Judith Head, Ph.D.

Dr. Head received her PhD from the Department of Cell Biology at UT Southwestern in 1975. Her work under Dr. Rupert Billingham and Dr. Alan Beer focused on issues related to the acceptance of the fetal-placental unit as a "transplant" by the mother. After joining the faculty of that department in 1977, she engaged in numerous studies relating to the protection transplants are afforded in various sites, including the pregnant uterus, the anterior chamber of the eye, the testis, and the brain. Subsequently, an extensive series of in vitro studies on the trophoblast from murine placentas were conducted, addressing major histocompatibility antigen expression and susceptibility of these crucial placental cells to maternal lymphocytes. Dr. Head moved to the Green Center for Reproductive Biology Sciences in 1988 and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1999. The major studies related to pregnancy immunology, with rodent models, have been on the natural killer (NK) cells that accumulate in the uterus of both rodents and humans during early pregnancy, including characterization of the cells, mapping their differentiation, and analyzing potential factors influencing their activation in this unique environment. Numerous studies on human placenta and fetal membranes have also been carried out, most recently focused on the biology of the amnion and various aspects potentially related to the phenomenon of membrane rupture. In 2005, she retired from her research work and now focuses on the teaching of medical students. She currently teaches histology and cell biology to first- and second-year students in the Microanatomy course, Organisms and Host course, and various integrated modules.