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Photo of  Laura A. Woollett, PhD

Laura A. Woollett, PhD

Professor

Pathology & Laboratory Medicine | College of Medicine

Education/Credentials
  • Bachelor of Science (chemistry): Miami University
  • Doctorate (biochemistry): Iowa State University
Contact Information
Research Interests

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...

Peer Reviewed Publications

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, ,

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

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,

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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; 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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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Department of
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine

UC Health University Hospital
Laboratory Medicine Building,
Suite 110
3188 Bellevue Avenue
Cincinnati, OH 45219

Phone: (513) 584-7284
Fax: (513) 584-3892
Email: pathology@uc.edu