Perinatal Translational Research Laboratory

Bingbing Wang, PhD
Laboratory Director

Assistant Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
PhD, University of Washington
Post-doctorate, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute
Email: wangbi@rwjms.rutgers.edu

Preterm birth is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality of newborn infants in the United States. It occurs in one in every 12 pregnancies with an annual economic burden of 26 billion dollars. According to CDC, preterm-related causes of death together accounted for 35% of all infant deaths in 2010, more than any other single cause. Preterm birth is also a leading cause of long-term neurological disabilities in children.

Spontaneous preterm birth is a physiologically heterogeneous syndrome and the mechanisms could be influenced by environmental stimuli, genetic predisposition, and epigenetic conditions. Our lab is focused on a better understanding of the mechanisms that lead to the onset of labor at term, thereby facilitating discoveries of new targets for pharmacologic therapy to arrest labor when it occurs too early.