Sascha Drewlo, University of Toronto

Research

Extravillous Trophoblast Fetal Growth Resrtriction Placenta Placental Pathology Preeclampsia Trophoblast

Latest papers

FNDC5 deficiency alters placental development, maternal body weight, and fetal-placental growth in mice.
Scientific reports · 2026 · senior author
Human placentation: foundations and implications for reproductive endocrinology and infertility.
Systems biology in reproductive medicine · 2025 · senior author
Mid-pregnancy circulating placental growth factor (PlGF) and obstetrical outcomes following nonovulatory and ovulatory frozen embryo transfer cycles.
Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics · 2025

All 15 publications

Latest funding

Fetal Delivery of miR-200b to Improve Lung Development in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Before Birth
CIHR · 2025 · Co-investigator
$979,200
First-Trimester Molecular Screening to Uncover the Early Origins of Placental Dysfunction Using Single-Cell Analysis
CIHR · 2025 · Nominated PI
$1,044,225

All 2 grants and awards

15 publications.

01

FNDC5 deficiency alters placental development, maternal body weight, and fetal-placental growth in mice.

Nandi P, Lee M, Lee DK, Drewlo S

Scientific reports2026Senior author

DOI: 10.1038/s41598-026-49198-4 PMID: 42185335

02

Human placentation: foundations and implications for reproductive endocrinology and infertility.

Prabaharan E, Armant DR, Drewlo S

Systems biology in reproductive medicine2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1080/19396368.2025.2533992 PMID: 40748841

03

Mid-pregnancy circulating placental growth factor (PlGF) and obstetrical outcomes following nonovulatory and ovulatory frozen embryo transfer cycles.

Dinh T, Sanchez Diaz N, McLaughlin K, Kingdom JC, Greenblatt EM, Drewlo S, Snelgrove JW

Journal of assisted reproduction and genetics2025

DOI: 10.1007/s10815-025-03605-3 PMID: 40750716

04

Placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt1): powerful new tools to guide obstetric and medical care in pregnancy.

Gladstone RA, Snelgrove JW, McLaughlin K, Hobson SR, Windrim RC, Melamed N, Hladunewich M, Drewlo S, Kingdom JC

Obstetric medicine2025

DOI: 10.1177/1753495x251327462 PMID: 40191640

05

Rosiglitazone-Mediated Activation of PPARγ Induces PlGF Expression in Trophoblast Cells.

Nandi P, Halari C, Lee M, Prabaharan E, Sarajideen S, Lee DK, Drewlo S

Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)2025Senior author

DOI: 10.1007/s43032-025-01868-w PMID: 40295383

06

Rosiglitazone-Mediated Activation of PPARγ Restores HO1 Expression in the Human Preeclamptic Placenta.

Grimaldi B, Kohan-Ghadr HR, Halari CD, Nandi P, Kingdom JC, Drewlo S

Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)2023Senior author

DOI: 10.1161/hypertensionaha.123.21645 PMID: 37702083

07

The Potential for Placental Activation of PPARγ to Improve the Angiogenic Profile in Preeclampsia.

Grimaldi B, Kohan-Ghadr HR, Drewlo S

Cells2022Senior author

DOI: 10.3390/cells11213514 PMID: 36359910

08

Apelin in Normal Pregnancy and Pregnancies Complicated by Placental Insufficiency.

Van Mieghem T, Doherty A, Baczyk D, Drewlo S, Baud D, Carvalho J, Kingdom J

Reproductive sciences (Thousand Oaks, Calif.)2016

DOI: 10.1177/1933719116630422 PMID: 26880769

09

Current Theories on the Prevention of Severe Preeclampsia With Low-Molecular Weight Heparin.

McLaughlin K, Drewlo S, Parker JD, Kingdom JC

Hypertension (Dallas, Tex. : 1979)2015

DOI: 10.1161/hypertensionaha.115.05770 PMID: 26441469

10

DREAM mediated regulation of GCM1 in the human placental trophoblast.

