Sara Pinney is a pediatric endocrinologist at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a physician scientist in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine.
The principal focus of Dr. Pinney’s translational research program is to determine the molecular mechanisms that link an adverse intrauterine milieu to the development of diabetes and obesity later in life.
Dr. Pinney’s laboratory is investigating how intrauterine growth restriction, gestational diabetes and in utero exposure to environmental toxicants including bisphenol A (BPA), bisphenol S (BPS) and perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) contribute to the development of diabetes and obesity in the offspring.
Her research program performs studies with human samples, animal models and cell culture systems to better understand the mechanisms, including epigenetic modifications, responsible for fetal programming of childhood and adult metabolic disease. Specifically, Dr. Pinney is investigating the molecular mechanisms that are responsible for the development of diabetes, obesity and non-alcoholic fatty liver disease after exposure to an altered intra-uterine milieu.