Denise Hemmings

Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Obstetrics & Gynaecology Dept

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Obstetrics & Gynaecology Dept
Email
dghemmin@ualberta.ca
Phone
(780) 492-2098
Address
227b Heritage Medical Research Centre
11207 - 87 Ave NW
Edmonton AB
T6G 2S2

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords

Adipose tissue Autotaxin Breast cancer Cytomegalovirus Aging Oxidative stress Metabolic function Inflammatory cytokines Placenta Sphingosine 1-phosphate Vascular function Endothelial permeability


About

Dr. Denise Hemmings obtained her PhD in Medical Microbiology and Immunology (MMI) in 2001 with Dr. Larry Guilbert and did a post-doctoral fellowship with Dr. Sandra Davidge at the University of Alberta (U of A). She is an Associate Professor in Obstetrics and Gynaecology, cross-appointed in MMI at U of A, recipient of a CIHR New Investigator award in 2010 and the former Chair of Women in Scholarship, Engineering, Science and Technology (WISEST). Her lab investigates the impact of chronic infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a Herpesvirus, in breast cancer and also its impact on metabolic and vascular dysfunction in aging. The other major focus in Dr. Hemmings’ lab is to understand the dual vascular functions of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid, in pregnancy, namely permeability, vascular tone and their inter-regulation. She is interested in S1P-mediated vascular adaptations during pregnancy and the factors that disrupt these responses such as elevated proinflammatory cytokines, leading to pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. One mechanism by which S1P signalling pathways may be disrupted is maternal infection with CMV. The impact of this normally innocuous virus infection on vascular function, placental development and immunological adaptations, particularly with respect to S1P signalling during pregnancy, form part of her research program. Dr. Hemmings is funded by operating grants from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute and the Canadian Breast Cancer Foundation. Dr. Hemmings serves on several student advisory committees and reviews for many journals and funding agencies. She has a passion for training students and since her appointment in 2005 has trained or mentored more than 60 students from the junior high school to the post-doctoral fellow level. Through her connections with WISEST, she is passionate about encouraging young women to enter, stay and advance in science, engineering and technology careers. As the Graduate Program Coordinator and the Reproductive Sciences Division Director, Dr. Hemmings also encourages students and staff in the basic sciences to step outside of their comfortable scientific boundaries to forge interdisciplinary links with clinicians and epidemiologists.


Research

The Hemmings laboratory focuses on understanding the dual vascular functions of sphingosine 1-phosphate (S1P), a bioactive lipid, namely permeability, vascular tone and their inter-regulation. The laboratory is interested in S1P-mediated vascular adaptations during pregnancy and the factors that disrupt these responses leading to pregnancies complicated by preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. These factors include infection with cytomegalovirus (CMV), a Herpesvirus, and elevated proinflammatory cytokines. The Hemmings laboratory also investigates the impact of chronic CMV infections on metabolic and vascular dysfunction in aging and in breast cancer.


Courses

IMIN 371 - Introduction to Immunology

Survey course introducing the student to immunological concepts. Topics include the clonal selection theory, antibody structure and specificity, genetic basis of immune diversity, antibody-antigen reactions, cell interactions in immune responses, the molecular basis of non-self recognition, MHC molecules and transplantation, tolerance, effector mechanism of immunity, hypersensitivity and immunodeficiency. Prerequisites: BIOCH 200 or 205, BIOL 207, and IMIN 200. May not be taken for credit if credit already obtained in INT D 371. (Offered jointly by the Department of Biological Sciences and the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology.) [Biological Sciences]


Browse more courses taught by Denise Hemmings

Featured Publications

Activation of Piezo1 induces syncytial differentiation, cell damage and cytokine release in placental explants

Reproductive Sciences 29(1): T142, 24A, 2022. 2022 March;


Fakhr Y., Koshti S., Habibyan Y.B., Webster K., Hemmings D.G.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. 2022 March; 23 (7):3750 10.3390/ijms23073750


Yang Z., Tang X., Hasing M.E., Pang X., Ghosh S., McMullen T.P.W., Brindley D.N., Hemmings D.G.

Cancers. 2022 February; 14 (5):1148 10.3390/cancers14051148


A novel physiological model to study P. falciparum interactions in placental malaria

Am J Trop Med Hygiene 105(5 Supplement). 2021 November;


Yang Z., Tang X., McMullen T.P.W., Brindley D.N., Hemmings D.G.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF MOLECULAR SCIENCES. 2021 September; 22 (18):9817 10.3390/ijms22189817


Disrupted placental syncytial development: an emerging role for sphingolipid mediators in tumor necrosis factor-alpha signaling

Placenta 112: e51, 2021. 2021 August;


Venkatraman G., Tang X., Du G., Parisentti A.M., Hemmings D.G., Brindley D.N.

Cell Biochemistry and Biophysics. 2021 August; 79 (3):531-545 10.1007/s12013-021-01024-6


Maternal doxycycline treatment causes murine fetal cardiac dysfunction associated with altered placental morphology and endothelin-1 expression

Reproductive Sciences 28(1): T-171, 41A, 2021. 2021 July;


Novel mechanisms of disrupted placental development: Lipid mediators and inflammatory signaling

Reproductive Sciences 28(1): T-150, 40A, 2021. 2021 July;


Fakhr Y., Brindley D.N., Hemmings D.G.

CELLULAR SIGNALLING. 2021 May; 85 (3):547-563 10.1016/j.cellsig.2021.110041


Kerage D., Gombos R.B., Wang S., Brown M., Hemmings D.G.

VASCULAR PHARMACOLOGY. 2021 May; 140 10.1016/j.vph.2021.106874