Dr. Robert Gagnon, MD, FRCSC


Children’s Health Research Institute
Scientist, Fetal and Newborn Health Program


Lawson Health Research Institute
Scientist, Children’s Health Research Institute


University of Western Ontario
Professor, Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Physiology & Pharmacology, and Paediatrics
Professor, Faculty of Graduate Studies


Other Appointments
Chair, Maternal Fetal Medicine Division, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, University of Western Ontario
Chair, Maternal Fetal Medicine Nucleus Committee, Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada
Chair, Subspecialties Committee, Association of Professors of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada (APOG)


Contact Information
Tel: (519) 646-6106
Fax: (519) 646-6213
E-mail: rgagnon@uwo.ca


Brief Biography

Dr. Gagnon received his medical degree in 1980 from the University of Montreal, and continued his training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology in the University of Montreal. He then received research training in the laboratories of the MRC Group in Reproductive Biology – Fetal Physiology under the supervision of Professor John Patrick at The University of Western Ontario.


Dr. Gagnon was appointed as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at The University of Western Ontario in 1987. He then became an Associate Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Physiology & Pharmacology in 1993, and was promoted to full Professor in 1998.


Research Interests

• Placental insufficiency
• Diagnostic indicators of fetal health
• Fetal cardiovascular physiology


Research Activities

Dr. Gagnon’s research interests are of placental insufficiency and its effect on fetal growth and development. His laboratory has established a chronic fetal sheep model of placental insufficiency producing an increase in placental vascular resistance in addition to fetal hypoxemia.

He is also conducting large epidemiological studies to determine the effect of placental insufficiency on fetal and neonatal outcome in humans. He has published 66 peer reviewed medical articles, 25 book chapters and 151 scientific abstracts. He has supervised 14 research trainees, including medical students, obstetrics and gynaecology residents, perinatal research fellows and graduate as well as postgraduate trainees.


Representative Publications

  1. Dervaitis KL, Poole M, Schmidt G, Penava D, Natale R, Gagnon R (2004). ST segment analysis of the fetal electrocardiogram plus electronic fetal heart rate monitoring in labor and its relationship to umbilical cord arterial blood gases. Am J Obstet Gynecol 191(3):879-884.
  2. Cheung CY, Bogic L, Gagnon R, Harding R, and Brace RA (2004). Morphological alterations in ovine placenta and fetal liver following induced severe placental insufficiency. Journal of the Society for Gynecological Investigation 11(8):521-528.
  3. Zaw Win, Gagnon R, daSilva Orlando (2003). The risk of adverse neonatal outcome among preterm small for gestational age infants according to neonatal versus fetal growth standards. Pediatrics Jun;111(6 Pt 1):1273-7.
  4. Gagnon R (2003). Placental insufficiency and its consequences. European Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology Sept 22;110 Suppl 1:S99-107.
  5. Gagnon R, Harding R, Brace R (2002). Amniotic fluid and fetal urinary responses to severe placental insufficiency in sheep. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology May 186:1076-1084.
  6. Lackman, F., Capewell, V., Richardson, B.S., daSilva, O., Gagnon, R (2001). The Risk of Spontaneous Preterm Delivery and Perinatal Mortality in Relation to Size at Birth using Fetal Versus Neonatal Growth Standards. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 184:946-953.
  7. Gagnon R (1997). Can fetal heart rate monitoring ultimately become a useful tool in obstetrical practice? Journal of the Society of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists of Canada 19:1385-1391.
  8. Gagnon R, Murotsuki J, Challis JRG, Fraher L, Richardson BS (1997). Fetal sheep endocrine responses to sustained hypoxemic stress after chronic fetal placental embolization. Amer J Physiol: Endo & Metab 272:E817-823.
  9. Murotsuki J, Gagnon R, Matthews SG, Challis JRG (1996). Effects of long-term hypoxemia on pituitary-adrenal function in fetal sheep. Amer J Physiol: Endo & Metab 271:E678-685.
  10. Gagnon R, Johnston L, Murotsuki J (1996). Fetal placental embolization in the late gestation ovine fetus: alterations in umbilical blood flow and fetal heart rate patterns. Amer J Ob Gyn 175:63-72.