Department of Obstretics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, UCSF, California, USA. Professor Susan Fisher is the Director of the Translational Research in Perinatal Biology and Medicine program in the Department of Obstretics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, at UCSF, California, USA. Prof. Fisher’s work has laid the foundations for our current understanding of the mechanisms of placentation. In particular her research has generated key findings in trophoblast cell biology, stem cells, and the role of a low-oxygen environment in regulating cellular differentiation. Recently, her laboratory has identified functional roles for immune cells in establishing the maternal-fetal interface as well as discovered mechanisms by which malarial infection impacts placental cell adhesion. She has also applied her skills in mass spectrometry and glycobiology to biomarker discovery in cancer. Her work studying the mechanisms used by the trophoblast cells of the human placenta to invade the uterus during normal pregnancy has far-reaching implications for fetal development, stem cell biology and migratory mechanisms regulating cancer.