Spotlight | Dr. J. Paula Warrington researches hypertensive disorder of pregnancy

By: J. Paula Warrington, Ph.D, Department of Neurology

Dr. Warrington’s lab studies the hypertensive disorder of pregnancy, preeclampsia, which affects about 8% of pregnancies in the US. Her team uses rodent models to identify the molecular changes that contribute to neurological complaints during pregnancy. Not only do these women complain about headaches and vision problems during pregnancy, they are at higher risk of dying from Alzheimer’s disease and vascular dementia. The mechanisms for these long-term complications after pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia are not known.

Preeclampsia can quickly progress to eclampsia, where the woman presents with new-onset seizures or unexplained coma during pregnancy or early postpartum period. It is still difficult to predict which pregnant woman would develop eclampsia and while there is a therapy for seizure prevention, it cannot be administered chronically, and the mechanisms of action are not fully understood. Thus, Dr. Warrington’s lab is also focused on understanding the molecular mechanisms contributing to seizures in pregnancy.

The long term goal of Dr. Warrington’s research is to identify targets to treat or prevent the neurological complications of preeclampsia in the mother and offspring.