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January 17, 2006
Reproductive Health Researchers Awarded CIHR Genomics Grant
Congratulations to CFRI researchers Drs. Wendy Robinson, Colin MacCalman, Deborah McFadden, and Peter von Dadelszen, who are part of a team recently awarded $1,466,250 over five years from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR) for their study “Epigenetics and Reproductive Health.” The funding is through a special CIHR RFA on Genomic Medicine and Human Development. The CFRI investigators, all affiliated with the Reproductive Health research program, are collaborating with UBC Life Sciences researchers Drs. Carolyn Brown and Louis Lefebvre, and the BC Cancer Agency’s Dr. Wan Lam. They will use a novel combination of genetic, genomic, molecular, and cell biology approaches to characterize the role of epigenetic changes in establishing a normal pregnancy.
Each year in Canada thousands of pregnancies are affected by complications potentially due to an underlying utero-placental defect. A key function of genomic imprinting (parent-of-origin specific gene expression) is the regulation of embryonic growth and placental development. Studies have shown that disruption of imprinted genes in mice often result in abnormal placental development and fetal growth. However, little is yet known about imprinting’s effect on the human placenta.
The researchers will study in vitro models of human trophoblast differentiation using genomic array technology. They aim to provide foundation genomic data on the epigenetic aspects of normal human placental differentiation, which will aid in understanding infertility, miscarriage and a variety of other obstetrical complications, including preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. Their results, they hope, can be used to develop methods for improved diagnosis, counselling and treatment for affected pregnancies. |
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