Dr. Kaela Varberg is an Independent Investigator in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Neonatology in the Children’s Mercy Research Institute. The Varberg laboratory incorporates next-generation sequencing approaches to identify genetic and environmental (epigenetic) factors impacting placental development and function in the setting of pregnancy complications and disease. Dr. Varberg has collaborated with physician scientists around the country to expand the diversity of human trophoblast stem cell models from clinically available tissue sources, including from chorionic villus biopsies and products of conception from recurrent pregnancy loss. These models are used to study early events of placental development in the context of known pregnancy outcomes. Dr. Varberg also has a keen interest in the developmental origins of health and disease and how abnormal placentation-based pregnancy complications impact fetal development. Her training and experience in placental biology and primary human cell culture has uniquely positioned her to lead the Varberg lab research program that explores how placenta function and pathology contribute to pregnancy success and the developmental origins of disease.