Research Summary

• My research focus is on studying the impact of maternal metformin exposure on placenta ageing, metabolism and mitochondrial function.
• The first aim tests whether human placentas from metformin-exposed pregnancies show accelerated ageing, impaired nutrient-sensing, and altered metabolic profiles compared to controls. 183 control and 76 metformin-exposed placentas have been collected from outstanding resources including the Pregnancy Outcome Prediction Study (POPS) and EMPOWaR cohorts (the latter cohort in collaboration with the University of Edinburgh).
• The second aim tests whether direct exposure to metformin alters energy production in cultured human trophoblasts, in which control placentas are collected after delivery by elective Caesarean section.
• This study has the potential to generate detailed deep-phenotyping of metformin-exposed and control placentas, building up an extensive library of information. An additional benefit of this approach is production of a large amount of data that will inform futures analyses and will also establish methodology for assessing the placental response to drugs, which can be directly applied to future and existing new therapies.