The de Mestre laboratory conducts research to uncover the intricate processes involved in a successful pregnancy as well as how they go wrong in pregnancy loss and pregnancy pathologies. These processes play a crucial role not only in delivering a live foal but also in programming the fetus for lifelong health. By employing a multidisciplinary approach spanning genetics, molecular and cellular biology, pathology and epidemiology, we investigate critical aspects of early placental and fetal development in health and disease as well as congenital conditions of foals. Our long term goal is to improve fertility management and enhance the well-being of breeding mares through evidence-based clinical decisions. Furthermore, our discoveries may provide insights into pregnancy-related conditions in humans and other veterinary species due to the remarkable similarities we are discovering between pregnancy loss in mares and women.

Examples are specific projects include defining the intolerome of embryonic and fetal period of development, investigation of the mechanisms that lead to aneuploidy in equine embryos, genome instability in the placenta and its role in pregnancy associated morbidities and mortality, development of new diagnostics for pregnancy pathologies and the immune response to embryo. 

• 2009-2010 Postgraduate Certificate in Academic Practice, Kings College London, UK
• 2002-2006 PhD Medical Sciences, The John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University, Australia
• 1992-1998 Bachelor of Veterinary Science (Graduating with Honours Class I, equivalent to DVM), The University of Sydney, Sydney, Australia

• Dr Mandi de Mestre is the Dorothy Havemeyer McConville Professor at Baker Institute for Animal Health and in the Department of Biomedical Sciences. She is also the Director of Baker Institute for Animal Health.
• She completed her clinical training (BVSc(hons)) at the University of Sydney, Australia after which she worked as a clinician in the field of equine reproductive and neonatal medicine. In 2006, she received a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the John Curtin School of Medical Research, Australian National University for which she was the recipient of the Fenner Medal. Her postdoctoral training that followed was at Cornell University where she consolidated her research interests in equine placental immunobiology and genetics.  In 2008, she was appointed to faculty at the Royal Veterinary College, London, UK where she was Principal Investigator of the Equine Pregnancy Laboratory and taught veterinary students across their non-clinical and clinical training for 15 years. In 2023, she moved her laboratory to Cornell University where her group currently focuses on two main areas: defining the intolerome of in utero life and the relationship between the embryo and maternal immunity. Her team applies an interdisciplinary and translational science approach in order to identify and characterise key molecular pathways at the maternal-fetal interface in both normal and failing pregnancies. In publications in 2020 and 2024, her team identified the largest number of cases of aneuploidy in products of conception outside of women. Combining her clinical and molecular training, her work utilises the key features of the naturally occurring disease model of pregnancy loss in the horse to inform both veterinary practice as well as insights into the fundamental mechanisms that underpin aneuploidy, genome stability and immune regulation in pregnancy.
• Dr de Mestre was the recipient of the 2015 Society of Reproduction and Fertility New Investigator Award. She is the treasurer and incoming chair for International Symposium on Equine Reproduction, Associate Editor for Reproduction and Fertility, and previously was a Council Member for the Society of Reproduction and Fertility. She is lead for Cornell’s BBS Graduate field curriculum and Cornell Equine, a cross campus collaborative initiative to support equine health and education.

Pedagogy research:

• Tierney Kinnison, Rachel Lumbis, Amanda M de Mestre, Jacqueline M Cardwell Preliminary testing of psychometric properties of the 'student perceptions of veterinary interprofessional education and work scale' (SP-VIEWS) J Interprof Care. 2021 May 18;1-9. doi: 10.1080/13561820.2021.1902961. Online ahead of print.
