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Perinatal Research Center
Research
The Perinatal Research Center (PRC) is the longest standing research and educational program at the University of Colorado Denver's Fitzsimons campus. Faculty who conduct studies at the Center are on the leading edge of research in maternal, placental and fetal physiology.
The PRC supports the Division of Perinatal Medicine, which is jointly managed by the Departments of Pediatrics and Obstetrics and Gynecology. Other primary participating research and educational programs include the Pediatric Heart Lung Center and the Laboratory for Lung Development.
Research at the PRC primarily involves reproductive and developmental physiology and biochemistry. The research is conducted in pregnant sheep, an internationally recognized standard model for studying maternal, placental and fetal physiology. The principal aims of the research are to better understand the processes involved in fetal growth and development and the mechanisms that regulate such growth and development under normal and pathological conditions. All of the research is supported by nationally competitive grants.
The PRC provides a unique basic biology training program for students, clinical and basic science trainees and clinical and basic scientists. Additionally, the studies of fetal growth provide a greater understanding of how aberrant fetal growth can lead to poor reproductive outcome (such as intrauterine growth restriction), neonatal disease (such as persistent pulmonary hypertension) and adult disorders that have their origins during fetal life (such as obesity, insulin resistance, diabetes, hypertension and cardiovascular disease).
In 2002 construction was completed that increased the size of the PRC to a total of 24,000 square feet in order to support research at the cellular and molecular level.
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