Michael J. Soares, Ph.D.

University Distinguished Professor and Vice Chair of Research
Pathology and Laboratory Medicine
Director, Division of Cancer and Developmental Biology
Director, Institute of Maternal-Fetal Biology

Ph.D., University of Hawaii, 1981
Postdoctoral, University of California, Santa Cruz, 1981-1983
Postdoctoral, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, 1983-1984

Email: msoares@kumc.edu
Soares Lab web site

Ph.D. students are welcome.  Contact Dr. Soares for more information.

Our laboratory is interested in the regulation of cell differentiation, especially as related to trophoblast stem cells, and signaling pathways controlling their developmental fate. We are also interested in species-specific reproductive adaptations to physiological stressors and signaling events involved in the establishment and maintenance of pregnancy; including investigations on the prolactin gene family, intrauterine inflammatory and immune cells, uterine vasculature, decidual cells, and the invasive trophoblast cell lineage.  For more information on our research, please visit the Soares Lab web site.

Selected Publications

Additional Publications

1. Alam, S.M.K., Ain, R., Konno, T., Ho-Chen, J.K., and Soares, M.J. (2006) The rat prolactin gene family locus:  species-specific gene family expansion.  Mammalian Genome 17, 858-877.
2. Alam, S.M.K., Konno, T., Dai, G., Lu, L., Wang, D., Dunmore, J.H., Godwin, A.R., and Soares, M.J. (2007) A uterine decidual cell cytokine ensures pregnancy-dependent adaptations to a physiological stressor.  Development 134, 407-415.
3. Konno, T., Rempel, L.A., Arroyo, J.A., and Soares, M.J. (2007) Pregnancy in the Brown Norway rat:  a model for investigating the genetics of placentation.  Biology of Reproduction 76, 709-718.
4. Soares, M.J., Konno, T., and Alam, S.M.K. (2007) The prolactin family:  effectors of pregnancy-specific adaptations.  Trends in Endocrinology and Metabolism 18, 114-121.
5. Rosario, G.X., Konno, T., and Soares, M.J. (2008) Maternal hypoxia-activated endovascular trophoblast cell invasion.  Developmental Biology 314, 362- 375.
6. Alam, S.M.K., Konno, T., Sahgal, N., Lu, L., and Soares, M.J. (2008) Decidual cells produce a heparin-binding prolactin family cytokine with putative intrauterine regulatory actions.  Journal of Biological Chemistry 283, 18957-18968.