Yoel Sadovsky, M.D.

  • Distinguished Professor and Elsie Hilliard Hillman Chair of Women's Health Research
  • Department of OBGYN and Microbiology and Molecular Genetics
  • Executive Director, Magee-Women's Research Institute

Education & Training

  • B. Med. Sci. from Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, 1981
  • MD from Hebrew University, Hadassah Medical School, 1985
  • Residency in OBGYN, Washington University in St. Louis, 1986-1990
  • Fellowship in Maternal-Fetal Medicine, University of California, San Francisco, 1990-1992
  • Postdoctoral research fellowship, Metabolic Research Unit and Cardiovascular Research Institute, University of California San Francisco, California, 1990-1993

Research Categories

Research Interests

The Sadovsky lab utilizes molecular and cellular approaches to decipher mechanisms underlying placental development and differentiation. Within the placenta, the trophoblast at the feto-maternal interface fulfills the critical functions of gas exchange, supply of nutrients, removal of waste products, endocrine regulation, and immunological defense. Using cultured primary human placental cells, genetically-altered mice, and placental samples from abnormal human pregnancies, the lab examines trophoblast response to diverse stressors that adversely influence the homeostatic balance between cell injury and regeneration. These stressors contribute to placental dysfunction and fetal growth restriction, which predispose to childhood neurodevelopmental dysfunction and metabolic derangements in the adult.

Specific areas of research include:

The role of microRNAs in placental differentiation: We use diverse miRNA technologies to interrogate the trophoblastic miRNA landscape, and determine the unique function and regulation of placental specific miRNAs that modulate antiviral response, innate immunity, and other functions that are critical for fetal development.
Placental nanovesicles: We investigate the production and cargo of trophoblastic nanovesicles (exosomes), and details their trafficking and targeting to neighboring and distant tissues. 

Representative Publications

Delorme-Axford E, Donker RB, Mouillet JF, Chu T, Bayer A, Ouyang Y, Wang T, Stolz DB, Sarkar SN, Morelli AE, Sadovsky Y*, Coyne CB*. Human placental trophoblasts confer viral resistance to recipient cells. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA, 2013;110:12048-53 (*equal contribution). PMC3718097.

Bayer A, Lennemann NJ, Ouyang Y, Bramley JC, Morosky S, Azevedo Marques TE, Jr, Cherry S, Sadovsky Y*, Coyne CB*. Type III interferons produced by human placental trophoblasts confer protection against Zika virus infection. Cell Host Microbe 2016;113(19):E2598-607. PMID 27051068. (*equal contribution)

Li H, Pinilla-Macua I, Ouyang Y, Sadovsky E, Kajiwara K, Sorkin A, Sadovsky Y. Internalization of trophoblastic small extracellular vesicles and detection of their miRNA cargo in P-bodies. J Extracell Vesicles 2020;9(1):1812261. PMID 32944196.

Paquette AG, Hood L, Price ND, Sadovsky Y. Systems biology of pregnancy: A unique lens on wellness from 9 months to 90 years. Sci Transl Med 2020;12(527). PMID 31969484.

Beharier O, Tyurin VA, Goff JP, Guerrero-Santoro J, Kajiwara K, Chu T, Tyurina YY, St Croix C, Wallace CT, Parry S, Parks WT, Kagan VE, Sadovsky Y, PLA2G6 guards placental trophoblast against ferroptotic injury. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 2020;117(44):27319-27328. PMID 33087576.

Guerrero-Santoro J, Morizane M, Oh S-Y, Mishima T, Goff JP, Bildirici I, Sadovsky E, Ouyang Y, Tyurina Y, Tyurin VA, Kagan VE, Sadovsky Y. The lipase cofactor CGI58 controls placental lipolysis. JCI Insight 2023;8(10):e168717. PMID 37212279.

Barak O, Lovelace T, Piekos S, Chu T, Cao Z, Sadovsky E, Mouillet JF, Ouyang Y, Parks WT, Hood L, Price ND, Benos P, Sadovsky Y. Integrated unbiased multiomics defines placental clusters in common obstetrical syndromes. BMC Med, 2023

Full List of Publications