Affiliation: Michigan State University, Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Biology

Dr. Ripla Arora received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Biochemistry from the University of Delhi, India. She went on to receive her PhD degree in Genetics and Development from Columbia University, New York where she studied the role of T-box transcription factors in vascular morphogenesis of the allantois (umbilical precursor) and epithelial branching in the lung. She completed her postdoctoral work in the Department of Obstetrics Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences at University of California, San Francisco where she worked on sex differentiation of the bipotential gonad and studied spatial aspects of meiosis in the embryonic ovary. Motivated by the importance of spatial analysis in tissues she went on to develop a novel technique for 3D imaging and quantitative modeling of the mouse uterus during preimplantation stages and the cycling human endometrium. Dr. Arora is now an Assistant professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Biology within the College of Human Medicine and a member of the Institute for Quantitative Health Science and Engineering at Michigan State University. Her research focuses on uterine development and embryo-uterine interactions key to embryo implantation and pregnancy success. She uses confocal imaging in combination with 3D shape analysis to identify and quantify dynamic changes to the luminal and glandular structure of murine uterus in preparation for implantation. When applied to mouse mutants with known implantation defects, her lab has discovered striking peri-implantation abnormalities in uterine morphology that cannot be visualized by histology. With a focus on embryo-uterine interactions necessary for successful implantation, her lab recently uncovered precise embryo movement patterns and changes in uterine luminal folding during the peri-implantation period using the mouse model. Dr. Arora was recently selected as a recipient of the March of Dimes Basil O'Connor Starter Scholar Research Award. Her research has implications for understanding how structure-based embryo-uterine communication is key to determining an optimal implantation site, which is necessary for the success of a pregnancy.