• JM Cardwell and AM de Mestre Professional Orientation and Development: Developing EI through experiential learning. VetEd 2019, Hertfordshire, July 2019
• Uehlinger, F. Crowther, E. University of Bristol; Baillie, S. Gregory, S. Cardwell, J. de Mestre, AM. Championing Experiential Leadership Development for Veterinary Professionals. VetEd 2015, Bristol, Jul 2015
• AM de Mestre. Students get a chance to learn how to lead. Vet Record, 2013, Vol 173, Issue 13. https://doi.org/10.1136/vr.f6044

Laboratory Research: 

• Jaworska J, Tobolski D, Salem SE, Kahler A, Wocławek-Potocka I, de Mestre AM. Single-cell atlas of the pregnant equine endometrium before and after implantation. Biol Reprod. 2025 Jan 5:ioaf004. doi: 10.1093/biolre/ioaf004. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39756438.
• Lawson JM, Salem SE, Miller D, Kahler A, van den Boer WJ, Shilton CA, Sever T, Mouncey RR, Ward J, Hampshire DJ, Foote AK, Bryan JS, Juras R, Pynn OD, Davis BW, Bellone RR, Raudsepp T, de Mestre AM. Naturally occurring horse model of miscarriage reveals temporal relationship between chromosomal aberration type and point of lethality. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2024 Aug 13;121(33):e2405636121. doi: 10.1073/pnas.2405636121. PMID: 39102548. News coverage
• Wagner B, Babasyan S, Wilford S, Robbin MG, de Mestre AM. Monoclonal antibodies for equine CD25 improve detection of regulatory T cells in horses. Vet Immunol Immunopathol. 2024 Jun 6;274:110790. doi: 10.1016/j.vetimm.2024.110790. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38901326.
• Sielhorst J, Koether K, Volkmann N, Blanco M, Vicioso R, Baade S, Kemper N, de Mestre AM, Sieme H. Occurrence of ultrasonographic assessed placental abnormalities, treatments, pregnancy outcome, and subsequent fertility on a large warmblood stud farm: A retrospective field study. J Equine Vet Sci. 2024 May 1;137:105076. doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2024.105076. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38697370.
• Mouncey R, Arango-Sabogal JC, Rathbone P, Scott CJ, de Mestre AM. Prevalence of Microbial Isolates Cultured from Endometrial Swab Samples Collected from United Kingdom Thoroughbred Mares from 2014 to 2020. Vet Sci. 2024 Feb 9;11(2):82. doi: 10.3390/vetsci11020082. PMID: 38393100; PMCID: PMC10891641.
• Lawson JM, Shilton CA, Lindsay-McGee V, Psifidi A, Wathes DC, Raudsepp T, de Mestre AM. Does inbreeding contribute to pregnancy loss in Thoroughbred horses? Equine Vet J. 2024 Jan 14. doi: 10.1111/evj.14057. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38221707. Featured by Journal and news
• Lawson JM, Verheyen K, Smith KC, Bryan JS, Foote AK, de Mestre AM. The equine umbilical cord in clinically healthy pregnancies. Equine Vet J. 2024 Jan 14. doi: 10.1111/evj.14055. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38219774.
• Mouncey R, Arango-Sabogal JC, de Mestre A, Verheyen KL. Associations between turn out practices and rates of musculoskeletal disease and injury in Thoroughbred foals and yearlings on stud farms in the United Kingdom. Equine Vet J. 2023 Dec 26. doi: 10.1111/evj.14038. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 38146768. Featured by Journal
• Mouncey R, Arango-Sabogal JC, de Mestre AM, Verheyen KL. Gestation length is associated with early-life limb deformities in Thoroughbred foals. J Equine Vet Sci. 2023 Aug 2:104896. doi: 10.1016/j.jevs.2023.104896. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37541603.
• Thompson RE, Meyers MA, Palmer J, Veeramachaneni DNR, Magee C, de Mestre AM, Antczak DF, Hollinshead FK. Production of Mare Chorionic Girdle Organoids That Secrete Equine Chorionic Gonadotropin. Int J Mol Sci. 2023 May 31;24(11):9538. doi: 10.3390/ijms24119538. PMID: 37298490
• Mouncey R, Arango-Sabogal JC, de Mestre AM, Verheyen KL. Incidence of disease, injury and death in Thoroughbred foals and yearlings on stud farms in the UK and Ireland. Vet Rec. 2023 May 14:e2994. doi: 10.1002/vetr.2994. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 37183185.
