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Grant Awards

Wendy Kuohung, MD, Awarded March of Dimes Grant to Uncover Therapeutic Agents for Preeclampsia

Wendy Kuohung, MD, associate professor of obstetrics & gynecology at Boston University Chobanian & Avedisian School of Medicine, has been awarded a two-year, Discovery Research Grant from March of Dimes. The $200,000 award will fund her research “APOL1 variant-overexpressing cell lines in compound screening for preeclampsia drug discovery.”

Preeclampsia (PE) is a pregnancy complication characterized by high blood pressure (hypertension), swelling (edema), and protein in the urine (proteinuria). It typically occurs after 20 weeks of gestation. While the exact cause of preeclampsia is unknown, it is believed to be related to an abnormal interaction between the placenta and the mother’s blood vessels. Therapies for this disorder have not advanced in more than a century.

Kuohung will develop an assay to identify drugs that could treat PE in women who have a genetic mutation that increases their risk. These genetic mutations, called APOL1 gene variants, are thought to be particularly important in the development of PE in Black women, who are 60% more likely to have the condition compared to white women. Her assay will involve adding hundreds of different drug compounds to placental cells expressing APOL1 gene variants. Compounds that decrease cellular stress markers in Kuohung’s assay may be good candidates for novel drug therapies to treat PE. In addition, she will conduct original, first of its kind research into how PE develops using the placental cells carrying APOL1 variants.

“Our research to screen libraries of novel and existing drugs for safe and effective PE therapeutics will advance the field of women’s health and may help to mitigate the Black maternal health crisis in the U.S. Identification of lead compounds effective against PE may also finally shed light on the pathophysiological mechanisms underlying this cryptic obstetrical disorder,” said Kuohung, who also is director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology at Boston Medical Center (BMC).

Kuohung is an expert in treating infertility, in vitro fertilization, fertility preservation, menstrual disorders, fibroids, endometriosis, müllarian anomalies, and in conducting minimally invasive and robotic gynecologic surgery. Her research interests lie in disparities in reproductive care, placental development and the microbiome of the reproductive tract.

Kuohung received her medical degree from the Yale University School of Medicine, completed her residency in obstetrics & gynecology at BMC, and conducted fellowship training in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School.

March of Dimes is a nonprofit organization committed to ending preventable maternal health risks and death, ending preventable preterm birth and infant death, and closing the health equity gap for all families. March of Dimes Discovery Research Grants are annual awards for established scientists with a long history of published work in maternal fetal health and related fields.