Primary Research Focus
The goal of the Baack Lab is to understand the role of lipid metabolism, mitochondria and oxidative stress in the developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD).
Disease actually starts long before any symptoms ever develop and is often triggered by genetic and environmental influences. When an environmental stimulus occurs during a critical window of early development it can change gene expression to cause life-long changes in the structure and function of the body, this is called developmental programming.
Infants born to diabetic or obese mothers are at higher risk of heart disease at birth and as an adult, likely due to exposure to excess circulating fuels (glucose and lipids) in utero. Even more, this risk can extend to the next generation. While improving glucose control during pregnancy is the standard of care, we found that dietary fat intake is likely an additional factor that determines the health of both mother and her baby.
Using a rat model, we discovered that excess circulating fats from maternal diabetes and a high-fat diet damage mitochondria in the developing fetal heart, leading to impaired metabolism, energy production, contractility, and a greater risk of cell death (heart attack) in adulthood.
With this understanding, our lab is developing methods to detect, prevent and treat heart disease in high-risk babies and the second generation.
About the Baack Lab
Lab Projects and News
Basic Research
The overarching goal of our basic research is to understand how maternal conditions, including diabetes and obesity, affect mitochondria health, metabolism and cell fate during critical windows of offspring development to influence disease susceptibility in babies and grandbabies. The lab uses animal and cell models to understand metabolically-driven mechanisms of developmentally programmed disease with a focus on developing effective, well-timed interventions that not only improve pregnancy outcomes, but also the lifelong health of future generations.
Our biggest scientific contribution is discovering the role of lipid-mediated mitochondria dysfunction in embryo, placenta and fetal development which influences pregnancy and offspring health outcomes across the lifespan. We are currently testing the optimal timing and efficacy of maternal dietary interventions to prevent mitochondria-mediated cardiometabolic disease susceptibility in not just one, but several generations. The lab has grown collaborations with other scientists who are working to improve outcomes for patients with other conditions including infertility, lung disease, obesity, fatty liver disease, and early onset cancer.
Translational Research
The Baack lab is translating their basic research to humans through multiple ongoing studies at Sanford Health. This includes leading the PLacental Associations at the CENTer of Adverse Outcomes Study (PLACENTA Outcomes Study) which collects placenta, umbilical cord and plasma after a baby is born. These samples are used to understand the interactions between mother, placenta and baby, with a goal to improve pregnancy and infant outcomes in the future.
To see examples of this research in action, click here!
Clinical Research
Dr. Baack’s clinical research began optimizing essential long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid provision for infants who are deficient because of poor placental transfer (including premature infants and those exposed to diabetic pregnancy). Through her work, Sanford Health has participated in more than a dozen NICHD-Neonatal Research Network (NRN) multi-center clinical trials, giving Sanford Health a unique opportunity to participate in research that shapes the standard of care for high-risk babies. NRN sites also follow outcomes to school age ensuring that interventions not only help very premature babies survive but also get the best start for a healthy future. This work would not be possible without the Boekelheide NICU and clinical research team including Dr. Steve Messier, Sanford’s NRN Follow-up PI, and Sanford’s neonatal clinical research coordinators, Hannah Kienast and Emily Andersen.