Andrea Edlow, MD, MSc.
Associate Professor of OB/GYN, Harvard Medical School
Director of Obstetric Research, Maternal-Fetal Medicine
Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Ob/Gyn
Principal Investigator, Vincent Center for Reproductive Biology & Mass General Brigham COVID-19 Pregnancy Biorepository
Massachusetts General Hospital
Andrea Edlow, MD, MSc is an Associate Professor of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology at Harvard Medical School and a Maternal-Fetal Medicine specialist at Massachusetts General Hospital, where she serves as Vice Chair of Research for the Department of Ob/Gyn. Dr Edlow’s laboratory focuses on the effects of maternal obesity and maternal immune activation on placental immune activation, fetal brain development and offspring behavior, and how these effects are modified by fetal sex.
Dr. Edlow is the PI of the Mass General Brigham COVID-19 Pregnancy Biorepository, one of the largest such repositories in the country with samples from over 1200 participants. Her research is funded by NIAID, NICHD, NIMH, NIDDK, the March of Dimes, and the Simons Foundation.
The Edlow Laboratory focuses on the effects of maternal obesity on fetal brain development and offspring behavior, and how these effects are modified by fetal sex. She is particularly interested in the placenta-brain connection and how maternal inflammation may influence the fetal innate immune response. Her 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. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Dr. Edlow’s laboratory investigated immune crosstalk across the maternal-fetal dyad in the setting of SARS-CoV-2 infection and maternal COVID-19 vaccination. Dr. Edlow’s research is funded by the Reproductive Scientist Development Program/NICHD, the American College of Ob/Gyn, the American Board of Ob/Gyn, the March of Dimes, the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, the Nutrition Obesity Research Center at Harvard, and the Boston Area Diabetes and Endocrinology Research Center.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Edlow lab pivoted to expand its focus to maternal SARS-CoV-2 infection in pregnancy. Partnering with a multi-disciplinary team, they 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, they have generated key insights into maternal immune response, vertical transmission and placental antibody transfer.
Read about Dr. Edlow's Lab: https://edlowlab.org/