About the Lab
The Vonderohe lab focuses on why babies born premature are far more predisposed to a variety of medical conditions that impact their health, growth and development compared to their term-born peers. Premature birth is the leading cause of infant mortality across the world. The Vonderohe lab focuses on the mechanisms behind the development of conditions like necrotizing enterocolitis, feeding intolerance and sepsis.
Our lab uses the preterm piglet as a model for preterm infants because preterm piglets are predisposed to the same conditions as preterm infants, including necrotizing enterocolitis, respiratory distress syndrome, neurodevelopmental delay, feeding intolerance, spontaneous apnea, and sepsis. We also use cell models of the gut and immune system that have been derived from term and preterm infants and pigs to study how specific cells respond to different inflammatory and developmental stimuli.
Primary Investigator
Caitlin Vonderohe, DVM, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor at Baylor College of Medicine who studies nutritional, surgical and pharmaceutical interventions for pediatric conditions including prematurity, biliary atresia, necrotizing enterocolitis and sepsis.