Jacinta Kalisch-Smith

Dr. Jacinta Kalisch-Smith is a BHF Intermediate Fellow and Group Leader at the Institute of Developmental & Regenerative Medicine (IDRM), University of Oxford, where she leads the Kalisch-Smith Lab. Her research focuses on placental and cardiac vascular development in pregnancy pathologies including miscarriage, congenital heart defects, and fetal growth restriction.

Dr. Kalisch-Smith's research spans placental vascular development, cardiac vascular formation, and the relationship between placental blood vessels and fetal growth. Her work integrates developmental biology and vascular science to investigate how vascular defects contribute to pregnancy complications. She employs approaches including molecular biology, genetic models, and imaging to study trophoblast-endothelial signaling and placental vascular progenitors.

Her recent publication in Development journal synthesizes current knowledge about placental vascular development across species, highlighting how defects in this process correlate with embryonic heart abnormalities and other pregnancy pathologies. This work identifies key research gaps in understanding the molecular mechanisms that regulate feto-placental vascular development.

• BHF Intermediate Fellowship recipient supporting her five-year research program

As a Group Leader at the IDRM, Dr. Kalisch-Smith directs research investigating how placental blood vessels develop to support fetal growth and prevent complications during pregnancy. Her lab collaborates with researchers across Oxford's Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and the wider university community to advance understanding of developmental processes critical to healthy pregnancy outcomes.