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Current projects

Evaluation of fetal exposure to external loud noise

There is mounting evidence that neural memory traces are formed by auditory learning in utero and that premature newborns are particularly sensitive to the intense, sustained noises or impulses sounds associated with the use of intensive care equipment. We have recently found that that frequency contents above 10kHz are transmitted into the amniotic sac and that some frequencies areÌýattenuated by as little as 3 dB. Fine-frequency acoustic attenuation characteristics are essential to inform standards and clinical recommendations on exposure of pregnant women to noise. Such transfer functions may also inform the design of filters to produce an optimal acoustic setting for maternal occupational noise exposure, use of magnetic resonance imaging during pregnancy, and for neonatal incubators.

Pathophysiology of early pregnancy failure

Our group has been studying placentation in early pregnancy failure for 25 years and showed that many miscarriages are associated with insufficient placentation and premature entry of maternal blood inside the placenta. This ongoing research has been at the core of many of our key publications and has received funding from Wellbeing for women and The Wellcome Trust.

Placentation in the scarred-uterus: The placenta accreta spectrum

This is essentially an iatrogenic disorder of placentation which is due to the damage induces by surgical procedures on the uterus and in particular to caesarean delivery. Better understanding the pathophysiology of invasive placentation has become a clinical priority of this increasingly more common and complex disorder.

Embryonic nutritional pathways

We have studied how the embryo received its nutrients during the key-phase of organogenesis in-vivo and in-vitro and have demonstrated that during the first trimester of human pregnancy embryonic nutrition is histiotrophic rather than haemochorial. We continue to investigate the role of uterine glands and the secondary yolk sac in early pregnancy.Ìý