Women’s and Children’s Health has been a pillar of The Lundquist Institute throughout its history. The primary goal of the Institute for Women’s and Children’s Health (IWCH) at the Lundquist Institute is to nurture, develop and promote, and expand excellence in clinical and translational research related to women’s care, pediatric health and the impact of pregnancy on child and adult health and disease. The ultimate mission is to provide better care for Women and Children as “healthy pregnancy”, “healthy children” and grand-children”, is an investment in a “healthy world”.
The faculty members are multidisciplinary, trans-sectorial group of investigators with expertise ranging from public health, to clinical medicine, to translational science. The research program on perinatal medicine and sequelae of the maternal-fetal environment impact on adult diseases includes:

• Pulmonary 
• Reproductive Endocrinology 
• Uterine leiomyomas 
• Health care 
• Obesity 
• Neurological disorders 
• Cancer 
• Diabetes 
• Renal 
• Cardiac disease

The paradigms used in collaboration with national and international investigators include: 

• Human cohorts (including mother-infant dyads) 
• Rodent models
  • Maternal smoking (nicotine exposure and inhalation via electronic cigarettes)
  • Maternal and childhood obesity (high fat diet)
  • Low birth weight (maternal undernutrition)
  • Maternal bisphenol A exposure (endocrine disruptor) 

The mechanisms and interventions include: 

• Developmental biology 
• Epigenetics 
• Intracellular signaling 
• Stem cells 
• Cell culture 
• Transcriptomics 
• Proteomics 
• Metabolomics 
• Transgenic mice 
• Gene manipulation 
• Pharmacologic

The faculty members are world recognized for their seminal work in newborn lung surfactant, neonatal transition, prenatal care, in vitro fertilization, urogynecology and development origins of health and disease (DOHaD). They also serve on prominent national and international scientific committees and journals. The long-term goal of IWCH is to support, mentor, and collaborate with the junior and mid-level investigators, so as to “pass the baton” of scientific excellence and achievement to the next generation of The Lundquist investigators.