Axis director: Dr. Frederic Dallaire, University of Sherbrooke

The common pathophysiological mechanisms at the origin of the diseases and psychosocial maladjustment must be identified and targeted for preventive, diagnostic, prognostic and therapeutic purposes. The work of this axis targets phenotyping, identification of biomarkers and molecular characterization of biological specimens and pre-clinical models applicable to perinatal determinants of health.

They are based on the -omics approach in order to better characterize existing cohorts and to discover biomarkers and pathophysiological pathways linking perinatal determinants and child health.

This axis supports the procedural linkage between existing or developing birth cohort biobanks in Quebec. A similar process is in place for pre-clinical models. The alignment of procedures for the collection and analysis of biological samples is essential to allow the pooling of data and increase the power of analysis.