Laura A. Woollett , PhD

Bachelor of Science (chemistry): Miami University Oxford, OH,

Doctorate (biochemistry): Iowa State University Ames, Iowa,

Our laboratory studies the pregnant female and their offspring (in utero and in adulthood). 
 
Pregnancy is an inflammatory state.  The state is more severe when a female is obese.  Our goals are to understand how pregnancy and obesity interact to affect processes that change during gestation, such as glucose intolerance, inflammation, and altered lipid metabolism.  Recently, we have begun to study the multiparous female since in humans, as in rodents, multiparity is a risk factor for obesity and inflammation.  Our models will be useful tools to help delineate the causes of inability to loose weight post-partum in obese women.
 
Recent studies show that offspring of obese females are at an increased risk to become obese in later life.  Thus, we are studying how obesity affects metabolism in the offspring at various stages of life, including the fetus, neonate, and adult.  Some of our studies analyze the offspring of multiparous females with marked obesity and inflammation in that affects in offspring will be independent of maternal diet.  

- Professor, Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Metabolic Disease Institute Cincinnati - GRIA 248

Grant: #R01 DK068463 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 05-01-2005 -01-31-2012 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Intraluminal Effects on Cholesterol Absorption/Synthesis Role:PI $882,760.00 Closed Level:Federal

Grant: #5-R01-HD-34089-10-A0-S0-E0 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 07-01-2001 -05-31-2007 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Sterol Metabolism During Pregnancy and Development Role:PI $1,204,875.00 Closed Level:Federal

Grant: #R01-HD-39419 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 01-15-2002 -12-31-2007 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Induction of Bile Acid Synthesis in the Neonatal Liver Role:PI $963,900.00 Closed Level:Federal

Grant: #5-R01-HD-34089-05-A0-S0-E0 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 09-01-1997 -06-14-2001 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Sterol Metabolism during Pregnancy and Development Role:PI $703,069.00 Closed Level:Federal

Grant: #9640092N-04-A0-S0-E0 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 08-18-1997 -12-31-2000 American Heart Association - National Chapter Effect of Early Life Nutrition on Cholesterol Homeostasis during Development and in the Adult Role:PI $275,725.00 Closed Level:Private Non-Profit

Grant: #20497-14 / U24 DK076169 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 07-01-2008 -06-30-2010 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Increased Risk for Diabetes and Obesity in Offspring of Multiparous Mice Role:PI $75,000.00 Closed Level:Federal

Grant: #SRS 06616 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 11-01-2009 -12-31-2013 Smith-Lemli-Opitz RSH Foundation Prevention of the Smith-Lemli-Opitz Syndrome: Benefit of HDL-CH Role:PI $71,521.00 Active Level:Private Non-Profit

Grant: #20497-36 / U24 DK076169 Investigators:Dalessio, David; Woollett, Laura 03-01-2010 -04-30-2012 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Increased Risk for Diabetes and Obesity in Offspring of Multiparous Mice Role:PI $75,000.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #IPA-10-12 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 04-01-2011 -03-31-2013 Department of Veterans Affairs Intergovernmental Personnel Act Agreement for Laura Woollett Role:PI $25,500.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #U24 DK059630 Investigators:Benoit, Stephen; Dalessio, David; Davidson, William; Howles, Philip; Hui, David; Jandacek, Ronald; Obici, Silvana; Schultz, Jo El; Seeley, Randy; Tschoep, Matthias; Tso, Patrick P.W.; Welge, Jeffrey; Woods, Stephen; Woollett, Laura 09-16-2011 -06-30-2016 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Cincinnati Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center Role:Collaborator $1,619,789.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #OPP1061076 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 05-01-2012 -10-31-2013 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Improving Fetal Growth Rates in Developing Countries Role:PI $100,000.00 Active Level:Private Non-Profit

