Shannon Bainbridge

Dr. Shannon Bainbridge is an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Ottawa, leading the Placenta Lab. Her research focuses on placental dysfunction, developmental origins of health and disease (DOHaD), and translating findings into clinical tools. She holds over $7.7M in grants from CIHR, NSERC, CFI, and the Preeclampsia Foundation. Key areas include preeclampsia mechanisms, environmental exposures (e.g., opioids, microplastics), and AI-driven placental pathology analysis via collaboration with Carleton University’s Engineering Faculty.

• Education:
  • 2006: PhD in Reproductive Anatomy & Cell Biology, Queen's University
  • 2001: BScH in Life Sciences, Queen's University
  • Postdocs: Samuel Lunenfeld Research Institute (2010), Magee-Womens Research Institute (2008)

Research Interests: Placental Development and its role in maternal and fetal health, Preeclampsia subtypes, Environmental Factors (e.g., plastic exposure), and AI Applications in placental diagnostics. The lab’s AI tools aim to automate placental pathology analysis, aiding clinical diagnosis.

Her work highlights interdisciplinary innovation, with grants including the CIHR-funded study on NAD+ depletion in preeclampsia and machine learning for histopathology classification. Outreach efforts engage communities via family-friendly events explaining placental science.

• Grants/Projects:
  • Early Researcher Award (2017–2022): Developing screening tools for preeclampsia
  • CIHR Grant (2017–2022): PARP-dependent NAD+ depletion in preeclampsia
  • Preeclampsia Foundation Grant (2015–2017): FGL2 in placental development

Lab activities include collaborations with engineering teams and community engagement to demystify placental biology. Dr. Bainbridge actively mentors students and accepts new thesis supervisees.