Baczyk D, Kibschull M, Mellstrom B, Levytska K, Rivas M, Drewlo S, Lye SJ, Naranjo JR, Kingdom JC

PloS one2013

DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0051837 PMID: 23300953

Fetal Delivery of miR-200b to Improve Lung Development in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Before Birth

Co-investigatorCIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Labouta, Hagar I; Keijzer, Richard

Keywords: Drug Delivery; Fetal Health; Nanomedicine; Organ-On-A-Chip

$979,200

First-Trimester Molecular Screening to Uncover the Early Origins of Placental Dysfunction Using Single-Cell Analysis

Nominated PICIHR2025Project Grant

Principal investigators: Drewlo, Sascha

Keywords: Extravillous Trophoblast; Fetal Growth Resrtriction; Placenta; Placental Pathology; Preeclampsia; Trophoblast

$1,044,225

From CIHR, NSERC and SSHRC funding decisions: CIHR since 2008, NSERC since 1991 and SSHRC since 1998, including their latest published competition results.

Frequent collaborators

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Medicine/Nephrology
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
Department of Family and Community Medicine
Endocrinology and Metabolism
Other

Co-authors at University of Toronto, colored by department. Thicker lines mean more shared papers; select anyone to open their profile and their own map.

John Kingdom

Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology

4 shared papers, latest 2016

Kelsey McLaughlin

Obstetrics and Gynecology

2 shared papers, latest 2025

Rahim Moineddin

Department of Family and Community Medicine

1 shared papers, latest 2010

Stephen Lye

Endocrinology and Metabolism

1 shared papers, latest 2011

Jose Carvalho

Obstetrics and Gynecology

1 shared papers, latest 2016

Ayodele Odutayo

Medicine/Nephrology

1 shared papers, latest 2010

Nir Melamed

Obstetrics and Gynecology

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Michelle Hladunewich

Medicine/Nephrology

1 shared papers, latest 2025

Write to this professor

A short, specific email works best. This draft uses one of their recent papers; replace the parts in brackets with your own details before sending.

Applying for

Paper to mentionMention their CIHR grant from 2025

Subject: Prospective PhD student: Extravillous Trophoblast Dear Professor Drewlo, My name is [your name], and I am a [your current degree or role] at [your institution]. I am applying for a PhD position starting in [term and year]. I read your paper "FNDC5 deficiency alters placental development, maternal body weight, and fetal-placental growth in mice." (2026), and it connects closely to my own work on [your research topic]. [One or two sentences on what you did and what you learned.] I also saw your CIHR-funded project "First-Trimester Molecular Screening to Uncover the Early Origins of Placental Dysfunction Using Single-Cell Analysis" (2025), and I would be glad to contribute to work in that direction. Are you accepting new PhD students for [term and year]? I have attached my CV and transcripts, and I would be glad to talk at a time that suits you. Thank you for your time. Kind regards, [your name]

Sascha Drewlo

Research

Latest papers

Latest funding

FNDC5 deficiency alters placental development, maternal body weight, and fetal-placental growth in mice.

Human placentation: foundations and implications for reproductive endocrinology and infertility.

Mid-pregnancy circulating placental growth factor (PlGF) and obstetrical outcomes following nonovulatory and ovulatory frozen embryo transfer cycles.

Placental growth factor (PlGF) and soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase-1 (sFlt1): powerful new tools to guide obstetric and medical care in pregnancy.

Rosiglitazone-Mediated Activation of PPAR&#x3b3; Induces PlGF Expression in Trophoblast Cells.

Rosiglitazone-Mediated Activation of PPAR&#x3b3; Restores HO1 Expression in the Human Preeclamptic Placenta.

The Potential for Placental Activation of PPAR&#x3b3; to Improve the Angiogenic Profile in Preeclampsia.

Apelin in Normal Pregnancy and Pregnancies Complicated by Placental Insufficiency.

Current Theories on the Prevention of Severe Preeclampsia With Low-Molecular Weight Heparin.

DREAM mediated regulation of GCM1 in the human placental trophoblast.

Fetal Delivery of miR-200b to Improve Lung Development in Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Before Birth

First-Trimester Molecular Screening to Uncover the Early Origins of Placental Dysfunction Using Single-Cell Analysis

Frequent collaborators

John Kingdom

Kelsey McLaughlin

Rahim Moineddin

Stephen Lye

Jose Carvalho

Ayodele Odutayo

Nir Melamed

Michelle Hladunewich

Rosiglitazone-Mediated Activation of PPARγ Induces PlGF Expression in Trophoblast Cells.

Rosiglitazone-Mediated Activation of PPARγ Restores HO1 Expression in the Human Preeclamptic Placenta.

The Potential for Placental Activation of PPARγ to Improve the Angiogenic Profile in Preeclampsia.