Grant: #U24 DK076169* Investigators:Dalessio, David; Woollett, Laura 09-01-2012 -08-31-2013 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Risk of Multi-generational Programming in Offspring of Multiparous Mice Role:PI $75,000.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #R01 HL067093 Investigators:Davidson, William; Silva, Ranasinghe; Woollett, Laura 07-05-2013 -05-31-2017 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Apolipoprotein Structure in High Density Lipoprotein Role:Collaborator $379,931.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #25034-10/U24 DK076169 Investigators:Dalessio, David; Woollett, Laura 09-01-2012 -05-31-2014 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Risk of Multi-generational Programming in Offspring of Multiparous Mice Role:PI $75,000.00 Closed Level:Federal

Grant: #OPP1110668 Investigators:Davidson, William; Welge, Jeffrey; Woollett, Laura 11-04-2014 -09-30-2016 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Improving Fetal Growth Rates in Developing Countries Role:PI $439,282.00 Active Level:Private Non-Profit

Grant: #U2CDK059630 Investigators:Benoit, Stephen; Davidson, William; Howles, Philip; Liu, Min; Reyes, Teresa; Tso, Patrick P.W.; Ulrich-Lai, Yvonne; Welge, Jeffrey; Woods, Stephen; Woollett, Laura 08-01-2016 -06-30-2021 National Inst of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Disease Cincinnati Mouse Metabolic Phenotyping Center Role:Collaborator $926,069.68 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #R21HD087536 Investigators:Woollett, Laura 07-01-2016 -06-30-2018 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development Pre-conception obesity programs placental inflammation and function Role:PI $244,473.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #VUMC59172 / P01HL128203 Investigators:Davidson, William; Woollett, Laura 09-15-2016 -06-30-2021 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Multidisciplinary Approaches to HDL Structure, Assembly, and Functional Heterogeneity Role:Collaborator $719,150.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #138373_F31 HL136229 Investigators:Hochstetler, Cindy; Woollett, Laura 03-01-2017 -02-28-2020 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Impact of an abnormal bone marrow endothelial niche on hematopoiesis Role:Collaborator $32,976.00 Active Level:Federal

Grant: #316304/ R01HL158100 Investigators:Davidson, William; Woollett, Laura 12-01-2021 -11-30-2025 National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute Effect of reproductive history on longitudinal change in cardiac, vascular and lipid parameters Role:PI 85308.00 Hold Level:Federal

Grant: #R21HD107567 Investigators:Welge, Jeffrey; Woollett, Laura 03-01-2022 -02-29-2024 National Institute of Child Health and Human Development The role of HDL in developmental programming Role:PI 0.00 Awarded Level:Federal

Peer Reviewed Publications

Camarota, L.M.; Woollett, L.A.; Howles, P.N. (2011. ) Reverse cholesterol transport is elevated in carboxyl ester lipase-knockout mice.FASEB J, , 25 (4 ) ,1370-7 More Information

Woollett, L.A. (2011. ) Transport of cholesterol across the placenta.Placenta, , 32 ,S218-21 More Information

Kohli, R.; Kirby, M.; Setchell, K.D.; Jha, P.; Klustaitis, K.; Woollett, L.A.; Pfluger, P.T.; Balistreri, W.F.; Tso, P.; Jandacek, R.J.; Woods, S.C.; Heubi, J.E.; Tschoep, M.H.; D'Alesso, D.A.; Shroyer, N.F.; Seeley, R.J. (2010. ) Intestinal adaptation after ileal interposition surgery increases bile acid recycling and protects against obesity-related co-morbidities.Am. J. Physiol., , 299 (3 ) ,G652-60 More Information

Burke, Katie T; Horn, Paul S; Tso, Patrick; Heubi, James E; Woollett, Laura A (2009. ) Hepatic bile acid metabolism in the neonatal hamster: expansion of the bile acid pool parallels increased Cyp7a1 expression levels.Am. J. Physiol., , 297 (1 ) ,G144-51 More Information

