewed in PN. Applications that focus on maternal nutrition and gestational diabetes effects on childhood or adult obesity may be review by HSDO.

There are shared interests in pregnancy with Reproductive, Perinatal and Pediatric Health (RPPH). Applications that emphasize the physiology and pathophysiology of pregnancy and the neonatal period including clinical obstetrics and maternal fetal medicine to understand the mechanisms underlying pregnancy and its disorders are reviewed in PN. Applications that emphasize the determinants of pregnancy and neonatal health outcomes in human subpopulations are reviewed in RPPH. 

There are shared interests with Immunobiology of Transplantation and Alloimmunity (ITA). Applications addressing the mechanisms of immune tolerance towards allogeneic fetal antigens, during early stages of pregnancy, and applications dealing with immune system development in the offspring may be reviewed in ITA. Applications addressing the maternal/fetal immune-tolerance mechanisms related to the physiology of pregnancy and placental development, parturition, and fetal/neonatal development may be reviewed in PN.

There are shared interests with Pulmonary Injury, Repair, and Remodeling (PIRR). Applications which focus on fetal and postnatal lung development and lung diseases associated with a defect in lung development, such as BPD, may be reviewed in PIRR. Fetal biology and neonatology applications may be reviewed in PN.