Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology
Edlow Lab: Andrea Edlow, MD, MSc
Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology
Thier Building, Floor 9
60 Blossom Street
Boston,
MA
02114
Email: aedlow@mgh.harvard.edu
Explore This Lab
Overview
Andrea Edlow, MD, MsC, is a member of the Obstetrics and Gynecology Faculty at Harvard Medical School and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital.
The laboratory of Andrea Edlow, MD, MSc, at Massachusetts General Hospital investigates the effects of maternal immune activation on fetal brain development and offspring behavior, and how these effects are modified by placental immune activation and fetal sex. Our work focuses on pre-clinical models (rodent) of maternal diet-induced obesity, and translational work with maternal COVID-19 infection in pregnancy.
Our lab was one of the first to use amniotic fluid supernatant and umbilical cord blood to investigate real-time fetal brain development in obese human pregnancy.
Gene expression profiling of these two biofluids identified abnormal gene expression signatures in fetuses of obese women, highlighting dysregulated brain development and increased inflammation.
Using a validated mouse model of maternal diet-induced obesity, we have demonstrated significant sex differences in the impact of maternal obesity on embryonic brain development, catecholamine neurotransmitter signaling, and offspring neurobehavior.
Maternal diet during pregnancy and lactation also significantly influences in utero brain development and offspring behavior.
Ultimately, we anticipate this work will provide targets for a lifestyle/behavioral intervention, and possibly for prenatal therapies that could be given orally to obese pregnant women, to reverse or ameliorate deleterious structural and functional changes.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, our lab pivoted to expand our focus to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy. Partnering with a multi-disciplinary team, we have worked across the Mass General Brigham system to establish one of the largest COVID-19 Pregnancy Biorepositories in the country. Through these samples generously provided by enrolled participants, we have generated key insights into maternal immune response, vertical transmission and placental antibody transfer.
In the News
COVID vaccine effective in pregnant women –The Naked Scientist (BBC) - April 20, 2021
More Signs COVID Shots Are Safe for Pregnant Women – WebMD - April 20, 2021
Covid-19 Vaccinations of Pregnant Mothers Also Protect Newborns, Studies Suggest – Mar. 31 - The Wall Street Journal
Vaccination Calculus is Changing for New Parents – Mar. 31 - The Atlantic
Estudio revela cómo vacunas contra COVID-19 podrían beneficiar a embarazadas y sus bebés – Mar. 30 - Telemundo (video)
Pfizer, Moderna COVID Vaccines Safe for Pregnant Women – Mar. 29 - WebMD
Pregnant women 'didn't have the data' – until now: COVID-19 vaccines are safe and effective, even for babies, study shows - Mar. 27 – USA Today
Reporte: vacunas de Pfizer y Moderna son efectivas en embarazadas y lactantes - Mar. 26 - Telemundo
COVID-19 Vaccination Response in Pregnant and Lactating Women: A Cohort Study - Mar. 25 - American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology
Pregnant women show robust immune response to COVID-19 vaccine, study finds - Mar. 25 - TODAY
Pfizer and Moderna are safe and effective in pregnant women, provide antibodies to newborns - Mar. 25 - ABC News
Study says Covid-19 vaccines provide protection for pregnant and lactating women—and their newborns – Mar. 25 - CNN
Pregnant Or Lactating? Vaccinated People Might Be Passing On COVID Immunity To Their Babies - Mar. 2021 - Washington Post
Vaccinated Mothers Pass Covid Antibodies to Babies In Utero and Through Breastmilk, Early Studies Show - Mar. 2021 - WBUR
Edlow Lab on CBS News to talk COVID-19 Vaccine Safety and Efficacy in Pregnancy - Mar. 2021- CBS News
Dr. Edlow's Research Named a Top Science Advance of the Year! - Jan. 2021 - NICHD Director’s Corner
Evidence Builds That Pregnant Women Pass Covid Antibodies to Newborns - Jan. 2021- New York Times
Research reveals compromised transfer of SARS-CoV-2-specific antibodies through the placenta - Dec. 2020 - Mass General
Pregnant women with COVID-19 don’t pass virus to newborns, but also may pass fewer-than-expected antibodies to newborns - Dec. 2020 - Mass General
NORCH Newsletter Investigator Spotlight: Andrea G. Edlow, MD, MSc - Nov. 2019
Lab Members
Principal Investigator
Andrea Edlow, MD, MSc
Assistant Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology, Harvard Medical School
Laboratory Staff
Lydia Shook, MD
Dr. Shook is a Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital. She joined the Edlow Lab during fellowship to explore how maternal exposures and disease states, such as obesity, can affect offspring health through placental inflammation and immune activation. Her research and clinical work has recently focused on investigating the impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy.
