Summary: Today we bring you a long-awaited, and incredibly special episode! This is an interview I, along with the new co-VP of curriculum for Penn HealthX, Raymond Liu, did with Dr. Alan Flake after he spoke at the Penn HealthX conference last semester. Dr. Flake is an attending pediatric and fetal surgeon in the Division of Pediatric General, Thoracic and Fetal Surgery at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He serves as Director of CHOP’s Center for Fetal Research and is a professor of Surgery and Obstetrics and Gynecology at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Today, he spearheads an active research laboratory focused on fetal stem cell and gene therapy. He has been at the forefront of cutting-edge studies aimed at treating genetic disorders before birth. Among all of his accolades, he is probably most known for his current work on development of an artificial womb. Though the research is still being done with lambs, the hope is that in the coming years, a device will be available for preterm human babies to improve their morbidity and mortality. Links Press: https://www.cnn.com/videos/health/2017/04/26/lamb-artificial-womb-study-jnd-orig-vstan.cnn https://www.theverge.com/2017/4/25/15421734/artificial-womb-fetus-biobag-uterus-lamb-sheep-birth-premie-preterm-infant https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2017/sep/04/artifical-womb-women-ectogenesis-baby-fertility CHOP's Center for Fetal Research http://www.chop.edu/pages/center-fetal-research Artificial Wombs https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Artificial_uterus
