The Herington laboratory is focused on interventional approaches to regulate uterine contractions and efforts to better understand the mechanism of uterine contractility. Current treatments are limited in scope and efficacy, often adversely affecting both the mother and her offspring. Our laboratory has established a drug discovery strategy to identifying novel regulators of uterine myometrial contractility. Our laboratory is equipped for high-throughput screening of small-molecules using an in vitro cell-based assay, testing of hit-molecules in an ex vivo tissue contractility assay and pre-clinical in vivo testing in mouse models of preterm labor. Other experimental approaches include: traditional cell/molecular biology to elucidate mechanisms of action. Our laboratory utilizes mouse and human uterine myometrial tissue samples, mouse models of preterm labor, and transgenic mouse models of delayed parturition.

My commitment to a career focused on maternal-fetal interactions during pregnancy and labor was initiated during my doctoral studies, where I established in vivo mouse models to examine the important effect of the embryo on maternal uterine changes necessary for the establishment of pregnancy. Specifically, use of mouse models of artificially-induced decidualization, allowed examination into the molecular and paracrine signaling between the embryo and uterus during the processes of implantation and decidualization. I have continued interests and enthusiasm in research centered on maternal-fetal interactions during early pregnancy. Through current collaborations with Dr. Bibhash C. Paria's, I have been fortunate to assist with research projects focused on: 1) improved understanding of the process of blastocyst implantation using mouse and hamster models and 2) exploring new therapeutic strategies for attenuating endotoxin-induced early pregnancy defects.

While a postdoctoral fellow under the mentorship of Dr. Jeff Reese, I evaluated the mechanisms responsible for the delayed parturition phenotype of cyclooxygenase-1 knockout (Cox-1KO) mice. While unhindered uterine contractile function was observed in Cox-1KO pregnant females, an impaired cervical dilation phenotype was determined to contribute to parturition phenotype of these mice. Dr. Reese and I continue collaborative efforts to examine uterine and cervical function in mouse models of delayed parturition. Specifically, we utilize in vivo Raman spectroscopy to assess in vivo assessment cervical molecular changes during normal and impaired cervical remodeling in mouse models used to study pregnancy.

Dr. Bill Heerman is an Associate Professor of Pediatrics. He is the Director of the Division of Academic General Pediatrics and Program Director for the Academic General Pediatrics Fellowship. He also co-leads the Epidemiology Track of Vanderbilt's Master in Public Health Program. His research focuses improving maternal-child health outcomes related to obesity in communities through the development and implementation of behavioral interventions to support healthy childhood growth. He has a particular focus on low-income and minority populations. He is board certified in Internal Medicine and Pediatrics, and is committed to creating multi-generational solutions to health disparities.

>> View Publications on PubMed

Dr. Hatch's research focuses on improving the safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of mechanical ventilation (MV) in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU). His research uses methods from epidemiology, implementation science, bioinformatics, human factors engineering, and quality improvement. Recent and ongoing work has focused on the safety of endotracheal intubation in newborns, the epidemiology of MV and sedation use in the NICU, developing novel methods to measure and decrease harmful MV in the NICU. In addition to his research, Dr. Hatch organizes and leads the quality improvement program in the Vanderbilt NICUs as the Director of Quality Improvement and Implementation Research.

>> View Publications on PubMed

Dr. Halasa is Craig Weaver Professor of Pediatrics in the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at Vanderbilt University. She received a Bachelor of Science degree with a major in biology from the University of Akron. She received her M.D. degree from the Medical College of Ohio and completed a residency in pediatrics at Columbus Children's Hospital. She completed a fellowship in pediatric infectious diseases at Vanderbilt and earned an M.P.H. degree during her fellowship training. She joined the faculty in 2004. Dr. Halasa's research involves determining the burden of diarrheal and respiratory illnesses in young children and specialized populations and finding ways to reduce their burden (e.g. through vaccine, drugs, etc...). Since 2002, Dr. Halasa has been involved in vaccine trials enrolling children from all ages, including young infants and specialized populations such as children with cancer. The vaccine trials that Dr. Halasa has been involved with in the past include influenza vaccines (both the trivalent inactivated influenza vaccine and the cold-adapted influenza vaccine), pertussis vaccines, pneumococcal, and RSV vaccines. In addition, she has the expertise in vaccine protocol development. She was the PI of a respiratory viral surveillance study in Amman, Jordan, which was funded Union Bank of Switzerland. Currently, currently is PI of the Vanderbilt site of the New Vaccine Surveillance Network initially established in 1999 by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to predict the impact of potential new vaccines and two NIH grants investigating high dose influenza vaccine versus standard dose influenza vaccine in pediatric and adult stem cell recipients.

>> View Publications on PubMed

As a research fellow many years ago, Dr. Guttentag had the opportunity to investigate lung surfactant biology just as surfactant therapy was approved for use in prematurely born infants with lung immaturity. This great advance in neonatology from the 20th century fueled her passion for translating basic science discoveries into solutions for human lung disease. At Vanderbilt, Dr. Guttentag's laboratory research now focuses on mechanisms of lung injury and effective repair, as exemplified by a rare genetic disorder — Hermansky Pudlak syndrome. Rare diseases provide unique insight into more common diseases, and the explosion of human genomics, basic biology and mouse modeling holds great potential to bring new life-saving and disease-mitigating therapies for human lung diseases.

>> View Publications on PubMed

Dr. Guthrie is active in clinical research investigating minimally invasive surfactant therapies, probiotics for the prevention of necrotizing enterocolitis, and assisting in the development of a user centered ventilator weaning protocol.