She received her undergraduate and medical degrees from Yale University in New Haven, Connecticut, completed residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Yale-New Haven Hospital, and joined the Yale faculty as Instructor while completing a one-year fellowship in Medical Education within the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology. After completing Maternal-Fetal Medicine fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, she will join the MFM Division as faculty. She has been awarded the the BWH/Mass General NICHD WRHR (Women’s Reproductive Health Research) Faculty Career Development Award to support her work with the Edlow lab as an Investigator at the Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology.
Rose DeGuzman, PhD – Behavioral Neuroscientist and Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Dr. Rose M. De Guzman is a behavioral neuroscientist and postdoctoral research fellow. Prior to joining Dr. Andrea Edlow’s lab, she received her B.S. in Nutritional Biochemistry at UC Davis and earned her Ph.D. in Behavioral Neuroscience at University at Albany, NY. In the laboratory of Dr. Damian G. Zuloaga, her Ph.D. dissertation investigated alterations in corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 1 levels within the hypothalamus and preoptic area during the postpartum period. Outside of lab, she is actively involved in organizations that mentor and empower high school students, first-generation college students, women in neuroscience and underrepresented minorities.
Sara Brigida - Research Technician
Sara completed her undergraduate studies in neuroscience at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY. During her time at Skidmore she studied circadian rhythms in the Possidente Lab and social bias and inequities in the Social Cognition and Intergroup Dynamics Lab. Sara is now a Research Technician I in the Edlow Lab, where she works with Dr. Edlow and staff to study the effects of maternal obesity on offspring behavior and brain development. She hopes to continue to graduate school and study neuroscience in the future. Fun fact: Sara co-hosted Italian Radio Hour in college and enjoys taking ballet classes in her spare time.
Lab Alumni
- Ruthy Glass, PhD, postdoctoral fellow. Current position: Associate Consultant, IQVIA
- William Jin, BS, lab technician. Current position: Master’s student, Boston University
Publications
Selected Publications
- Gray KJ, Bordt EA, Atyeo C, Deriso E, Akinwunmi B, Young N, Baez AM, Shook LL, Cvrk D, James K, De Guzman RM, Brigida S, Diouf K, Goldfarb I, Bebell LM, Yonker LM, Fasano A, Rabi SA, Elovitz MA, Alter G, Edlow AG. COVID-19 vaccine response in pregnant and lactating women: a cohort study. American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology, March 25, 2021.
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Evan A Bordt, Lydia L Shook, Caroline Atyeo, Krista M Pullen, Rose M De Guzman, Marie-Charlotte Meinsohn, Maeva Chauvin, Stephanie Fischinger, Laura J Yockey, Kaitlyn James, Rosiane Lima, Lael M Yonker, Alessio Fasano, Sara Brigida, Lisa M Bebell, Drucilla J Roberts, David Pepin, Jun R Huh, Staci D Bilbo, Jonathan Z Li, Anjali Kaimal, Danny Schust, Kathryn J Gray, Douglas Lauffenburger, Galit Alter, Andrea G Edlow. Sexually dimorphic placental responses to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection. Biorxiv. 2021.
