Zika virus (ZIKV) drew international attention as a public health threat during the 2015 epidemic in Brazil, where it was associated with devastating outcomes for pregnant women—including fetal miscarriage, growth impairment, and neurological anomalies like microcephaly. Effective antiviral therapies and vaccines remain elusive, largely due to a lack of understanding regarding how to elicit a protective immune response against ZIKV, particularly in pregnant populations. Addressing this knowledge gap is critical, as the immune system goes through unique changes during pregnancy, and findings derived from non-pregnant adults may not be directly applicable to pregnant individuals. My SPARK project aims to bridge this gap by investigating the immune responses to ZIKV in pregnant women, which could inform the development of targeted antiviral strategies and vaccines to protect both mothers and their unborn children.

The maternal-fetal interface is a complex environment. Both maternal and fetal macrophages play essential roles in the progression of pregnancy and in safeguarding the fetus against pathogens. In fact, fetal macrophages make up a large part of the immune cell population in fetal tissues during gestation. By utilizing spatially resolved transcriptomic technology, I will characterize gene expression profiles at the maternal-fetal interface of infected pregnant mice and correlate that with fetal outcomes. I aim to answer critical questions regarding ZIKV’s ability to evade immune defenses and successfully infect the fetus, while also shedding light on the broader immune evasion strategies employed by ZIKV in both pregnant and non-pregnant individuals. Ultimately, these findings could pave the way for the development of antiviral therapies and vaccines designed to protect against ZIKV infection.