Andrea Braundmeier-Fleming, PhD

Contact Information

phone:  217.545.5226

abraundmeier88@siumed.edu

Dr. Braundmeier-Fleming is an Associate Professor in the Department of Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at SIU School of Medicine. She is also a faculty member of the Simmons Cancer Institute.

Research Interests

The immune system plays a significant role in reproductive processes such as embryonic implantation and fetal development but also in reproductive diseases and disorders. One of the major regulators of our immune system are the microbial organisms (bacteria, fungi and viruses) that reside within every tissue of our body. The overall goals of my research are to: 1) Understand the mechanisms of maternal immune suppression during early pregnancy, 2) Understand the regulation of immune cells in the development of gynecological and obstetrical conditions (ie. endometriosis, preeclampsia, and preterm birth), 3) Identify microbial communities and communication between these communities and the host immune system with reproductive disorders and 4) Utilizing multi-factorial data (clinical, biological and patient history) for development of personalized treatment strategies and diagnostics. Investigating the biocomplexity and communication between our immune, microbial and reproductive systems will translate into the development of complementary and alternative therapies for treatment of reproductive disorders. Research topics that I am currently developing are:

• Dysregulation of immune cells in the onset of preterm birth.
• Immune suppression in the development of ectopic endometrial lesions.
• Modifying immune cell populations through dietary supplementation to enhance immune health.
• The identification of the microbiome profiles of reproductive disorders and there potential for diagnostics and intervention strategies.

Utilizing biomedical animal models, multi- disciplinary investigational approaches and current molecular and cellular biological techniques, I believe that knowledge gained from these proposals can quickly be translated and implemented into human and animal medicine.

Molecular and Cellular Biological Techniques

• Immune Cell Proliferation Assays
• ELIZA’s
• Quantitative PCR
• Amplicon/ Metagenomic/ Metatranscriptomic Microbial Sequencing
• Mammalian Cell Culture
• Immunohistochemistry
• SDS-PAGE
• FACS
• RNA interference
• Microbiome Bioinformatics
• Machine Learning