Uterine immune cells and pregnancy after a uterus transplant
Official title: Tissue-resident NK cell development and function in pregnancy and transplantation: lessons learned from human uterus transplant recipients
Funded at University of Alabama at Birmingham · NIH-11332533 · Data updated 2026-11-12
This work looks at how uterine natural killer immune cells behave in people with uterus transplants to understand why they have higher risks of pre-eclampsia and poor fetal growth.
Quick facts
| Grant type | R01 grant |
|---|---|
| Study type | NIH-funded research |
| Funding institution | University of Alabama at Birmingham NIH-funded |
| Lab location | 1 site (Birmingham, United States) |
| Project start | June 6, 2024 |
| Project end | April 30, 2029 |
| Funding year | 2026 |
| Award (this year) | $652,701 |
| NIH project number | 5R01AI177369-03 |
| Project ID | NIH-11332533 on NIH RePORTER |
Who could benefit from this research
✓Could help
Ideal candidates are people who have received a uterus transplant and are planning pregnancy or are currently pregnant and willing to provide tissue and blood samples.
✕Less likely to help
People without a uterus transplant or those not pregnant are unlikely to be eligible or directly benefited by participation.
What this research studies
If I join, researchers will follow people who received a uterus transplant and collect uterine tissue and blood samples during pregnancy and delivery to study local immune cells. They will compare findings to pregnancies without transplants to see how uterine natural killer (uNK) cells differ in development, location, and function. The team will also examine how transplant medications may change these immune cells. The goal is to use a unique group of uterus transplant recipients to learn why disorders of placentation happen more often in this population.
Why it matters
Potential benefit: If successful, this work could point to ways to prevent or reduce pre-eclampsia and fetal growth problems in uterus transplant recipients and possibly improve care for other pregnant people.
How similar studies have gone: Prior research links uterine NK cells to placentation, but using uterus transplant recipients to study these mechanisms is a relatively new and promising approach.
Where this research is happening
-
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Birmingham, United States Active
Researchers
- Principal investigator: Porrett, Paige M — University of Alabama at Birmingham
- Study coordinator: Porrett, Paige M
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About this research
- This is an active NIH-funded research project — typically early-stage science, not a clinical trial accepting patient enrollment.
- Some NIH-funded labs run parallel clinical studies or seek volunteers for related work. To check, contact the principal investigator or institution listed above.
- For full project details, budget, and progress reports, visit the official NIH RePORTER page.