Mette Hoegh Email & Phone Number

Copenhagen, Capital Region, Denmark

Development of ultra-fast PCR methods and broad PCR assays targeting viral families. Structuring of departmental pandemic preparedness response. Research management.

Validation of next generation sequencing method for non-invasive prenatal diagnosis of chromosomal disorders. Support of diagnostic real-time PCR analyses. Collaboration on research projects.

Collaboration with medical and technical staff on establishment and management of a diagnostic laboratory capable of automated, high through-put molecular analysis on various instrument platforms. Responsible for set-up and/or maintenance of routine diagnostic real-time PCR assays for detection and/or characterisation of pathogens in patient samples. Teaching of technical and academic staff. Supervision of students. Collaboration with other clinical departments on research projects. Founder of a national Danish forum for quality control of molecular biology based diagnostic assays in the field of clinical microbiology, now transformed to MolNet under Danish Society of Clinical Microbiology. Safety officer and biosecurity officer.

Investigation of the presence of adiponectin in maternal blood, white adipose tissue and term placenta to determine the correlation of circulating adiponectin levels with insulin resistance in pregnant women with normal glucose tolerance and gestational diabetes mellitus. Gene expression in term placenta was examined by conventional and real-time PCR and protein expression was examined by Western Blot to determine whether the placenta contributes to circulating adiponectin levels. Maternal serum adiponectin through pregnancy was measured by ELISA and mRNA expression in white adipose tissue was examined by real-time PCR to evaluate the correlation between the two. Adiponectin circulates in two different forms of low or high molecular weight (LMW or HMW). The ratio of HMW to LMW complexes was determined by Western Blot of maternal serum samples through pregnancy to study whether the ratio of HMW to LMW adiponectin complexes in the maternal circulation correlates with insulin resistance.

Ph.D. thesis work. Investigation of gene expression induced after contact between endothelial cells and human placental syncytiotrophoblast microvillous membranes. Syncytiotrophoblast membrane fragments (STBM) have been detected in the peripheral circulation in pregnant women and it has been shown that the level of circulating STBM is significantly increased in preeclamptic women compared to women with uncomplicated pregnancies. STBM could be one of the factors which directly causes the endothelial cell dysfunction of pre-eclampsia. In order to study the effect of STBM on endothelial cell gene expression, human umbilical vein endothelial cells were cultured in the presence and absence of STBM. At specified time points, total RNA was purified from the cultures and analysed on microarrays (Affymetrix GeneChips). The expression levels of a number of genes were then verified by real-time PCR or ELISA.

Ph.D. thesis work. Identification and characterization of genes and gene products involved in the development of preeclampsia. Several studies point to the placenta as the primary cause of pre-eclampsia. Aberrant expression of certain genes in the placenta may contribute to the development of pre-eclampsia. The study objective was to identify such gene products. RNA was purified from tissue biopsies taken from preeclamptic placentas at term and matched normal controls. The mRNA expression profiles were analysed by Affymetrix microarrays. Verification of the expression of a selection of genes was performed using real-time PCR and immunohistochemistry.

M.Sc. thesis work. Identification of mRNA/proteins specifically expressedfollowing the interaction between trophoblast and endometrium. The interaction between epithelial cells of endometrium and trophoblast cells during implantation is presumed to be accompanied by a change in gene expression in the cell types involved. The objective of this study was to identify such differentially expressed genes. The interaction between the cell types was simulated in vitro by growing primary cell cultures of human endometrial epithelial cells and trophoblast cells together (co-culture) and separately (control cultures). The gene expression in the cell cultures was compared using the Differential Display method and confirmed using a modified Northern Blot method (reverse northern dot blot).

Investigation of the presence of fetal cells in maternal blood. Information about the appearance of gamma-, epsilon-, and zeta-globin mRNAs in fetal erythroblasts during gestation and about the presence and amounts of these mRNAs in pregnant and nonpregnant women is important from the perspective of using these molecules as a marker of fetal erythroblasts. A specific marker is necessary for isolation and identification of fetal nucleated red blood cells from maternal blood samples for use in antenatal diagnosis of fetal genetic or chromosomal abnormalities. A very sensitive reverse transcription-PCR (RT-PCR) method, coamplification analysis of gamma- and epsilon-globin cDNA, and quantitative analysis of gamma-globin mRNA based on competitive RT-PCR were used to investigate these aspects.

Basic Course In Ds/En Iso 15189:2013 Standard For Medical Laboratories

Phd Course, Next Generation Sequencing

Analysis of next generation sequencing data.

Danish Biosecurity Course

Health And Safety Course (Sikkerhedsgruppens Arbejsmiljøuddannelse)

Ph.D., Molecular Biology, Human Reproduction

M.Sc., Biochemistry, Immunology, Human Physiology

Bachelor'S Degree, Biochemistry