The maternal-fetal immune response can make or break a pregnancy. A developing fetus, with its own organs, genetic makeup, and cellular processes, could trigger an immune response or rejection. The body protects the developing child by a cascade of signals and that suppresses the maternal-fetal immune response so the child can develop normally. In addition to understanding how and why this happens, our research has also studied and produced work on the safety and mechanisms of vaccines and infection before, during, and after pregnancy in moms and babies.
