Kyle Siemers is an MD/Ph.D. student at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine, conducting her dissertation research under the guidance of Dr. Michelle Baack. With a bachelor's degree in Chemistry from Pacific Lutheran University, she is interested in exploring the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, focusing on placenta metabolism, fatty acid transport, and mitochondrial function in gestational diabetes. Kyle's work has been recognized with presentation awards from the Midwest Society of Pediatric Research and Perinatal Biology Symposium. As a member of the American Physician Scientist Association and the International and US DOHaD societies, she strives to contribute valuable insights to the scientific community for better lifelong health outcomes.

Abigail Klein is a Ph.D. Candidate at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine. She conducts her research in the lab of Dr. Michelle Baack at Sanford Research, where the lab focuses on understanding lipid-mediated mechanisms of developmentally programmed disease in order to develop translatable interventions for improving the lifelong health of high-risk babies. Abigail received her Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Wisconsin Eau Claire in 2019, where she majored in Biology. Her dissertation research investigates the influences of maternal nutrition on transgenerational health, specifically how a maternal high-fat diet can disturb early embryogenesis through lipotoxicity and mitochondrial dysfunction.

Dr. Baack is a professor, the Chair of Pediatrics at the University of South Dakota Sanford School of Medicine (USD SSOM), and an associate scientist in the Environmental Influences on Health and Disease Group at Sanford Research. She received a BS in Pharmacy from South Dakota State University (SDSU) and an MD from the USD SSOM. After completing a Pediatric Residency at Creighton–UNMC, she practiced as a rural pediatrician for 10 years before completing a fellowship in Neonatal and Perinatal Medicine at the University of Iowa in 2011. There, she developed a passion for research in the fields of fetal and neonatal nutrition and the developmental origin of health and disease (DOHaD). Dr. Baack leads clinical, translational, and basic research platforms at Sanford Research. She is the University of Iowa’s satellite site PI for NICHD Neonatal Research Network clinical trials. Her lab collects placenta, umbilical cord, and cord blood for primary stem cell and cytotrophoblast isolation, which serve as translational models alongside animal and other cell models used to understand the molecular mechanisms of developmentally programmed cardiometabolic disease in high-risk populations. The overarching goal of the Baack Lab is to discover well-timed and clinically feasible interventions that improve mitochondrial function and reproductive and cardiometabolic health in not only one but subsequent generations.