Christina Bailey-Hytholt
Christina Bailey-Hytholt, assistant professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering, has been awarded $259,570 from the National Science Foundation (NSF) through its Early-concept Grants for Exploratory Research (EAGER) program for a two-year project that will engineer 3D placental trophoblast models to help study preeclampsia, a pregnancy-related complication.
Preeclampsia affects 5 percent to 7 percent of all pregnancies and is responsible for a significant number of preterm births each year. The condition occurs because of underlying issues in the placenta, a temporary organ that develops during pregnancy.
Considered the “superhero of pregnancy,” the placenta plays numerous roles throughout pregnancy and impacts the lifelong health of women and infants. Cells that make up the placenta attach and embed themselves into the uterine lining during pregnancy, but complications from this process can lead to preeclampsia and other conditions.
Finding solutions to placental complications is challenging because the organ is not well understood. Bailey-Hytholt’s research will address that problem by developing 3D models that use placental cells to investigate differences in cell behavior due to preeclampsia.
Bailey-Hytholt joined the WPI faculty in 2022, and her research seeks to address critical unmet needs for women’s health. She recently was awarded $502,999 from the NSF’s Building Research Capacity of New Faculty in Biology program for a three-year project that will focus on the relationship between placental cells known as trophoblasts and the structures they secrete, called exosomes, that are important in a mother’s immune regulation and implantation of an embryo. She is the recent recipient of honors including being named a Forbes 30 under 30 in Science (2022), Extraordinary Women Advancing Healthcare in Massachusetts (2023), and American Institute of Chemical Engineers (AIChE) 35 under 35. Her work also has been supported by the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the Amnion Foundation.