Balance Research Director and CEO Nancy R. Hart, MD & FACOG

As a medical student in 1979, my first encounter with the pregnancy disease preeclampsia sparked a fascination which endures today. How could those with preeclampsia so quickly develop pathology almost identical to that of chronic hypertension of thirty years duration, yet resolve completely within days of delivery? Later, after decades of obstetric practice and assisting at several thousand deliveries as a board certified obstetrician, I began to notice a correlation between maternal dietary patterns and the risk of preeclampsia. My deep dive into preeclampsia research began in 2003 when a patient who developed severe preeclampsia thirteen weeks before her due date agreed to carefully follow some unusual dietary advice that I suggested. I was astounded when her very high blood pressure readings returned to normal and liver, kidney, and neurological involvement completely resolved. How exciting when eight weeks later a healthy baby girl was born who was able to return home with her mother soon after delivery. My astonishment at this unusual improvement inspired me to investigate the connections between dietary lipids and the pathophysiology of preeclampsia.

Integrating the epidemiological, biochemical, metabolomic, dietary, and clinical findings of other researchers allowed me to produce a model showing how variations in dietary lipids might affect the lining of maternal blood vessels (endothelium) and formation of the placenta in ways that produce the symptoms of preeclampsia. Because the endothelial lining is directly involved in a variety of diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease, chronic hypertension, and diabetes, I presented this model at international meetings of several areas of research including the International Society of Hypertension, International Society for Study of Hypertension in Pregnancy, and the International Alzheimer’s Association as well as basic science research groups such as the Deuel Lipid Conference, and Experimental Biology, a joint conference of the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, American Physiological Society, American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, American Association for Anatomy, and American Society for Investigative Pathology. I was honored to give presentations to the online seminar Zooming in on Preeclampsia sponsored by the Preeclampsia Foundation, the Mississippi Center for Clinical and Translational Research and Cardiovascular-Renal Research Center, and the University of Mississippi Medical Center and the University of Mississippi.

Based on this research, our team is developing a study protocol to treat preeclampsia with dietary lipids. Our goal is to inspire a clinical research group to collaborate in testing this protocol in clinical trials.

Advisers

Janice Hall PhD. Biomedical Engineer

Maternal Beats, LLC

Community Advisory Board Southern Center for Maternal Health Equity

Andrea Loewendorf PhD. Immunology

ImmunoVENtion LLC

Sarah Thompson

Functional Maternity

Functional Medicine and Nutrition Specialist, Doula, Traditional Chinese Medicine