Shankar Lab at CU
Dechiphering Early-life Origins of Chronic Disease
What makes us tick >>>
Our research spans from molecular approaches to clinical studies focused on understanding the nuts & bolts of developmental programming.
The main focus of our research lies in deciphering the effects of maternal obesity and environmental influences on fetal and infant development. Our studies heavily employ animal models to study intrauterine development including placental function and offspring metabolism. We also collaborate with many groups leveraging longitudinal maternal-child clinical cohorts.
We make use of a number of -omic methods to delve into mechanisms. Our core competencies include studying transcriptomes, epigenomes and microbiomes using sequencing-based methods in many contexts. Our lab also serves the Colorado NORC as part of the Molecular Cellular Analytical (MCA) core.