Vaillancourt Cathy

Biography

Professor Vaillancour holds a B.Sc. in Biochemistry (1990) from the Université de Sherbrooke , and degrees from M.Sc. (1993) and Ph.D. (1997) in Biomedical Sciences, Obstetrics and Gynecology (1993) of the Université de Montréal. She completed a first postdoctoral fellowship (1997-2000) in the laboratory of Dr. Patricia Boksa Research Center of the Douglas Hospital of McGill University and a second (2000-2001) in the laboratory of Prof. Philip Strange to the University of Reading , England She was a scholar at the FRSQ and CIHR. In 2001, she became professor of chemistry and biochemistry at the Université de Moncton and then an associate professor at the INRS-Institut Armand Frappier in 2005. Professor Vaillancourt is also an associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry at the Université de Sherbrooke and a member of the Environmental Health Research Network

Research Interest

Our laboratory is interested in understanding the implications of environmental factors (depression, stress, pollutants, drugs) on endocrinology and the development of human placenta, especially on placental dopamine, serotonin and melatonin systems, and consequently on the development of the fetus. We believe that a better understanding of the effects of environmental factors such as environmental pollutants, drugs, stress and pregnancy depression on the neuroendocrinology of the mother-placenta-fetus unit will improve the health of pregnant women and the chances of better health for their children. The first objective is to develop a new model, in vitro and in vivo, to study the effects of environmental factors in women, but also in neonates (placental cells: in vitro and during pregnancy in vivo). Our team strives to characterize the effects of exposure to various environmental persistent organic and non-organic pollutants in the environment and the effect of perinatal stress on placental function. Among other things, we want to determine whether the levels of environmental contaminants in maternal blood during pregnancy and in the placenta predict an alteration of placental function and therefore of fetal growth and development. A second objective is to understand the role and mode of action of serotonin, dopamine and melatonin receptors in the human placenta. This work is important because of the role of these molecules in normal placenta, pregnancy physiology and fetal development, but also to increase knowledge about these neurotransmitters and neurohormones little studied outside the brain. We believe that the trophoblast is a model tissue to study the mechanisms of cell signaling and neuroendocrine interactions, a human tissue that can be studied in vitroand in vivo. The great advantage of the placental model that we propose is to eliminate the need to interpret the results of experiments obtained on animals or with recombinant systems of cells in terms of human situation.