Sandra T Davidge, PhD, FRSC, FCAHS

Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Obstetrics & Gynaecology Dept
Executive Director, WCHRI, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Women and Children's Health Research Institute

Pronouns: she, her, hers

Contact

Professor, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Obstetrics & Gynaecology Dept
Email
sdavidge@ualberta.ca
Phone
(780) 492-1864
Address
232 Heritage Medical Research Centre
11207 - 87 Ave NW
Edmonton AB
T6G 2S2

Executive Director, WCHRI, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry - Women and Children's Health Research Institute
Email
sdavidge@ualberta.ca
Phone
(780) 492-1864

Overview

Area of Study / Keywords


About

Dr. Sandra Davidge is a Distinguished University Professor and the Executive Director of the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute (WCHRI). She is a Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Adjunct Professor in the Department of Physiology at the University of Alberta. As a leader in pregnancy research, Dr. Davidge is a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada (FRSC) and the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences (CAHS). She has published over 280 scientific articles on pioneering studies that are focused on understanding the causes on pregnancy complications, such as preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction, in order to develop new therapies to improve pregnancy outcomes.

Place of Graduation: University of Vermont, 1993

Post-doctoral Training: Magee Womens Research Institute; University of Pittsburgh, 1993-1996

Research Interests: Pregnancy Complications, Preeclampsia, Advanced Maternal Age, Developmental Origins of Cardiovascular Disease, Cardiovascular Physiology

Distinction: Former 2-term Canada Research Chair Tier 1 in Maternal and Perinatal Cardiovascular Health, Government of Canada, 2007-2021


Research

Research Focus & Overview

The Davidge laboratory studies cardiovascular physiology with a specific interest in the area of women’s, maternal and perinatal cardiovascular health. We investigate potential mediators for vascular endothelial cell dysfunction in both and deficiency as well as in the pregnancy complication, preeclampsia. Moreover, we combine our expertise in and pregnancy complications to study the cardiovascular effects for offspring born from an adverse intrauterine environment (also known as developmental origins of disease).

Preeclampsia

Studies include understanding mechanisms normal cardiovascular adaptations of pregnancy as well as mechanisms for impaired vascular responses in women with preeclampsia, a pregnancy disorder by hypertension and proteinuria. This work addresses the regulation of vascular tone by factors such as nitric oxide and matrix metalloproteinase. Moreover, we study the effect of oxidative stress on endothelial cell function as a potential mechanism for vascular dysfunction in women with preeclampsia.

Effects of Maternal on Vascular Function

Another area of research for this laboratory is studying the impact of on the vasculature with a specific interest the action of sex steroids on vascular function.  Moreover,  the age at which women deliver their first child has increased steadily. In Canada, births occurring among women aged 35 years and older account for over 18% of total live births. Childbirth at an advanced maternal age (=35 years) has a myriad of clinical ramifications, including increased risk of preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction. Children born from a suboptimal intrauterine environment are at a greater risk of cardiovascular morbidities later in life. Our laboratory is studying the consequences of maternal on vascular function with interests in both maternal and offspring health.

Fetal Programming of Cardiovascular Disease

Complications in pregnancy may also influence cardiovascular health in the offspring. Numerous epidemiological studies have determined an association between a poor uterine environment (usually reflected by low birth weight) and the occurrence of cardiovascular diseases later in life. It is likely that adaptive responses to fetal/neonatal environmental stresses lead to permanent changes that negatively influence metabolic and cardiovascular health in adult life. However, the mechanisms underlying these changes are not known. Our laboratory assesses mechanisms for altered cardiovascular responses in pregnancies from an adverse maternal environment as well as assessing the offspring from these pregnancies in various life stages (fetal, neonatal, young and aged adults).

Trainees

The Davidge laboratory is committed to the training of undergraduate and graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows with an average of 8-10 trainees in the laboratory.

Funding Support

This research is supported by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research, the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada, Alberta Innovates, Canada Foundation for Innovation;  along with the Stollery Children’s Health Foundation and the Alberta Women’s Health Foundation through the Women and Children’s Health Research Institute.  

Techniques
� Vascular function studies using myography are conducted on isolated small arteries from our various animal models. 
� Analysis of the expression of various enzymes and receptors using Western blot and Immunohistochemistry techniques. 
� Cell cultures of endothelial and smooth muscle cells to assess cellular mechanisms. 

Featured Publications

Pasha M, Kirschenman R, Wooldridge A, Spaans F, Cooke CLM, Davidge ST

Antioxidants. 2022 June; doi.org/10.3390/antiox11071275


J Agric Food Chem. 2022 June; 70 (21):6397-6406 doi: 10.1021/acs.jafc.1c07161


Wang B, Wu HH, Abuetabh Y, Leng S, DAVIDGE ST, Flores ER, Eisenstat DD, Leng RP

Cell Death and Disease. 2022 April; 13 (4):397 doi: 10.1038/s41419-022-04854-1


Fan H, Liao W, Spaans F, Pasha M, DAVIDGE ST, Wu J

Journal of Food Science. 2022 March; 87 doi: 10.1111/1750-3841.16077


Wooldridge AL, Hula N, Kirschenman R, Spaan F, Cooke CLM, DAVIDGE ST.

Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease. 2022 March; doi:10.1017/ S2040174422000216


Hula N, Vu J, Quon A, Kirschenman R, Spaans F, Liu R, Cooke C-LM, DAVIDGE ST

American Journal of Physiology, Heart and Circulatory Physiology. 2022 March; 322 doi: 10.1152/ajpheart.00636.2021


Goulopoulou S., De Groot C., Taylor R.N., Davidge S.T.

Chesley’s Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy, Fifth Edition. 2022 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-818417-2.00006-3


Vatish M., Redman C.W.G., Davidge S.T.

Chesley’s Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy. 2022 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-818417-2.00019-1


Conrad K.P., Taylor R.N., Davidge S.T., Staff A.C., Roberts J.M., Lindheimer M.D.

Chesley's Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy- 5th Edition. 2022 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-818417-2.00022-1


Dechend R., Lamarca B., Davidge S.T.

Chesley’s Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy. 2022 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-818417-2.00010-5


Staff A.C., Figueiro-Filho E., Davidge S.T.

Chesley's Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy- 5th Edition. 2022 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-818417-2.00014-2


Taylor R.N., Conrad K.P., Davidge S.T., Staff A.C., Roberts J.M.

Chesley’s Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy. 2022 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-818417-2.01001-0


Jeyabalan A., Hubel C.A., Davidge S.T.

Chesley's Hypertensive Disorders in Pregnancy- 5th Edition. 2022 January; 10.1016/B978-0-12-818417-2.00017-8


Sáez T., Wiley C., Quon A., Spaans F., Davidge S.T.

Pregnancy Hypertension. 2021 December; 26 10.1016/j.preghy.2021.09.007


Nerenberg K.A., Cooke C.L., Smith G.N., Davidge S.T.

Canadian Journal of Cardiology. 2021 December; 37 (12):2056-2066 10.1016/j.cjca.2021.08.007


Tewari S., Margalef P.T., Kareem A., Abdul-Hussein A., White M., Wazana A., Davidge S.T., Delrieux C., Connor K.L.

Journal of Personalized Medicine. 2021 November; 11 10.3390/jpm11111064


Pasha M., Wooldridge A.L., Kirschenman R., Spaans F., Davidge S.T., Cooke C.L.M.

Frontiers in Physiology. 2021 July; 10.3389/fphys.2021.718568


Abdul-Hussein A., Kareem A., Tewari S., Bergeron J., Briollais L., Challis J.R.G., Davidge S.T., Delrieux C., Fortier I., Goldowitz D., Nepomnaschy P., Wazana A., Connor K.L.

Mol Aspects Med. 2021 July; 87:100986 doi: 10.1016/j.mam.2021.100986


Do V., Eckersley L., Lin L., Davidge S.T., Stickland M.K., Ojala T., Serrano-Lomelin J., Hornberger L.K.

CJC Open. 2021 March; 3 (3):345-353 10.1016/j.cjco.2020.10.020


Ganguly E., Kirschenman R., Spaans F., Holody C.D., Phillips T.E.J., Case C.P., Cooke C.L.M., Murphy M.P., Lemieux H., Davidge S.T.

The FASEB Journal. 2021 February; 35 (2) 10.1096/fj.202002193R


Kumaran K., Krishnaveni G.V., Suryanarayana K.G., Prasad M.P., Belavendra A., Atkinson S., Balasubramaniam R., Bandsma R.H.J., Bhutta Z.A., Chandak G.R., Comelli E.M., Davidge S.T., Dennis C.L., Hammond G.L., Jha P., Joseph K.S., Joshi S.R., Krishna M., Lee K., Lye S., McGowan P., Nepomnaschy P., Padvetnaya V., Pyne S., Sachdev H.S., Sahariah S.A., Singhal N., Trasler J., Yajnik C.S., Baird J., Barker M., Martin M.C., Husain N., Sellen D., Fall C.H.D., Shah P.S., Matthews S.G.

BMJ Open. 2021 February; 11 (2) 10.1136/bmjopen-2020-045862


Hula N., Spaans F., Vu J., Quon A., Kirschenman R., Cooke C.L.M., Phillips T.J., Case C.P., Davidge S.T.

PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 2021 January; 165 (105461) 10.1016/j.phrs.2021.105461


Reyes L.M., Usselman C.W., Khurana R., Chari R.S., Stickland M.K., Davidge S.T., Julian C.G., Steinback C.D., Davenport M.H.

JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSIOLOGY. 2021 January; 130 (1):139-148 10.1152/JAPPLPHYSIOL.00646.2020


Ganguly E., Hula N., Spaans F., Cooke C.L.M., Davidge S.T.

PHARMACOLOGICAL RESEARCH. 2020 November; 157 10.1016/j.phrs.2020.104836


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