Our Team
Kaela Varberg, PhD
Principal Investigator
Dr. Varberg's graduate training was based in reproductive biology with an emphasis on cell physiology and developmental origins of health and disease. She received her doctoral degree in Cellular and Integrative Physiology from Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Varberg's postdoctoral training remained within reproductive biology, but with a new emphasis on trophoblast development and placentation. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Kansas Medical Center where she expanded her expertise from primary patient cell culture to human trophoblast stem cell culture and mutant rat models.
Dr. Varberg remains fascinated by maternal/fetal interaction during pregnancy and the field of developmental origins of health and disease, or the impact of developmental events on long-term health outcomes. She leads a research program that leverages epigenomic approaches to study placental development in hopes of improving maternal and fetal health outcomes.
Keisuke Kozai, PhD
Research Scientist
Hometown: Okayama, Japan
Education: B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in Agricultural Sciences, Okayama University, Japan
Research interests: As a research scientist specializing in reproductive biology, my research journey revolves around the fascinating domain of placental development and its implications for pregnancy health. Delving into the nuances of trophoblast differentiation, I am passionate about understanding how disruptions in placental function contribute to pregnancy complications. My ultimate objective is to leverage this knowledge towards the development of targeted therapeutics, aiming to offer solutions for pregnancy complications rooted in the intricate dynamics of placental biology.
Ashley Howard
Doctoral Research Student
Hometown: Overland Park, KS
Education: B.S., Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology, University of Kansas, Lawrence, KS
Research interests: As a graduate student in the Varberg Lab, I am investigating how the placenta affects fetal development and long-term health outcomes, with particular interest in the placenta-heart axis. A growing body of evidence implicates abnormal placentation in the genesis of congenital heart defects (CHDs), one of the most common classes of birth defect worldwide. Using human and animal models, I hope to elucidate the molecular mechanisms through which these two systems interact with each other and identify possible avenues for intervention to improve maternal and fetal health outcomes.
Xingrao Ke
Research Scientist
Hometown: Haikou, Hainan, China
Education: MBBS, Sun Yat-sen University School of Medicine, Guangzhou, China
Research interests: My research has focused on exploring the epigenetic regulations of genes associated with the fetal origins of adult disease, with a particular emphasis on the brain. Many neurobehavioral disorders likely trace their genesis back to pathophysiological changes in the placenta, sparking my interest in understanding how placental responses promote survival of the fetus against in utero threats and can alter the trajectory of fetal brain development. The significance of the placenta-brain axis is that if placental changes can guide fetal brain development, then they may also provide mechanistic understanding of the fetal origin of neurobehavioral disorders, such as autism spectrum disorders (ASD), and open up new early diagnostic and treatment avenues.
Qi Fu, MD, PhD
Research Scientist
Education: MD in China Medical University, Liaoning, China; PhD in Peking University, Beijing, China.
Research interests: My research has focused on epigenetic mechanisms of developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD). Specifically, I have studied paradigms of intrauterine growth restriction and non-alcoholic liver disease; research areas I have pursued since my postdoctoral training in molecular biology and epigenetics. With an obstetrician gynecologist background, I am excited to return to my roots by joining the Varberg Lab to study placental development. Overall, I hope my research contributions will improve maternal and fetal health outcomes.