• Rathbone P, Arango-Sabogal JC, de Mestre AM, Scott CJ. Antimicrobial resistance of endometrial bacterial isolates collected from UK Thoroughbred mares between 2014 and 2020. Vet Rec. 2023 Mar;192(5):e2591. doi: 10.1002/vetr.2591. Epub 2023 Feb 21. PMID: 36809533.
• Jaworska, J, de Mestre, AM, Wiśniewska, J, Wagner, B, Nowicki, A, Kowalczyk-Zięba, I, Wocławek-Potocka, I. Populations of NK cells and regulatory T cells in the endometrium of cycling mares – a preliminary study, Animals 2022, 12(23), 3373; https://doi.org/10.3390/ani12233373
• Roach, JM, Arango-Sabogal, JC, Smith. KC, Foote, AK, Verheyen, KL, de Mestre, AM Multivariable analysis to determine the risk factors associated with abortion in Thoroughbred mares, Reproduction and Fertility, 2022 Nov 1:RAF-22-0087. doi: 10.1530/RAF-22-0087. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36374277.
• Shilton, CA, Kahler, A, Roach, JM, Raudsepp, T, and de Mestre, AM. Lethal variants of equine pregnancy: is it the placenta or fetus leading the conceptus in the wrong direction? Reproduction, Fertility, Development, 2022, Dec;35(2):51-69. doi: 10.1071/RD22239. PMID: 36592981.
• Scott, CJ, de Mestre, AM, Verheyen, KL, Arango-Sabogal JC. Bayesian accuracy estimates and fit for purpose thresholds of cytology and culture of endometrial swab samples for detecting endometritis in mares, Preventative Veterinary Medicine, Oct 20;209:105783. doi: 10.1016/j.prevetmed.2022.105783. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 36306641.
• Arango-Sabogal, JC, Mouncey, R, de Mestre, AM, Verheyen, KL Date of birth and purchase price as foals or yearlings are associated with Thoroughbred race performance in United Kingdom and Ireland flat racing. Vet Rec Open. 2022 Sep 23;9(1):e43. doi: 10.1002/vro2.43. PMID: 36185419; PMCID: PMC9508327.
• Salem SE, Sinnott A, Roach JM, Vereheyn KLP and de Mestre AM. Mixed - Effects Modelling of the Risk Factors Associated with Multiple Pregnancies in Thoroughbred Mares. Animals, 2022 Jul 20;12(14):1841. Doi: 10.3390/ani12141841.
• Mouncey R, Arango-Sabogal JC, de Mestre AM, Foote AK, Verheyen KL. Descriptive study of medication usage and the occurrence of disease and injury during gestation in Thoroughbred broodmares. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 2022, Aug 11:104104. Doi:10.1016/j.jevs.2022.104104
• Loux S, Robles M, Chavatte-Palmer P, de Mestre AM. Markers of equine placental differentiation: insights from gene expression studies. Reproduction. 2022 Feb 14;163(3):R39-R54. doi: 10.1530/REP-21-0115. PMID: 35038309.
• Mouncey R, Arango-Sabogal JC, de Mestre AM, Foote AK, Verheyen KL. Retrospective analysis of post-mortem findings in Thoroughbreds aged from birth to 18 months presented to a UK pathology laboratory. Vet J. 2022 Mar;281:105813. doi: 10.1016/j.tvjl.2022.105813. Epub 2022 Mar 5. PMID: 35259541.
• Robles M, Loux S, de Mestre AM, Chavatte-Palmer P. Environmental constraints and pathologies that modulate equine placental genes and development. Reproduction. 2022 Feb 14;163(3):R25-R38. doi: 10.1530/REP-21-0116. PMID: 35019860.
