Education

• MS, University of Cologne, Germany, 1983 
• PhD,  University of Cologne, Germany, 1988
•  Postdoc, Yale University, New Haven, CT, 1988-1992

Research Interests

Dr. Kappen is the director of the Developmental Biology lab, for which the research goal is to understand the mechanisms by which maternal disease and nutrition during pregnancy affects development of the embryo. Diabetes and obesity in the mother are associated with greater risk for birth defects in the offspring, in particular heart defects and neural tube defects. This indicates that the embryo is exquisitely sensitive to perturbations in the uterine environment, as manifested in perturbed gene regulation and abnormal growth.

Distressed pregnancies also appear to 'program' exposed individuals for heath problems later in adult life. Recent evidence from the Developmental Biology lab has identified several processes in pregnancies with adverse nutritional and metabolic exposures: 1)The identification of altered cell differentiation and gene expression in the placenta as a possible mediator in altered nutrient transport; altered nutrient transport is also a major risk factor for birth defects even before the placenta is formed, and lab members are currently studying the underlying cellular abnormalities. In the embryo proper, her lab has identified impaired cell migration during gastrulation, when the precursors of major organ systems are formed, as a unifying explanation for birth defects in diabetic pregnancies. The lab is currently characterizing molecular causes for impaired migration at the single-cell level. Lab members are also investigating embryonic gene expression to identify the earliest responses to altered nutrition, with a focus on pathways that interfere with proper closure of the neural tube. Additionally, ongoing studies on diet composition and vitamin supplementation have the aim to understand how beneficial factors may be used in birth defects and disease prevention through optimized nutrition.

The research program has a second focus on fundamental mechanisms in patterning of the embryonic body plan, in particular in the axial skeleton.

The laboratory uses a wide variety of approaches, including imaging, histological techniques, molecular biology, bioinformatics, and mouse genetics and genomics.

Department: Developmental Biology

Selected Publications

To be added