"Here, we have the opportunity to work with people in all areas of research and in all levels of their education, which provides not only an avenue for brain-storming and continual learning, but also encourages us to take on more active teaching and leadership roles."
~ Michelle Denomme, PhD Candidate, Children’s Health Research Institute and Biochemistry & Developmental Biology, The University of Western Ontario
Featured Trainee
Michelle Denomme
PhD Candidate, Children's Health Research Institute and Biochemistry & Developmental Biology, Western University Canada
Contact
mdenomm2 [at] uwo [dot] ca
Biography
Michelle received her Honours BSc in Science and Business with an Economics Minor from the University of Waterloo in 2008. She joined CHRI in the fall of 2008 as an MSc student in Dr. Mellissa Mann’s lab, and transferred to the PhD program in the spring of 2010. She is funded through the CIHR Training Program in Reproduction, Early Development and the Impact on Health (REDIH). Her research interests include understanding the effects of Assisted Reproductive Technologies on genomic imprinting and determining the mechanisms involved in imprinting regulation.
How did you choose your research field?
My fascination with Assisted Reproduction began with the birth of my Godson Tyler. However, my undergraduate program was not considered a “pure science,” and so I was not required to take any lab courses. I would not have recognized my passion for research had I not been appointed to a co-op position at the Microarray Centre in Toronto. I had a unique project testing the gene expression of single human blastomeres, in hopes of discovering a novel approach to reduce multiple pregnancies during IVF procedures. From there, I knew I wanted to continue my love of genetics and developmental biology to better understand fertility treatments and embryonic development, and further help those unable to have healthy children.
What do you like most about working at Children's Health Research Institute?
I enjoy the collaborative work environment provided by the open-concept lab. Here, we have the opportunity to work with people in all areas of research and in all levels of their education, which provides not only an avenue for brain-storming and continual learning, but also encourages us to take on more active teaching and leadership roles.
What is your most successful project at Children's Health Research Institute?
Here at CHRI, I have developed a single oocyte assay that allows us to look at the DNA methylation level in a single cell; eliminating PCR bias and cumulus cell contamination. This assay is helping our lab understand the effects of different Assisted Reproduction procedures on genomic imprinting in individual oocytes and individual embryos at each preimplantation stage.
Research Interests
Genomic Imprinting, Epigenetic Regulation, Assisted Reproductive Technologies