Presenting Author
PeaceHealth
I completed undergraduate studies at Vanderbilt University and medical school at the University of Louisville School of Medicine with honors, then residency in Obstetrics and Gynecology at Carolinas Medical Center. From 1986 through 2003, I practiced full-time as an obstetrician gynecologist at PeaceHealth Medical Center, Bellingham, WA where I served two terms as chair of the Ob-Gyn department. In 2002, I was honored to be named a Consumers' Research Council of America's Top Obstetrician and Gynecologist.
From my first encounter in medical school with the enigmatic pregnancy disease preeclampsia, I was fascinated. How could a healthy appearing woman progress to multi-organ failure with pathology identical to end-stage hypertension in a few weeks? Equally riveting was the question of how the same patient might recover from severe hypertension, liver and kidney failure, seizures, diffuse intravascular coagulation, pulmonary edema, and blindness within days following delivery. In medical school, I was taught that preeclampsia is characterized by "leaky capillaries;" in residency, placement of Swan Ganz catheters revealed low central venous pressures despite large quantities of IV fluids. Eye exams showed "box car arteries,” evidence of intense vasospasm. I will never forget hearing a dear patient say, "Is that you, Dr. Hart? I can hear you but I can't see you" just before she collapsed with a grand mal seizure. Later, while practicing obstetrics, I noticed a correlation between maternal dietary patterns and risk of preeclampsia; women from dairy and fishing families seemed protected in contrast to women with diets high in trans fatty acids and low in cholesterol.
Starting in 2005, I began full-time research in the attempt to integrate the epidemiology, biochemistry, metabolomics and clinical findings of preeclampsia, with the goal of clarifying its underlying cause. As a member of International Society for Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, I presented research at World Congresses in Geneva, Switzerland, and New Orleans, United States, as well as at meetings of the International Hypertension Society in Sydney, Australia, and Vancouver, Canada. My research was also accepted for presentation at the International Alzheimer's Conference.
In preeclampsia, several basic pathophysiological processes are present: dyslipidemia, cellular hypoxia, oxidative stress, autoimmunity, inflammation, increased ceramide, abnormal protein folding, and abnormal raft signaling, elements common to many of the diseases that increase in incidence with economic development. My quest to understand the molecular basis of these pathologic elements led me to lipidomics, studies of lipid rafts, and how dietary and environmental lipids might affect membrane function. The poster which I present at Experimental Biology 2022 illustrates a small aspect of a larger hypothesis on the role of dietary lipids in preeclampsia pathology.
In an unprecedented period of pandemic, one great benefit of has been my ability to access cutting edge research through the ASBMB lipid seminars. Gradually as my understanding of the behavior of lipids progressed, I realized that the scientists speaking at these seminars have the skills needed to assess my ideas on how dietary lipids might affect membrane rafts and give rise to the pathophysiologic elements that cause preeclampsia. I am honored to have the opportunity to present a poster of a small aspect of my work and look forward to critical feedback from other researchers. My goal is to inspire a clinical research team to trial a proof of concept proposal for lipid intervention in pregnancy hypertension and preeclampsia.