91ɫƵ

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Rashmi Sood, PhD

Rashmi Sood, PhD

Associate Professor

Locations

  • Pathology & Laboratory Medicine
    TBRC

Contact Information

Education

PhD, Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, India
Postdoctoral Fellow, Blood Research Institute, Versiti Blood Center of Wisconsin, Milwaukee, WI

Biography

My main areas of research focus are blood coagulation and pregnancy complications. Blood clots are necessary to protect us from excessive bleeding when we get injured. Blood clots can also cause conditions such as stroke and heart attack. While I enjoy studying all aspects of blood clotting, my focus is on thrombophilia, a condition that leads to pathological blood clot formation. I am most passionate about understanding the mechanisms by which thrombophilia adversely affects placental function and maternal-fetal health.

Abnormalities in placental function causes complications such as abruption, fetal growth restriction, stillbirth, preterm birth, and preeclampsia, which collectively impact more than 15% of human pregnancies. These complications carry a heavy burden of immediate adverse outcomes for mothers and babies, and a life-long impact on the cardiovascular, neurological, and metabolic health. Thrombophilia has long been suspected to be associated with pregnancy complications. My laboratory has developed and utilized murine models of fetal and maternal thrombophilia to investigate this epidemiological association and have contributed to the field by establishing causation. We have shown that fetal thrombophilia impairs placental function due to reduced or absent anticoagulant gene expression on extraembryonic cells that reside in the placenta and invade the mother’s uterus. The impairment of placental function in turn causes intrauterine growth restriction, fetal demise, and poor neonatal survival. Blood clots in venous return channels of the placenta are one potential cause of poor placental function due to fetal thrombophilia. Importantly, our studies show that fetal/neonatal demise due to fetal thrombophilia is caused by suboptimal placental function and there are potential approaches to treat this condition and prevent an adverse outcome. In contrast to fetal thrombophilia, we found that maternal thrombophilia results in blood clots in the decidua, the innermost lining of the uterus to which the placenta is attached. Pregnant mice with thrombophilia exhibit midterm uterine bleeding and fetal growth restriction, both hallmarks of placental abruption. Our studies further indicate that maternal platelets and thrombin receptor Par4 play key roles in placental dysfunction due to maternal or fetal thrombophilia. Through these studies, we have demonstrated that endogenous anticoagulants play a critical role in maintaining uterine and placental health. While thrombotic events such as strokes, heart attacks, and pulmonary embolism are a leading cause of adult morbidity and mortality, thrombotic events in the placenta could be equally devastating for the unborn fetus.

I highlight here two research projects being currently pursued in my laboratory. One NIH funded project is focused on studying the role of coagulation components, immune cells and inflammatory mediators in the onset and progression of placental abruption. A second research project is funded through the Clinical and Translational Research Institute and is focused on identifying biomarkers that can be used to predict preterm birth and time-to-delivery.

In addition to research, I enjoy teaching in 91ɫƵ’s graduate and medical school programs and mentoring students and junior faculty at all stages of career and from diverse backgrounds. My laboratory supports summer training of high school and undergraduate interns selected through the internship programs on our campus. All members of my laboratory including two postdoctoral fellows, two graduate students, and a laboratory technician participate in mentoring others at stages of career earlier than their own. Together, we strive to address outstanding problems in maternal-fetal health and help build the next generation of scientists.

Honors and Awards

Basil O’ Connor Starter Scholar Award, March of Dimes Foundation
Scientist Development Grant, American Heart Association
Fellow of the American Heart Association
R01HL112873 “Role of maternal platelets in placental and pregnancy complications”, National Institutes of Health
Research Award “Immune crosstalk in preterm birth”, Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment
R01HL163623 “Coagulation-inflammation crosstalk in placental abruption”, National Institutes of Health

Research Interests

  • Blood coagulation
  • Uterine and placental hemostasis
  • Thrombophilia and pregnancy complications
  • Placental abruption
  • Birth timing and biomarkers of preterm birth
  • Coagulation-inflammation crosstalk
  • Extraembryonic tissue development
  • Maternal-placental-fetal health

Publications

  • (Castillo MM, Yang Q, Sigala AS, McKinney DT, Zhan M, Chen KL, Jarzembowski JA, Sood R.) Sci Adv. 2020 Nov;6(45) PMID: 33158859 PMCID: PMC7673707 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85095802928 11/08/2020

  • (Castillo MM, Yang Q, Zhan M, Pan AY, Lawlor MW, Mast AE, Sood R.) Blood Adv. 2019 Feb 12;3(3):489-498 PMID: 30755437 PMCID: PMC6373739 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85061474836 02/14/2019

  • (Kanaji S, Orje JN, Kanaji T, Kamikubo Y, Morodomi Y, Chen Y, Zarpellon A, Eberhardt J, Forli S, Fahs SA, Sood R, Haberichter SL, Montgomery RR, Ruggeri ZM.) Blood Adv. 2018 Oct 09;2(19):2522-2532 PMID: 30287479 PMCID: PMC6177644 SCOPUS ID: 2-s2.0-85069786057 10/06/2018

  • (van Mens TE, Liang HH, Basu S, Hernandez I, Zogg M, May J, Zhan M, Yang Q, Foeckler J, Kalloway S, Sood R, Karlson CS, Weiler H.) Blood Adv. 2017 Jun 27;1(15):1148-1158 PMID: 28920104 PMCID: PMC5600150 09/19/2017

  • (Castillo MM, Yang Q, Sigala AS, McKinney DT, Zhan M, Chen KL, Jarzembowski JA, Sood R.) BioRxiv. https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.02.05.935940 02/05/2020

  • (Castillo MM, Yang Q, Sood R.) Blood. 134 (Supplement_1): 2382; https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2019-131453 11/13/2019

  • (Castillo M, Ott E, Wujek R, Qiuli L, Schmainda K, Cohen S, Sood R.) Blood. 134 (Supplement_1): 3626; https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2019-131811 11/13/2019

  • (Castillo M, Yang Q, McKinney D, Shi Q, Sood R.) Blood. 134 (Supplement_1): 1057; https://doi.org/10.1182/blood-2019-123290 11/13/2019

  • (Storage M, Yang Q, Zhan M, Sood R.) Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 1 (S1): 87; OC 02.5; https://doi.org/10.1002/rth2.12012 06/23/2017

  • (Storage M, Yang Q, Zhan M, Sood R.) Res Pract Thromb Haemost. 1 (S1): 86; OC 02.1; https://doi.org/10.1002/rth2.12012 06/23/2017

  • (Chun CZ, Sood R, Ramchandran R.) In: North P., Sander T. (eds) Vascular Tumors and Developmental Malformations.. Molecular and Translational Medicine. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4939-3240-5_3 01/01/2016

  • (Storage MM, An J, Liang H, Yang Q, Zogg M, Zhan M, Weiler H, Sood R.) Blood. 126 (23): 425; https://doi.org/10.1182/blood.V126.23.425.425 12/03/2015