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BC Children's Hospital Research Institute (BCCHR) Researchers Find a Researcher

Courtney Hanna

(she/her)
PhD

Investigator, BC Children's Hospital

The placenta is a vital tree-like organ that forms during pregnancy. It supplies the growing baby with oxygen and nutrients from the mother. Building a healthy placenta requires the right types of cells to form in the right places at the right time. Although the placenta is essential for a healthy pregnancy, we still do not fully understand how it develops or how problems in its formation can affect the baby’s growth and development.

My research aims to understand how the placenta develops during the earliest stages of pregnancy. We apply cutting-edge sequencing technologies to map how different genes are switched on or off in placental cells, and how these in turn regulates their identity and function. To further understand what happens to pregnancy and placental functions when these normal gene regulatory processes are disrupted, we use genetically modified mouse models. Our research will improve our understanding of how a healthy placenta forms and may help explain some of the underlying causes of pregnancy complications.

Academic Affiliations

  • Assistant Professor, Department of Medical Genetics, Faculty of Medicine, University of British Columbia
  • Research Theme: Healthy Starts

Contact Information

Location

Life Sciences Institute, 2350 Health Sciences Mall, Vancouver, BC, Canada, V6T 1Z3

courtney.hanna@ubc.ca

Placental epigenetic programming

This research project investigates how early epigenetic patterning in placental trophoblast is unique from embryonic lineages. Using knockout mouse models for epigenetic modifiers, including several histone and DNA methyltransferases, we are evaluating how epigenetic marks are critical for setting up gene regulatory landscapes in placental cell types and directing appropriate differentiation. We then evaluate the consequent affects on placental formation and fetal development through pregnancy.

DNA methylation patterning in the placenta

This research project is investigating why placental trophoblast cells acquire such an unusual DNA methylation pattern across the genome. We are combining evolutionary and functional approaches to understand how these DNA methylation features may be linked to distinct DNA methyltransferase activity early in development. We also aim to understand the functional consequences of these DNA methylation features in regulating the genome.

Grants

2021–2026 - Sir Henry Dale Fellowship, Wellcome Trust and Royal Society

Our Research

At BC Children’s, we are making discoveries that save lives and transform health care for children in our province and around the world. Our research portfolio includes basic, clinical, population, and public health research.

EXPLORE OUR RESEARCH