Kirk P ConradDr. Conrad has had a longstanding research interest in the hormonal, cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying maternal renal and systemic vasodilation, and increased arterial compliance during normal pregnancy with emphasis on the ovarian hormone relaxin. More recently, he has been PD/PI of a NIH Program Project Grant designed to explore maternal pregnancy physiology and outcome in women conceiving through in vitro fertilization with focus on the contribution of the corpus luteum. Finally, Dr. Conrad has been exploring a role for dysregulated (pre)decidualization in the genesis of preeclampsia, and in the larger context of "endometrium spectrum disorders". Dr. Conrad has combined preclinical and clinical research throughout his career to translate findings in animal models, tissues and cells to humans or vice versa. The main disease focus of his pregnancy research has been preeclampsia--a hypertensive syndrome peculiar to human pregnancy. Read More Read Less