Paquette Lab
Tackling Spontaneous Preterm Birth through a Precision Environmental Health Lens
Fetal development is a short period of time that affects health throughout the lifespan. The placenta is a crucial organ that regulates the in-utero environment and alters development. Our lab applies a precision medicine framework to understand the link between environmental exposures, maternal nutrition, and other factors and infant health outcomes. We develop and share computational tools for multi-omics data integration using placental networks.
We are currently applying this approach to identify risk factors for spontaneous preterm birth. Preterm birth is the leading cause of infant morbidity and mortality, and preterm infants require intensive acute and long-term care. More research is needed to understand the underlying risk factors and mechanisms leading to spontaneous preterm birth. We are investigating links between prenatal factors (nutrition, environmental exposures) and spontaneous preterm birth using multi-omics data.
Our long-term goal is to gain insight into the underlying molecular mechanisms linking the in-utero environment to infant and child health outcomes by applying innovative network biology approaches and multi-omic data analyses within the placenta.
Our lab is supported by the NICHD (R00HD09611, PI Paquette), NIEHS (R01ES033785 - Outstanding New Environmental Scientist award, PI Paquette), the Brotman Baty Institute (Catalytic Collaboration Grant) and Seattle Children's Research Institute.
Applying Precision Medicine Approaches to Link the Prenatal Environment to Infant and Child Health
Precision medicine is an innovative approach that tailors disease prevention that incorporates information about genes, environments, and lifestyles. Precision medicine can improve prenatal care because the traditional "one-size fits all" approach to prenatal care cannot capture the complexity of maternal-fetal biology.
We are currently deploying a precision medicine approach through integration of molecular signatures of prenatal exposures and outcomes. Molecular signatures are sets of biomolecular features generated from ‘omics data, including epigenomic, metabolomic or proteomic data that can be used to either gain mechanistic insight or for prediction in the context of clinical phenotypes We have generated placental molecular signatures in relation to a variety of relevant exposures and outcomes, which we are in the process of integrating:
Prenatal exposures
- Phthalates
- Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons
- Organophosphate esters
Maternal factors
- Prenatal vitamin D levels
- Maternal stressful events
Perinatal outcomes
- Preterm birth
Building Multi-Omic Networks to Better Understand Placental Biology
As we generate, analyze, and integrate our placental omics datasets, we have used our data to build networks to better understand placental biology. We have made these networks available in the Placental Computational Tools Section of our website. We hope these tools can be useful for other researchers in this space! To date, we have developed two tools:
- Placental Transcriptional Regulatory Network
This tool can help explain relationships between transcription factors and target genes in the placenta. - Comparative Transcriptomic Placental Model Atlas
This tool summarizes relative gene expression in different cell models of the placenta. This can aid researchers in selecting the best model system for their experimental question.
Alison Paquette, PhD
Her primary research interest is to use 'omics data generated from the placenta to better understand the developmental origins of health and disease, with a particular focus on relationships between prenatal environmental exposures and spontaneous preterm birth. She has experience analyzing and integrating transcriptomic and epigenomic data in complex human datasets and in-vitro systems.
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Evan Firsick, MA
Research Technician III
Evan is a Research Technician III in the Paquette Lab where he studies how phthalates and other chemicals alter placental function using different placental cell lines. He received his BS in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Oregon State University and holds a MA in Bioethics and Health Policy from Loyola University Chicago.
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Gina Huynh
Graduate Student
Gina is a second-year Epidemiology Master of Public Health student at the University of Washington. In the Paquette Lab she studies the association between environmental contaminants and spontaneous preterm birth through changes in the placental transcriptome and disruptions in biological pathways. Gina holds a BA in Biochemistry from the University of Washington. She enjoys going on walks and taking Zumba classes.
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Samantha Lapehn, PhD
Research Scientist III
Samantha joined the Paquette Lab as a postdoctoral fellow in 2021. Her research uses toxicological and epidemiological methods to evaluate the placental transcriptome in response to environmental exposures. Samantha completed her PhD in Toxicology at University of Michigan and also holds an MS in Environmental Health from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and a BA in Biological Sciences from Cornell University.
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Smaranda Lupu
Undergraduate Researcher
Smaranda is an undergraduate at the University of Washington majoring in biochemistry. In the Paquette lab, she works on gene co-expression analysis to investigate the functional roots of lethal genes. She hopes to one day become a pediatrician, utilizing her research background to expand her passion for genetics and children’s health.
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Mariana Parenti, PhD
Postdoctoral Researcher
Mariana is a postdoctoral researcher in the Paquette lab investigating the relationships between prenatal nutrition and environmental exposures, placental gene expression, and birth outcomes. She holds a BS in Clinical Nutrition and a PhD in Nutritional Biology from the University of California, Davis.