Babbette LaMarca

Babbette LaMarca, PhD, is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC). She leads a research program focused on immune mechanisms underlying pregnancy-related hypertension, particularly the roles of lymphocytes and autoantibodies in placental ischemia-induced pathology. Her work integrates preclinical models with clinical collaboration, leveraging translational research.

Dr. LaMarca collaborates closely with UMMC’s Maternal-Fetal Medicine (MFM) Division, obtaining human tissue samples to study gene/protein alterations under low-oxygen conditions. This partnership drives her team’s development of an autoantibody-inhibiting peptide to mitigate hypertension and endothelial dysfunction, with potential clinical applications. Since 2006, she has directed MFM thesis research, fostering graduate training in obstetrical immunology.

No specific scientific awards or grants are listed in the provided text. Her lab’s current efforts emphasize immunopharmacological pathways as therapeutic targets in preeclampsia.