• Kinnison T, Lumbis R, de Mestre AM, Cardwell JM. Preliminary testing of psychometric properties of the 'student perceptions of veterinary interprofessional education and work scale' (SP-VIEWS). J Interprof Care. 2022 May-Jun;36(3):449-457. doi: 10.1080/13561820.2021.1902961. Epub 2021 May 18. PMID: 34000950.
• Grillos, A.S., J.M. Roach, A.M. de Mestre, A. K. Foote, N. B. Kingsley, M.J. Mienaltowski, and R.R. Bellone. First reported case of fragile foal syndrome type 1 in the Thoroughbred caused by PLOD1 c.2032G>A. Equine Veterinary Journal, 2021, Dec 22. doi: 10.1111/evj.13547. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 34939209.
• Arango-Sabogal, J.C., Mouncey, R, de Mestre, A.M., Verheyen, K.L. Retrospective analysis of the population dynamics and racing outcomes of the 2014 and 2015 United Kingdom and Ireland Thoroughbred foal crops. Veterinary Record.2021 Sept 189(5):e298. doi: 10.1002/vetr.298.
• Kahler A, McGonnell IM, Smart H, Kowalski AA, Smith KC, Wathes DC, de Mestre, AM. Fetal morphological features and abnormalities associated with equine early pregnancy loss. Equine Veterinary Journal, 2021 May;53(3):530-541. doi: 10.1111/evj.13340. Epub 2020 Sep 19
• Roach, JM, Foote, AK, Smith. KC, Verheyen, KL., de Mestre, AM. Incidence and causes of pregnancy failure after day 70 of gestation in Thoroughbreds. Equine Veterinary Journal, 2021 Sept;53(5):996-1003. doi: 10.1111/evj.13386.
• Shilton, CA, Kahler, A, Crabtree, JR, Crowhurst, J, Davis, BW, McGladdery, AJ, Wathes, DC, Raudsepp, T, de Mestre, AM. Whole genome analysis reveals aneuploidies in early pregnancy loss in the horse., Scientific Reports. 2020 Aug 7;10(1):13314 doi: 10.1038/s41598-020-69967-z.
• Abdalla H, de Mestre AM, Salem SS.^. Efficacy of ovulation synchronization with timed artificial insemination in treatment of follicular cysts in dairy cows. Theriogenology. 2020 May 21;154:171-180. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2020.05.029
• Campbell MLH, Peachey L, Callan L, Wathes DC, de Mestre AM. Cyclical cervical function in the mare involves remodelling of collagen content, which is correlated with modification of oestrogen receptor 1 abundance. Anim Reprod Sci. 2019 Nov;210:106192. doi: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2019.106192.
• de Mestre AM, BV Rose, YM Chang, DC Wathes, KLP Verheyen. Multivariable analysis to determine risk factors associated with early pregnancy loss in thoroughbred broodmares, Theriogenology, 2019 Jan 15;124:18-23. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology.2018.10.008.
• Read JE, Cabrera-Sharp V, Offord V, Mirczuk SM, Allen SP, Fowkes RC, de Mestre AM. Dynamic changes in gene expression and signalling during trophoblast development in the horse. Reproduction. 2018 Jul 10. pii: REP-18-0270. doi: 10.1530/REP-18-0270
• Read JE, Victoria Cabrera-Sharp, Phoebe Kitscha, Judith E Cartwright, Peter J King, Rob C Fowkes and de Mestre AM. Glial Cells Missing 1 regulates equine Chorionic Gonadotrophin beta subunit via binding to the proximal promoter. Front. Endocrinology, 26 April 2018, 9: 195 https://doi.org/10.3389/fendo.2018.00195
• Rose BV, Firth M, Morris B, Roach JM, Wathes DC, Verheyen KLP, de Mestre AM. Descriptive study of current therapeutic practices, clinical reproductive findings and incidence of pregnancy loss in intensively managed thoroughbred mares. Anim Reprod Sci. 2018 Jan;188:74-84. doi: 10.1016/j.anireprosci.2017.11.011.
