Congratulations to Dr. Michael Petriello, who earned an R01 research grant! Details of Dr. Petriello's grant are as follows:

• Grant Number: 1R01ES035692-01A1
• Principal Investigator: Michael Petriello
• Project Title: PFAS increases susceptibility to infection-mediated preterm birth
• Total Costs over 5 years: $2,858,821

"Preterm birth (PTB) and related intrauterine growth retardation (IUGR) affects 15 million babies a year globally and is linked to chronic diseases in adulthood . . . we hypothesize that Per-and poly fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) exposure leads to dysregulation of type 1 and/or type 2  responses in the placenta and is responsible for a dysregulated inflammatory response to a secondary bacterial infection resulting in IUGR and PTB.

For this award we will expose pregnant mice to concentrations of PFAS previously shown to decrease IFN signaling and cause IUGR, and then expose the mice to a bacterial stressor, which we predict will elicit preterm delivery."