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Dr. Alan Bocking
ASSOCIATE
MEMBER
Dr. Alan
Bocking is the Gordon C. Leitch Chair of the University of Toronto,
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Chief of the Department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University
Health Network.
He is a
Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and
Physiology at the University of Toronto, Past President of the Canadian
Association of Academic Professionals in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
(APOG), a member of the Ontario Provincial Maternal Newborn Advisory
Committee, and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and
Surgeons of Canada, the Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada
and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical
Society.
Dr.
Bocking’s main areas of study are the mechanisms underlying
infection–mediated preterm labour. His other research interests
include new diagnostic tests for preterm labour, the role of oxidative
stress on fetal alcohol syndrome, as well origins of health and
disease.
Dr. Bocking is also known internationally for his work in the
Enhancement of Research Capacity in the Department of Reproductive
Health at Moi University School of Medicine in Western Kenya. His work
therefore aims to enhance research, teaching and clinical care in
reproductive health in areas of cervical cancer, obstetric fistula as
well as maternal newborn care through the provision of emergency
obstetrical training courses.
Dr.
Bocking is a renowned leader in enhancing communication between
research institutes across Canada and internationally. As Co-Director
of the Canadian Cohort Birth Registry in the Maternal, Infant and Child
Research Network (MICYRN), he compiled work with colleagues, from the
past 18 years that combined many birth cohort studies to create an
internationally accessible inventory of relevant research for
investigators across the globe.
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Samuel
Lunenfeld Research Institute
1006-600 University Avenue
Toronto Ontario M5G 1X5
t 416-586-8406
f 416-586-5993
Send e-mail
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At a
Glance
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Dr. Alan
Bocking is the Chair of the University of Toronto’s Department of
Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Chief of the Department of Obstetrics
and Gynaecology at Mount Sinai Hospital and the University Health
Network.
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He
completed research training in the Department of Physiology at Monash
University in Melbourne, Australia after his clinical training in
Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
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Dr.
Bocking has published over 100 original articles, reviews and book
chapters and has given over 100 invited lectures related to his
research.
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He is the
recipient of a Medical Research Council of Canada (MRC)
Fellowship.
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Dr.
Bocking is studying the role of infection and inflammation in preterm
birth, as well as the developmental origins of health and
disease.
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Major
Research Activities
Dr.
Bocking’s lab was the first to demonstrate that the fetus when
hypoxemic in the absence of acidemia, reverses the initial decrease in
fetal breathing movements seen with acute
asphyxia.
He has
used in vivo cerebral microdialysis to study the effects of both
reduced uterine blood flow and ethanol exposure on fetal cerebral
extracellular adenosine and PGE2 levels in animal models. These studies
also include the finding of biomarkers and signs of oxidative stress
with ethanol exposure.
Dr.
Bocking and his Team discovered that the placental pro-inflammatory
response to infectious stimuli is greater in pregnancies with a male
fetus. He will continue this research to examine the effect of
probiotic lactobacillus GR-1 on amnion epithelial cytokine and
prostaglandin production, and he hopes to find the potential mechanisms
whereby probiotic lactobacilli may be protective for preterm birth in
women with bacterial vaginosis.
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Recent
Publications
Reid G.,
and Bocking A.D. (2003) The potential for probiotics to prevent
bacterial vaginosis and preterm labour. American Journal of
Obstetrics and Gynecology, 189:1202-1208.
Campbell
M.K., Challis J.R.G., DaSilva O, Bocking A.D. (2005) A cohort
study found that white blood cell count and endocrine markers predicted
preterm birth in symptomatic women. Journal of Clinical
Epidemiology, 58 (3): 304-310.
M.Yeganegi
,C.G.Leung, A. Martins, S.O. Kim, G. Reid, J.R.G. Challis, A.D.
Bocking. Lactobacillus rhamnosus 1GR-1Stimulates Colony
Stimulating Factor 3(Granulocyte) (CSF3) Output in Placental
Trophoblast Cells in a Fetal Sex-Dependant Manner. Biology of
Reproduction, 2011, Jan.84(1)18-25.
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