• Timpson, A, de Mestre, AM, Elliott, J; Harris, P A; Cheng, Z; Mirczuk, S M; Callan, L; Rainbow, L; Menzies-Gow, N J. Seasonal and dietary influences on adipose tissue and systemic gene expression in control and previously laminitic ponies. Journal of Equine Veterinary Science, 2018, Volume 69, October 2018, Pages 84-95
• Campbell MLH, Hampshire D, Hamstead L, Rose B, Smith KC, de Mestre AM The effects of intrauterine infusion of peanut oil on endometrial health, salivary cortisol and interovulatory period in mares. Theriogenology, 2017 Oct 15;102:116-125. doi: 10.1016/j.theriogenology. 2017.07.009. Epub 2017 Jul 13.
• Aleksic D, Blaschke L, Mißbach S, Hänske J, Weiß W, Handler J, Zimmermann W, Cabrera-Sharp V, Read JE, de Mestre AM, O'Riordan R, Moore T, Kammerer R. Convergent evolution of pregnancy-specific glycoproteins in the human and horse. Reproduction. 2016 Jun 8.
• Carney K, Chang YM, Wilson S, Calnan C, Reddy PS, Chan WY, Gilmartin T, Hernandez G, Schaffer L, Head SR, Morley J, de Mestre AM, Affleck K, Garden OA. Regulatory T-cell-intrinsic amphiregulin is dispensable for suppressive function. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2016 Jun;137(6):1907-9. doi: 10.1016/j.jaci.2016.01.030. Epub 2016 Mar 31.
• Rose BV, Cabrera-Sharp V, Firth MJ, Barrelet FE, Bate S, Cameron IJ, Crabtree JR, Crowhurst J, McGladdery AJ, Neal H, Pynn J, Pynn OD, Smith C, Wise Z, Verheyen KL, Wathes DC, de Mestre AM. A method for isolating and culturing placental cells from failed early equine pregnancies. Placenta. 2016 Feb;38:107-11.
• Cabrera-Sharp V, Read JE, Richardson S, Kowalski AA, Antczak DF, Cartwright JE, Mukherjee A, de Mestre AM. SMAD1/5 signaling in the early equine placenta regulates trophoblast differentiation and chorionic gonadotropin secretion. Endocrinology. 2014 Aug;155(8):3054-64
• Ackerman WE 4th, Carter AM, de Mestre AM, Golos TG, Jeschke U, Kusakabe K, Laurent LC, Parast MM, Roberts RM, Robinson JM, Rutherford J, Soma H, Takizawa T, Ui-Tei K, Lash GE. IFPA Meeting 2012 Workshop Report I: comparative placentation and animal models, advanced techniques in placental histopathology, human pluripotent stem cells as a model for trophoblast differentiation. Placenta. 2013 Mar;34 Suppl:S3-5
• Antczak, DF, de Mestre, AM, Wilsher S and Allen WR. The Equine Endometrial Cup Reaction: A Feto-maternal Signal of Significance. Annual Review of Animal Biosciences, 2013, Vol. 1419
• Noronha, L.E, Huggler, K.E., de Mestre, AM, Miller, DC, and Antczak, DF. 2012. Molecular Evidence for Natural Killer Cells in Equine Endometrial Cups.  Placenta, 33(5) 379
• Crabtree, J.R., Chang, R. and de Mestre, A.M. 2012. Persistent endometrial cups in two mares treated by chemical curettage with kerosene. Equine Veterinary Education, 24(5) 251
• Robbin MG, Wagner B, Noronha L, Antczak D and de Mestre AM. 2011. Subpopulations of equine blood lymphocyte expressing regulatory T cell markers. Vet Immunol Immunopathol 140:90
• de Mestre AM, Hanlon D, Adams, AP Runcan E, Leadbeater JC, Erb H, Costa C, Miller D, Allen WR., Antczak DF. 2011. Functions Of Ectopically Transplanted Invasive Horse Trophoblast. Reproduction. 141(6):849 F1000 paper
