About this event

Join us for a Closer Look At... Your Placenta and hear from stem cell experts Dr. Mana Parast (perinatal pathologist) & Dr. Karen Mestan (neonatologist) on placental evaluation after delivery and its applications in personalized medicine, as well as the latest in stem cell-based modeling of this under-studied organ.

*This is a hybrid event.

Seminar Schedule

3:30 p.m. Registration

4 p.m. Presentations Followed by Q & A

• Dr. Karen Mestan
• Dr. Mana Parast
• Special Guest Speakers, The Higgins Family: Experiences in the NICU

6 p.m. Networking & Refreshments with Tastes from Bella Vista Caffé

About the Speakers

Dr. Mana Parast is a physician-scientist with clinical and research expertise in placental development and pathology. She is the Director of the Perinatal Pathology Service and Co-Director of the Center for Perinatal Discovery at UC San Diego. She is also a member of the UC San Diego Stem Cell Program and the Institute of Engineering in Medicine. Her lab focuses on the development of the placenta across gestation, using pluripotent stem cells to model the placenta and the implantation site. Dr. Parast is also interested in identifying histopathologic patterns of placental injury that underlie pregnancy complications, including preeclampsia, spontaneous preterm birth, and stillbirth.

Dr. Karen Mestan is the Division Chief of Neonatology at UC San Diego/Rady Children's Hospital after spending nearly 20 years at Northwestern University teaching, researching, and building a biorepository of the placenta and cord blood. She is currently a Co-Director of the Center for Perinatal Discovery and Principal Investigator for the Mestan Lab, which is interested in identifying biochemical, environmental, and genetic markers that can lead to new therapies for predicting, preventing, and managing bronchopulmonary dysplasia and neonatal hypertension in high-risk infants. She received her B.A. in Human Biology from Stanford University and her M.D. from Chicago Medical School, completing her residency and fellowship at the University of Chicago. In her free time, Dr. Mestan has run marathons and triathlons and likes to travel and spend time with her husband, two daughters, and dog.