In her second seminar, Parast explains the different models to study human placental development in-vitro. Scientists can derive induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) from umbilical cord cells. Parast’s laboratory first differentiates the iPSCs into trophoblasts cells which can then generate the different cells found in the placenta. Her laboratory uses these placental cells to study developmental complications by comparing cells derived from normal pregnancies to cells derived from non-normal pregnancies (e.g. patients born from mothers with pre-eclampsia).