New faculty spotlight: Lynda Harris, PhD

Lynda Harris, PhD, is a new faculty member at UNMC.

• Name: Lynda Harris, PhD
• Hometown: Sheffield, UK
• Title and department at UNMC/Title at Nebraska Medicine: Associate professor, UNMC Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Olson Center for Women’s Health

Research/professional interests:

• Pregnancy and placental biology
• New therapies to treat placental dysfunction
• Targeted drug delivery and nanomedicines

How I fell in love with the placenta: After completing a PhD in vascular biology, I was looking for interesting postdoctoral positions to apply for. I saw a project that involved studying how invasive cells from the placenta colonize and remodel blood vessels in the womb to ensure the growing baby receives a continuous supply of blood. I was immediately intrigued by this process and accepted the position. The more I learned about the placenta, the more it fascinated me – this single organ functions as a liver, lung, intestine and protective barrier, as well as behaving like a well-controlled tumor. It secretes hormones that can alter the mother’s physiology and metabolism. Given that pregnancy complications such as pre-eclampsia and fetal growth restriction are caused by a placenta that doesn’t grow or function correctly, by learning more about the placenta we can develop new treatments for these conditions.

Education:

• BSc Pathobiology, University of Reading, UK
• PhD, University of Reading, UK
• Postdoctoral training, University of Manchester, UK
• BBSRC David Phillips Research Fellowship, University of Manchester, UK

Memberships:

• International Federation of Placenta Associations
• European Placental Group

Three things people may not know about me:

• When left unsupervised, I can drink gallons of (hot) tea a day.
• I like listening to rock, punk and heavy metal music.
• My father named me after the Wonder Woman actress Lynda Carter.