Burke, Katie T; Colvin, Perry L; Myatt, Leslie; Graf, Gregory A; Schroeder, Friedhelm; Woollett, Laura A (2009. ) Transport of maternal cholesterol to the fetus is affected by maternal plasma cholesterol concentrations in the golden Syrian hamster.J. Lipid Res., , 50 (6 ) ,1146-55 More Information

Jandacek, Ronald J; Rider, Therese; Yang, Qing; Woollett, Laura A; Tso, Patrick (2009. ) Lymphatic and portal vein absorption of organochlorine compounds in rats.Am. J. Physiol., , 296 (2 ) ,G226-34 More Information

Jenkins, Katie T; Merkens, Louise S; Tubb, Matthew R; Myatt, Leslie; Davidson, W Sean; Steiner, Robert D; Woollett, Laura A (2008. ) Enhanced placental cholesterol efflux by fetal HDL in Smith-Lemli-Opitz syndrome.Mol. Genet. Metab., , 94 (2 ) ,240-7 More Information

Woollett, Laura A (2008. ) Where does fetal and embryonic cholesterol originate and what does it do.Ann. Rev. Nutr., , 28 ,97-114 More Information

Yao, Lihang; Jenkins, Katie; Horn, Paul S; Lichtenberg, M Hayden; Woollett, Laura A (2007. ) Inability to fully suppress sterol synthesis rates with exogenous sterol in embryonic and extraembyronic fetal tissues.Biochim. Biophys. Acta., , 1771 (11 ) ,1372-9 More Information

Yao, Lihang; Horn, Paul S; Heubi, James E; Woollett, Laura A (2007. ) The liver plays a key role in whole body sterol accretion of the neonatal Golden Syrian hamster.Biochim. Biophys. Acta., , 1771 (4 ) ,550-7 More Information

Jones, H.N., Woollett, L.A., Barbour, N., Prasad, P.D., Powell, T.L., Jansson, T. (2009. ) High fat diet prior to and during pregnancy causes marked up-regulation of placental nutrient transport and fetal overgrowth in C57/Bl6 mice .FASEB J, , 23 ,271-278

Ramprasath, Vanu R; Jones, Peter Jh; Buckley, Donna D; Woollett, Laura A; Heubi, James E (2013. ) Effect of dietary sphingomyelin on absorption and fractional synthetic rate of cholesterol and serum lipid profile in humans.Lipids in health and disease, , 12 ,125 More Information

Rebholz S.L., Burke, K.T., Yang, Q., Tso, P., and Woollett, L.A. (2011. ) Dietary fat impacts fetal growth and metabolism: uptake of chylomicron remnant core lipids by the placenta .Am. J. Physiol., , May 17 ,Epub ahead of print

Krishnan, Karthik; Feng, Xizhi; Powers-Fletcher, Margaret V; Bick, Gregory; Richie, Daryl L; Woollett, Laura A; Askew, David S (2013. ) Effects of a defective endoplasmic reticulum-associated degradation pathway on the stress response, virulence, and antifungal drug susceptibility of the mold pathogen Aspergillus fumigatus.Eukaryotic cell, , 12 (4 ) ,512-9 More Information

Ramprasath, Vanu R; Jones, Peter J H; Buckley, Donna D; Woollett, Laura A; Heubi, James E (2012. ) Decreased plasma cholesterol concentrations after PUFA-rich diets are not due to reduced cholesterol absorption/synthesis.Lipids, , 47 (11 ) ,1063-71 More Information

Rebholz, Sandra L; Jones, Thomas; Burke, Katie T; Jaeschke, Anja; Tso, Patrick; D'Alessio, David A; Woollett, Laura A (2012. ) Multiparity leads to obesity and inflammation in mothers and obesity in male offspring.American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, , 302 (4 ) ,E449-57 More Information

