Glucocorticoid regulation of lung and kidney organogenesis during mouse fetal development

My thesis investigated how hormones help the growth of a developing baby in utero before birth. My studies showed that a steroid hormone called cortisol controls a complex network of genes and pathways to mature the newborn babies’ lung and kidney. Currently strong synthetic steroid drugs are used to treat very preterm babies and these can sometimes have adverse effects on their development. The new pathways I discovered will aid in the development of new therapeutic drugs to treat very preterm birth with reduced side effects.