| Research relies on donors like you.
Thanks to donors like you, the Research Centre for Women’s and Infants’ Health (RCWIH) BioBank has supported translational research projects by over 90 researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital, neighbouring institutions, and around the world.
Researchers use donated blood and tissue samples to support their important work seeking causes and remedies for devastating disorders of pregnancy, including preeclampsia, gestational diabetes, intrauterine growth restriction, preterm labour, placenta praevia, and more.
Protecting donor confidentiality is our highest priority.
Donor anonymity is always respected. Clinical information collected from the health records of mother and baby are fully de-identified by the RCWIH BioBank before being provided to researchers. This means that names and any other information that may be used to determine identity are removed. No one outside of the RCWIH BioBank team will be able to match names to the clinical information that is collected. Donors will not be contacted now or in the future by the RCWIH BioBank.
Your donated specimens enable research breakthroughs.
Our team and the researchers we support are very grateful for the critically important donations that have enabled ground-breaking research projects to flourish at Mount Sinai Hospital, such as:
- Dr. John Kingdom’s study on the use of heparin to prevent preeclampsia in pregnancy
- Dr. Stephen Lye’s work to develop a diagnostic blood test to predict a woman’s risk for pre-term delivery
- Dr. Isabella Caniggia’s development of a promising new biomarker for preeclampsia
- Mount Sinai’s Ontario Birth Study (OBS), led by Dr. Alan Bocking, where collected specimens will be used in future multidisciplinary studies related to improving maternal and infant health
None of this would have been possible without the generous contributions by donors like you!
The Role of the Placenta in Pregnancy
As a baby develops inside the mother’s womb it is absolutely dependent upon the placenta that acts as its life support system. This important organ connects the growing baby via its umbilical cord to the lining of the womb (uterus). The placenta acts as a transport system bringing oxygen and nutrients from the mother and removing waste products from the baby. In addition, the placenta produces hormones and growth factors that help the baby grow and develop. Without the placenta the baby cannot survive inside the mother’s womb.
Learn more
NIH Placenta Infographic
Mount Sinai Hospital Placenta 101
Mount Sinai Hospital Women’s and Infants Program
Ontario Birth Study
|
.jpg){kind=icon}
