Research
The Frasch Lab investigates maternal-fetal physiology and neuroscience across several interconnected areas. We study how chronic maternal stress during pregnancy manifests in heartbeat patterns, develop non-invasive monitoring technologies, and build computational models to advance perinatal medicine.
Brain Research
Prenatal Stress
Investigating how chronic maternal stress affects brain development in utero. Stressed fetuses entrain their heartbeat to the maternal heartbeat, but non-stressed fetuses do not.
Neuroinflammation
The cholinergic anti-inflammatory pathway, microglial inflammation models, and the brain-gut connection in utero.
Brain Ischemia
Early and reliable detection of fetal brain injury remains an unsolved challenge. We develop HRV-based approaches to solve it.
Biosensors
ECG
Non-invasive fetal ECG monitoring using FDA-approved transabdominal monitors and multidimensional HRV analyses.
EEG
Fetal EEG monitoring during labor to predict severe acidemia and prevent brain injury.
minAction.net
minAction.net
A search for vertically organizing principles in physiology — moving from studying causality within specific scales to finding principles that are invariant across all scales, inspired by the Principle of Least Action in physics.
Additional Research
Early Life ROI
Return on investment analysis for early life interventions in perinatal health.
Brain Health
Broader brain health outcomes and their developmental origins.
S Index
A research metric tool for evaluating scientific impact. GitHub repository.
In Silico
Computational simulation of labor physiology and fetal cardiovascular responses.
Data Sets
Open data sets produced by the lab for the research community.
Preprints
Protocols and preprints across multiple open-access repositories.
ResearchTwin
Transforms publications, code, and datasets into a live knowledge graph with the S-Index — an open metric for research quality and impact.