Ms Evangeline Lovell

My PhD research investigated immune-vascular mechanisms regulating placental development and their impact on maternal and offspring cardiometabolic health. Using mouse models, this work examined how maternal immune mediators – specifically regulatory T (Treg) cells and complement component C1q – coordinate uteroplacental vascular remodelling essential for successful pregnancy. 

Currently, this mechanistic expertise is being extended to human pregnancy through a Wellcome-funded project investigating environmental heat stress impacts on placental function in a cohort of women from The Gambia. This research involves analysing placental tissue and maternal blood samples to determine how heat exposure affects placental histological structure, vascular density, molecular regulation, and function. These laboratory findings are integrated with maternal physiological measures from wearable devices, uteroplacental blood flow assessments via Doppler ultrasound, and detailed pregnancy and neonatal outcomes. Additionally, in vitro trophoblast culture systems and modelling approaches will be employed to test causal mechanisms linking environmental stressors to placental insufficiency and adverse birth outcomes in climate-vulnerable populations.