Liping Feng
Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Assistant Professor in Pathology
Associate Research Professor of Global Health
Appointment:
Countries:
Liping Feng
Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology
Assistant Professor in Pathology
Associate Research Professor of Global Health
Liping Feng's lab employs physiological, molecular, and translational approaches to study environmental health, placental biology, fetal programming, and reproductive and maternal health. Dr. Feng has a primary appointment in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the Duke University School of Medicine and her lab utilizes a wide variety of model systems including primary human trophoblast cells, stem cells, human placental tissue, mice, rats, and rabbits to support this focus. Current projects include 1) studies of the impact of perinatal PFAS exposure on placental function and early programming of fetal development, identifying mechanistic links between altered placental function, fetal growth, and adult health, placental-fetal signaling in modulating fetal immune and brain development; 2) studies of the roles of placental molecular signals in reproduction and neurobehavioral development in offspring using placental specific knockout mouse and cell models and placental imaging.
Projects
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Perinatal PFAS exposure and immunotoxicity in early life
United States
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Drinking Water Contamination in NC: Water Use, Human Health and Going Beyond GenX
United States
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Maternal exposure to e-waste in Guiyu, China and birth outcomes
China
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Effects of perfluorobutane sulfonate (PFBS) exposure on adverse pregnancy outcomes and fetal development
China, United States
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The development of a platform mimicking the human placental barrier
United States
Publications
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Happel J, Mellouk N, Crute C, Feng L. PFBS disrupts lipid metabolism and mitochondrial function in human trophoblast cells. Toxicology. 2025 Dec;518:154269.Kendal-Wright CE, Moore JJ, Feng L, Menon R, David AL, Chowdhury TT, et al. A call to standardize the nomenclature of human fetal membrane at the feto-maternal interface. Placenta. 2025 Oct;170:42–52.Mellouk N, Marchese MJ, Gao F, Liang S, Feng L. Effects of Perfluorobutane Sulfonate (PFBS) on Female Reproduction, Pregnancy, and Birth Outcomes. Obstet Gynecol Surv. 2025 Oct;80(10):657–72.Zhang Y, Shan KZ, Liang P, Lowry AJ, Feng L, Yang H. PIEZO1 drives trophoblast fusion and placental development. Nat Commun. 2025 Jul 26;16(1):6895.
See more publications at Scholars@Duke