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Sheridan, S.D., Thanos, J.M., De Guzman, R.M. McCrea LT, Horng JE, Fu T, Sellgren CM, Perlis RH, Edlow AG. Umbilical cord blood-derived microglia-like cells to model COVID-19 exposure. Transl Psychiatry. 11, 179 (2021).
- Sheridan SD, Thanos JM, De Guzman RM, McCrea LT, Horng J, Fu T, Sellgren CM, Perlis RH, Edlow AG. Umbilical cord blood derived microglia-like cells to model COVID-19 exposure. Biorxiv. Epub 2020 Oct 7 (under peer review).
- Edlow AG, Li JA, Collier AY, Atyeo C, James KE, Boatin AA, Gray KJ, Bordt EA, Shook LL, Yonker LM, Fasano A, Diouf K, Croul N, Devane S, Yockey LJ, Lima R, Shui J, Matute JD, Lerou PH, Akinwunmi BO, Schmidt A, Feldman J, Hauser BM, Caradonna TM, De la Flor D, D’Avino P, Regan J, Corry H, Coxen K, Fajnzylber J, Pepin D, Seaman, MS, Barouch DH, Walker BD, Yu XG, Kaimal AJ, Roberts DJ, Alter G. Assessment of maternal and neonatal SARS-CoV-2 viral load, transplacental antibody transfer, and placental pathology in pregnancies during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Netw Open. 2020 Dec 1;3(12):e2030455.
- Atyeo C, Pullen KM, Bordt EA, Fischinger S, Burke J, Michell A, Slein MD, Loos C, Shook LL, Boatin AA, Yockey LJ, Pepin D, Meinsohn M, Nguyen NMP, Chauvin M, Roberts DJ, Goldfarb IT, Matute JD, James KE, Yonker LM, Bebell LM, Kaimal AJ, Gray KJ, Lauffenburger D, Edlow AG, Alter G. Compromised SARS-CoV-2-specific placental antibody transfer. Cell. 2020 Dec 23.
- Bartsch YC, Wang C, Zohar T, Fischinger S, Atyeo C, Burke J, Kang J, Edlow AG, Fasano A, Nilles EJ, Woolley AE, Karlson EW, Hopke AR, Irimia D, Fischer ES, Ryan ET, Charles R, Julg BD, Lauffenburger DA, Yonker LM, Alter G. Humoral signatures of protective and pathological SARS-CoV2 infection in children. Nature Medicine. 2020 (in press).
- Yonker LM, Neilan AM, Bartsch Y, Patel AB, Regan J, Arya P, Gootkind E, Park G, Hardcastle M, St John A, Appleman L, Chiu ML, Fialkowski A, De la Flor D, Lima R, Bordt EA, Yockey LJ, D’Avino P, Fischinger S, Shui JE, Lerou PH, Bonventre JV, Yu XG, Ryan ET, Bassett IV, Irimia D, Edlow AG, Alter G, Li JZ, Fasano A. Pediatric Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Virus 2 (SARS-CoV-2): clinical presentation, infectivity, and immune responses. J Pediatr. 2020 Dec; 227:45-52.
- Soffer MD, Shook LL, James K, Sawyer MR, Ciaranello A, Mahrouk R, Bernstein SN, Boatin AA, Edlow AG, York-Best C, Kaimal AJ, Goldfarb IT. Protocol-driven intensive outpatient management of pregnant patients with symptomatic COVID-19. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2020 Nov;7(11):ofaa524.
- Goldfarb IT, Clapp MA, Soffer MD, Shook LL, Rushfirth K, Edlow AG, Boatin AA, Kaimal AJ, Barth WH Jr, Bryant AS. Prevalence and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness in symptomatic pregnant and postpartum women stratified by Hispanic ethnicity. Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Aug;136(2):300–302. Epub 2020 Jun 02.