Rebholz, Sandra L; Burke, Katie T; Yang, Qing; Tso, Patrick; Woollett, Laura A (2011. ) Dietary fat impacts fetal growth and metabolism: uptake of chylomicron remnant core lipids by the placenta.American journal of physiology. Endocrinology and metabolism, , 301 (2 ) ,E416-25 More Information

Rebholz, Sandra L; Jones, Thomas; Herrick, Robert L; Xie, Changchun; Calafat, Antonia M; Pinney, Susan M; Woollett, Laura A Hypercholesterolemia with consumption of PFOA-laced Western diets is dependent on strain and sex of mice.Toxicology reports, , 3 ,46-54 More Information

Carter, Lindsay G; Ngo Tenlep, Sara Y; Woollett, Laura A; Pearson, Kevin J (2015. ) Exercise Improves Glucose Disposal and Insulin Signaling in Pregnant Mice Fed a High Fat Diet.Journal of diabetes & metabolism, , 6 (12 ) , More Information

Jones, Kevin S; Alimov, Alexander P; Rilo, Horacio L; Jandacek, Ronald J; Woollett, Laura A; Penberthy, W Todd (2008. ) A high throughput live transparent animal bioassay to identify non-toxic small molecules or genes that regulate vertebrate fat metabolism for obesity drug development. Nutrition & metabolism, , 5 ,23

Faulkner, Loren E; Panagotopulos, Stacey E; Johnson, Jacob D; Woollett, Laura A; Hui, David Y; Witting, Scott R; Maiorano, J Nicholas; Davidson, W Sean (2008. ) An analysis of the role of a retroendocytosis pathway in ABCA1-mediated cholesterol efflux from macrophages.Journal of lipid research, , 49 (6 ) ,1322-32 More Information

Woollett, L A; Wang, Y; Buckley, D D; Yao, L; Chin, S; Granholm, N; Jones, P J H; Setchell, K D R; Tso, P; Heubi, J E (2006. ) Micellar solubilisation of cholesterol is essential for absorption in humans.Gut, , 55 (2 ) ,197-204 More Information

Woollett, Laura A (2005. ) Maternal cholesterol in fetal development: transport of cholesterol from the maternal to the fetal circulation. The American journal of clinical nutrition, , 82 (6 ) ,1155-61

Hayden Lichtenberg, M; Wilke, Catherine S; McConihay, Julie A; Granholm, Norman A; Woollett, Laura A (2005. ) Yolk sac cholesteryl ester secretion rates can be manipulated in the Golden Syrian hamster: effect of yolk sac cholesterol concentrations.Biochimica et biophysica acta, , 1735 (3 ) ,214-21 More Information

Woollett, Laura A; Buckley, Donna D; Yao, Lihang; Jones, Peter J H; Granholm, Norman A; Tolley, Elizabeth A; Tso, Patrick; Heubi, James E (2004. ) Cholic acid supplementation enhances cholesterol absorption in humans. Gastroenterology, , 126 (3 ) ,724-31

Schmid, Kara E; Woollett, Laura A (2003. ) Differential effects of polyunsaturated fatty acids on sterol synthesis rates in adult and fetal tissues of the hamster: consequence of altered sterol balance.American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology, , 285 (5 ) ,G796-803 More Information

Schmid, Kara E; Davidson, W Sean; Myatt, Leslie; Woollett, Laura A (2003. ) Transport of cholesterol across a BeWo cell monolayer: implications for net transport of sterol from maternal to fetal circulation.Journal of lipid research, , 44 (10 ) ,1909-18 More Information

Woollett, Laura A; Buckley, Donna D; Yao, Lihang; Jones, Peter J H; Granholm, Norman A; Tolley, Elizabeth A; Heubi, James E (2003. ) Effect of ursodeoxycholic acid on cholesterol absorption and metabolism in humans.Journal of lipid research, , 44 (5 ) ,935-42 More Information

Yao, Lihang; Dawson, Paul A; Woollett, Laura A (2003. ) Increases in biliary cholesterol-to-bile acid ratio in pregnant hamsters fed low and high levels of cholesterol.American journal of physiology. Gastrointestinal and liver physiology, , 284 (2 ) ,G263-8 More Information

