Christina Megli, MD, PhD

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Christina Megli, MD, PhD

Assistant Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology and Reproductive Sciences

Contact

Magee-Womens Research Institute
204 Craft Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa 15213

Email: meglicj@upmc.edu

Area of Research

Pregnancy & Newborn Medicine

Education

Maternal-Fetal Medicine Fellowship, UPMC Medical Education, Pittsburgh, PA

Obstetrics and Gynecology Residency, Oregon Health and Science University

MD, PhD Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth, Hanover, NH

Research in Brief

I am a clinician with expertise in maternal-fetal medicine and reproductive infectious diseases. I work with patients with high-risk pregnancies and as a clinician am frustrated by the lack of diagnostic prediction tools and treatment options for my patients. Maternal morbidity and mortality remain unacceptably high! My background in graduate school has allowed me to apply my clinical knowledge to basic and clinical research to try to address these issues.

In particular, pregnancy is a period of unique immune regulation: The entire maternal immune system becomes altered and this is largely uncharacterized. These alterations are regulated across pregnancy based on time and healthy regulation is critical for maternal and neonatal health. Yet, major knowledge gaps exist on these processes, and how this contributes to healthy and pathologic pregnancy. We have taken a multidisciplinary approach utilizing and generating robust clinical datasets, basic science models, collaborations with neonatologists, behavioral scientists, basic scientists and bioinformatics science to approach key knowledge gaps.

The Megli Lab believes that by taking a multi-tier approach we will break barriers in traditional research in this area and identify new targets and mechanisms of disease.

Selected Publications

Megli CJ, Carlin SM, Giacobe EJ, Hillebrand GH, Hooven TA. Virulence and pathogenicity of group B Streptococcus: Virulence factors and their roles in perinatal infection. Virulence. 2025 Dec;16(1):2451173. doi: 10.1080/21505594.2025.2451173. Epub 2025 Jan 23. Review. PubMed PMID: 39844743; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11758947.
Megli CJ, Zack R, McGaughey J, Hoehl R, Whisky T, Hartman A, McMillen C. Oropouche virus infects human placenta explants and trophoblast organoids. [preprint]. 2024 November. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2024.11.16.623866v1. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.16.623866.
Cabo LF, Yang L, Gao M, da Silva RJ, Washington NN, Reilly SM, Megli CJ, Coyne CB, Boyle JP. Toxoplasma gondii infection misdirects placental trophoblast lineage specification. bioRxiv. 2024 Sep 12;. doi: 10.1101/2024.09.10.612241. PubMed PMID: 39314453; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11419090.
Megli CJ, DePuyt AE, Goff JP, Munyoki SK, Hooven TA, Jašarević E. Diet influences community dynamics following vaginal group B streptococcus colonization. Microbiol Spectr. 2024 Jun 4;12(6):e0362323. doi: 10.1128/spectrum.03623-23. Epub 2024 May 9. PubMed PMID: 38722155; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC11237455.
Megli CJ, Hauspurg A, Venkataramanan R, Caritis SN. A Possible Mechanism of Action of 17α-Hydroxyprogesterone Caproate: Enhanced IL-10 Production. Am J Perinatol. 2023 Oct;40(14):1585-1589. doi: 10.1055/s-0041-1739354. Epub 2021 Nov 16. PubMed PMID: 34784615; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC9879021.
Yankello H, Lee Y, Megli C, Wayne E. Bi-directional communication between monocytes and trophoblasts under hypoxia and hypoxia-reperfusion conditions. bioRxiv. 2023 September. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.23.558721.
Shapero K, El-Dalati S, Berlacher K, Megli C. Outcomes of Endocarditis in Pregnancy: A Single-Center Experience. Open Forum Infect Dis. 2023 Sep;10(9):ofad470. doi: 10.1093/ofid/ofad470. eCollection 2023 Sep. PubMed PMID: 37779596; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10538254.
Megli C, DePuty A, Goff J, Munyoki S, Hooven T, Jašarević E. Diet influences community dynamics following vaginal group B Streptococcus colonization. [preprint]. 2023 September. Available from: https://www.biorxiv.org/content/10.1101/2023.09.10.556920v1. doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2023.09.10.556920.
McDonald K, Browning D, Greenfield K, Lin K, Meier J, Butoryak M, Sasaki A, Hand T, Megli C, Knoop K. Disruption of maternal IgA by prenatal antibiotics precedes intestinal E. coli colonization and late-onset sepsis in neonates. medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences. 2023 September. doi: https://doi.orgmegli/10.1101/2023.09.04.23295031.
Mark EG, Demirci JR, Megli C, Martin JM, Rick AM. Vaccination Beliefs and Attitudes of Lactating People During the SARS-CoV-2 Pandemic. J Hum Lact. 2023 Aug;39(3):415-425. doi: 10.1177/08903344231159640. Epub 2023 Apr 3. PubMed PMID: 37009722; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC10354528.

For additional publications, click here.