Research
It is the goal of the Division of Research to provide a strong, centralized, broad based, basic research component to the activities of the department. The division's administrative offices and core laboratories are located in the Woodruff Memorial Research Building on the Emory campus. The four major laboratory spaces occupy more than 3,000 square feet of space in which the division maintains a cell culture facility and dedicated areas for research in biochemistry, immunology, and molecular biology.
The division's full-time faculty support several postdoctoral fellows and technicians. A number of faculty from all divisions of the department sponsor and participate in research activities and projects. The division also actively collaborates in research projects with other departments of the Emory University School of Medicine; graduate students from other university programs also rotate through these laboratories.
The Division of Research is capable of supporting a broad spectrum of research in various aspects of gynecology and obstetrics including reproductive endocrinology, gynecologic oncology, and maternal/fetal medicine. A variety of research projects, both short- and long-term, involving immune function during pregnancy, endometriosis, preeclampsia, and menopause are currently under investigation. Residents are welcome to participate in these projects and to attend the division's ongoing seminar series, in which participants discuss their research interests and progress.
Regards,
Alicia Smith, PhD
Vice Chair for Research
Director, Division of Research
Active Research
Faculty members in the Division of Research are actively engaged in a number of basic and translational initiatives that span conditions related to infertility, pregnancy complications, cancer, and inflammatory conditions including endometriosis.
Alicia Smith, PhD, Associate Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics and Vice Chair of Research, focuses on the role of genetic and epigenetic variation in predicting behavioral and psychiatric traits. In particular, her lab is interested in the prenatal environment and early childhood because evidence suggests that adversity during these critical developmental periods increases the risk of developing childhood behavioral problems and adult psychiatric disorders. She evaluates 1) prenatal 2) child and 3) adult cohorts to determine how risk factors such as diet, stress or medication exposure interact with sequence variants or with DNA methylation patterns to promote risk.
Neil Sidell, PhD, Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, is an expert in the growth regulation of normal and tumor cells by the steroid/retinoid superfamily of nuclear receptors. His funded research aims at elucidating the mechanisms of action and potential use of retinoids, antiestrogens, and other biological response modifiers for reducing the malignant phenotype of breast cancer and other hormone dependent gynecological malignancies. He also directs an NIH funded grant to delineate mechanisms of action of steroids cell growth and immunological factors associated with endometriosis.
Augustine Rajakumar, PhD, Assistant Professor of Gynecology and Obstetrics, focuses on preeclampsia. He is interested in understanding human placental development and specifically the roles of angiogenic factors, hypoxia, syncytial knots and exosomes, and how these relate to the pathogenesis of preeclampsia. He is pursuing molecular mechanisms of placental syncytialization and maternal-fetal interactions in healthy and complicated pregnancies to promote healthy pregnancy outcomes.
Our Locations
The Division of Research is based in the Woodruff Memorial Research Building along the Clifton Corridor of Emory University's main campus. Our facilities are in close proximity to the clinical offices for Gynecology and Obstetrics, the main Clinical Integration Network site for the Atlanta Clinical and Translational Science Institute, the Winship Cancer Institute, and a few blocks from the CDC. This geographical arrangement facilitates cooperative and interdisciplinary clinical translational research investigation with partners in the Woodruff Health Sciences Center and at the CDC.