Yao, Lihang; Heubi, James E; Buckley, Donna D; Fierra, Humberto; Setchell, Kenneth D R; Granholm, Norman A; Tso, Patrick; Hui, David Y; Woollett, Laura A (2002. ) Separation of micelles and vesicles within lumenal aspirates from healthy humans: solubilization of cholesterol after a meal. Journal of lipid research, , 43 (4 ) ,654-60

Riddle, T M; Kuhel, D G; Woollett, L A; Fichtenbaum, C J; Hui, D Y (2001. ) HIV protease inhibitor induces fatty acid and sterol biosynthesis in liver and adipose tissues due to the accumulation of activated sterol regulatory element-binding proteins in the nucleus.The Journal of biological chemistry, , 276 (40 ) ,37514-9 More Information

Woollett, L A (2001. ) The origins and roles of cholesterol and fatty acids in the fetus. Current opinion in lipidology, , 12 (3 ) ,305-12

Woollett, L A (2001. ) Fetal lipid metabolism. Frontiers in bioscience : a journal and virtual library, , 6 ,D536-45

McConihay, J A; Honkomp, A M; Granholm, N A; Woollett, L A (2000. ) Maternal high density lipoproteins affect fetal mass and extra-embryonic fetal tissue sterol metabolism in the mouse. Journal of lipid research, , 41 (3 ) ,424-32

Jones, Helen N; Woollett, Laura A; Barbour, Nicolette; Prasad, Puttur D; Powell, Theresa L; Jansson, Thomas (2009. ) High-fat diet before and during pregnancy causes marked up-regulation of placental nutrient transport and fetal overgrowth in C57/BL6 mice.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, , 23 (1 ) ,271-8 More Information

Yao, Lihang; Woollett, Laura A (2005. ) Adult sterol metabolism is not affected by a positive sterol balance in the neonatal Golden Syrian hamster.American journal of physiology. Regulatory, integrative and comparative physiology, , 288 (3 ) ,R561-6 More Information

McConihay, J A; Horn, P S; Woollett, L A (2001. ) Effect of maternal hypercholesterolemia on fetal sterol metabolism in the Golden Syrian hamster. Journal of lipid research, , 42 (7 ) ,1111-9

Davidson, W Sean; Heink, Anna; Sexmith, Hannah; Melchior, John T; Gordon, Scott M; Kuklenyik, Zsuzsanna; Woollett, Laura; Barr, John R; Jones, Jeffrey I; Toth, Christopher A; Shah, Amy S (2016. ) The effects of apolipoprotein B depletion on HDL subspecies composition and function.Journal of lipid research, , 57 (4 ) ,674-86 More Information

Feng, Xizhi; Krishnan, Karthik; Richie, Daryl L; Aimanianda, Vishukumar; Hartl, Lukas; Grahl, Nora; Powers-Fletcher, Margaret V; Zhang, Minlu; Fuller, Kevin K; Nierman, William C; Lu, Long Jason; Latgé, Jean-Paul; Woollett, Laura; Newman, Simon L; Cramer, Robert A; Rhodes, Judith C; Askew, David S (2011. ) HacA-independent functions of the ER stress sensor IreA synergize with the canonical UPR to influence virulence traits in Aspergillus fumigatus.PLoS pathogens, , 7 (10 ) ,e1002330 More Information

Rebholz, Sandra L; Melchior, John T; Davidson, W Sean; Jones, Helen N; Welge, Jeffrey A; Prentice, Andrew M; Moore, Sophie E; Woollett, Laura A (2017. ) Studies in genetically modified mice implicate maternal HDL as a mediator of fetal growth.FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology, , More Information

Research - Metabolic Diseases Institute
2120 Galbraith Road
Reading  Ohio, 45215
Phone: (513) 558-3969
laura.woollett@uc.edu