Stephen Matthews is Canada Research Chair in Early Development and Health, Professor of Physiology, Ob-Gyn and Medicine at the University of Toronto and a Senior Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Sinai Health. He served as Chair of the Department of Physiology (UofT; 2007-2014). He is currently Director of Research at the Alliance for Human Development, LTRI, and Director of the Ontario Birth Study. Matthews is also the Canadian lead PI of the CIHR/DBT-funded Healthy Life Trajectories (HeLTI) trial in India.
His fundamental research program is determining mechanisms by which early interventions and exposures can impact long-term neurologic and endocrine function in offspring across multiple generations. With a focus on epigenetics, his research team is determining the molecular mechanisms by which this occurs. In a parallel program, his group is investigating drug and hormone transport mechanisms in the placenta and fetal brain, with a focus on developing novel treatments to protect the developing fetal brain.
Professor Matthews is committed to translating fundamental research to improve human health. In addition to leadership of the HeLTI-India trial and the Ontario Birth Study, he co-founded the MAVAN program, which followed neurocognitive development in children following adverse early experience. He has secured over $40M in research funding, published 265 full papers and has received >300 invitations to present his work around the world. He was elected a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (2019). He has served as elected President of the Society for Reproductive Investigation. In 2015, he co-founded DOHaD Canada and served as elected President (2018-23).
RESEARCH SYNOPSIS:
Keywords: Developmental neuroendocrinology, Hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis, Fetus, Programming, Behaviour, Endocrinology, Gene-environment interactions, Epigenetics, Drug transport, Multidrug resistance, Placenta, Blood-brain barrier, Hippocampus.
OFFICE OF NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS:
Member of Council: Society for Reproductive Investigation (SRI)
Member of Council: International Society of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD)
Co-President: DOHaD Canada