University of Washington-Seattle Campus · Microbiology & ImmunologyFetal Defense Lab
Kristina M. Adams Waldorf · Seattle, Washington
Research Focus
Dr. Kristina M. Adams Waldorf's lab focuses on understanding how maternal viral infections, such as Zika virus, impact the developing fetal immune system and brain health. The lab uses advanced models to analyze how infections can influence immune programming and cellular responses in the fetus, with the aim of developing new therapeutic strategies for fetal protection against infection-induced damage.
Zika virusfetal immunitymaternal infectionNHP modelcellular stress
Research Aims
3AIM 01Define the impact of maternal viral infections on fetal immune programming.
AIM 02Investigate the link between fetal innate immune activation and cellular stress in the brain.
AIM 03Create a fetal immune atlas in response to maternal viral infections.
Skills the Lab Values
ex vivo culture techniquesflow cytometryimmunohistochemistryRNA sequencingbioinformaticsvirus infection modelsenzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA)single cell analysisdata analysisimmortalized cell lines
Output against the department
Publications161top 42% of dept.202nd of 486
this lab
most publishedleast published
Citations7.7ktop 46% of dept.223rd of 486
this lab
most citedleast cited
Career totals from OpenAlex, compared against labs that share a department. A department spans everything from one paper to tens of thousands, so bar heights are on a log scale — otherwise the largest lab would flatten every other bar to a line.