Karlee Silver

Karlee Silver is a Postdoctoral Fellow and Pillar Leader at Sandra A. Rotman Laboratories, McLaughlin Rotman Centre for Global Health within the Translational Research Pillar.

An estimated 50 million women become pregnant each year in malarious areas of Africa. Pregnant women are highly susceptible to severe malaria infections. The malaria parasite tends to remain in the placenta, where it can worsen the health of both the mom and the developing fetus. Karlee's research is focused on identifying responses that are changed by placental malaria infections that lead to reduced fetal viability and growth restriction with the aim of intervening. Furthermore, she is interested in the effect of a placental malaria infection on the offspring's cognitive development and its ability to respond to malaria infections early in life.