• de Mestre, AM., Noronha, LE., Wagner, B., and Antczak, D.F. 2010. Split Immunological Tolerance to Trophoblast. International Journal of Developmental Biology, 54(2-3):445
• de Mestre, AM, Miller, D., Roberson, MS., Liford, J., Chizmar, LC., McLaughlin, K.E., and Antczak, D. F. 2009. Glial Cells Missing 1 Is Induced in Differentiating Equine Chorionic Girdle Trophoblast Cells. Biology of Reproduction, 80(2):227
• de Mestre AM, Bacon SJ, Costa CC, Leadbeater JC, Noronha LE, Stewart F, Antczak DF. 2008. Modeling Trophoblast Differentiation using Equine Chorionic Girdle Vesicles. Placenta.  Feb;29(2):158
• de Mestre AM, Staykova MA, Hornby JR, Willenborg DO, Hulett MD. 2007. Expression of the heparan sulfate-degrading enzyme heparanase is induced in infiltrating CD4+ T cells in experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis and regulated at the level of transcription by early growth response gene 1. J Leukoc Biol. Nov;82(5):1289
• de Mestre, AM., Soe-Htwe, T., Sutcliffe, E.L. Rao, S., Pagler, E.B., Hornby, J.R.,Hulett, M.D. 2007. Regulation of mouse Heparanase gene expression in T lymphocytes and tumour cells. Immunol Cell Biol., Apr-May;85(3):205
• de Mestre, AM., Rao, S., Hornby, J.R., Soe-Htwe, T., Khachigian, L.M.,Hulett, M.D. 2005, EGR1 regulates heparanase gene transcription in tumour cells. J. Biol. Chem., 280:35136
• de Mestre, A.M., Khachigian, L.M., Santiago, F.S., Stavkova, M.A., Hulett, M.D. 2003, Regulation of inducible heparanase gene transcription in activated T cells by early growth response 1. J. Biol. Chem., 278:50377
• Murphie*, A.M., Hopman, T.J., Schug, M.D., Aquadro, C.F., Bowling, A.T., Murray, J.D., Caetano, A.R. and Antczak, D.F. 1999. Equine dinucleotide repeat loci COR021-COR040. Animal Genetics. 30:235-237. 

• 2025-2029 Chair International Symposium on Equine Reproduction
• 2024 Dorothy Havemeyer McConville Professorship in Equine Medicine
• 2015 Society for Reproduction and Fertility New Investigator Award (best researcher within 10 years of PhD)
• 2006 Frank Fenner Medal for most outstanding PhD thesis submitted at The John Curtin School of Medical Research, The Australian National University
• 2006 Dewar Milne Prize awarded for the most significant piece of doctoral research in the field of immunology, The John Curtin School of Medical Research
• 2004 Australian Society of Immunology’s New Investigator Award, best oral presentation by a postgraduate student or early post-doctoral fellow
• 2001-2005 Australian National University PhD Scholarship
• 1998 Dorothy Havemeyer Foundation Scholarship, Cornell University Leadership Summer Program for Veterinary Students
• 1998 Australian Veterinary Association Prize for Academic Excellence
• 1997 United States Dept. of Agriculture Scholarship, North Carolina State University Veterinary Leadership Summer Program
• 1993 Farr Memorial Prize, University of Sydney

Professional Memberships

• Member Royal College of Veterinary Surgeons
• Member Society for Reproduction and Fertility
• Member Society for the Study of Reproduction
• British Veterinary Association