- Shook L, Shui JE, MD, Boatin AA, Devane S, Natalie Croul N, Yonker LM, Matute JD, Lima RS, Schwinn M, Cvrk D, Gardner L, Azevedo R, Stanton S, Bordt EA, Yockey LJ, Fasano A, Li JZ, Yu XG, Kaimal AJ, Lerou PH, Edlow AG. Rapid establishment of a COVID-19 perinatal biorepository: early lessons from the first 100 women enrolled. BMC Med Res Methodol. 2020 Aug 26;20(1)215.
- Goldfarb IT, Clapp MA, Soffer MD, Shook LL, Rushfirth K, Edlow AG, Boatin AA, Kaimal AJ, Barth WH Jr, Bryant AS. Prevalence and severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illness in symptomatic pregnant and postpartum women stratified by Hispanic ethnicity. Obstet Gynecol. 2020 Aug;136(2):300–302. Epub 2020 Jun 02.
- Edlow AG, Guedj F, Sverdlov D, Pennings JLA, Bianchi DW. Significant Effects of Maternal Diet During Pregnancy on the Murine Fetal Brain Transcriptome and Offspring Behavior. Front. Neurosci. 2019; 13(1335).
- Edlow AG, Chen M, Smith NA, Lu CA, McElrath T. Fetal Bisphenol A Exposure: Concentration of Conjugated and Unconjugated Bisphenol A in Amniotic Fluid in the Second and Third Trimesters. Reprod Toxicol. 34(1): 1-7, 2012.
- Edlow AG, Bianchi DW. Tracking Fetal Development Through Molecular Analysis of Maternal Biofluids Biochim Biophys Acta. 1822(12):1970-80, 2012.
- Chen M, Edlow AG, Lin T, Smith NA, McElrath T, Lu CA. Determination of bisphenol-A levels in human amniotic fluid samples by liquid chromatography coupled with mass spectrometry. J Sep Sci 34(14):1648-55, 2011.
- Hui L, Wick HC, Edlow AG, Cowan JM, Bianchi DW. Global gene expression analysis of term amniotic fluid cell-free RNA: A window into fetal maturation. Obstet Gynecol 121(6):1248-54, 2013.
- Edlow AG, Vora NL, Hui L, Wick HC, Cowan JM, Bianchi DW. Maternal obesity affects fetal neurodevelopmental and metabolic gene expression: a pilot study. PLoS One. 9(2):e88661, 2014.
- Noto K, Majidi S, Edlow AG, Bianchi DW, Slonim D. CSAX: Characterizing Systematic Anomalies in eXpression Data. J Comput Biol 22(5):402-13, 2015.
- Edlow AG, Slonim DK, Wick HC, Hui L, Bianchi DW. The Pathway Not Taken: Understanding 'Omics Data in the Perinatal Context. Am J Obstet Gynecol 213(1):59.e1-172, 2015.
- Neri C, Edlow AG. Effects of Maternal Obesity on Fetal Programming: Molecular Approaches. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med, 2015 Sep 3;6. pii: a026591.
- Edlow AG, Hui L, Wick HC, Fried I, Bianchi DW. Assessing the fetal effects of maternal obesity via transcriptomic analysis of cord blood: a prospective case-control study. BJOG 123(2): 180-189, 2016.
- Edlow AG, Guedj F, Pennings JLA, Sverdlov D, Neri C, Bianchi DW. Males are from Mars, females are from Venus: sex-specific fetal brain gene expression signatures in a mouse model of maternal diet-induced obesity. Am J Obstet Gynecol 214(5):623.e1-623.e10, 2016.
- Edlow AG. Maternal Obesity and Neurodevelopmental and Psychiatric Disorders in Offspring. Prenatal Diagnosis, 37(1):95-110, 2017. PMC5572633.
- Mhatre M, Adeli S, Norwitz EN, Craigo S, Phillippe M, Edlow AG. The effect of maternal obesity on placental cell-free DNA release in a mouse model. Reprod Sci 2018, in press.