Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson

Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson is an associate professor in the School of Nutrition Sciences and a professional dietitian. She received a PhD in nutrition sciences (specialization in nutrigenetics) from the University of Toronto and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in genetic epidemiology at the Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale (INSERM) in Paris. Her research looks at the impact of nutrition during pregnancy and early childhood on maternal and child health. She is particularly interested in improving perinatal nutritional interventions and services for vulnerable populations. Professor Fontaine-Bisson  uses an interdisciplinary approach and concerted strategies involving researchers, community stakeholders, health-care professionals and knowledge users working together to improve families’ nutrition, lifestyles and well-being.

Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson is an affiliated researcher with the Institut du savoir Montfort (Montfort Hospital) and the research centre at the Centre intégré de santé et des services sociaux (CISSS) de l’Outaouais. She has received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Faculty of Health Sciences (University of Ottawa) and a Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) Excellence Award (national or international category), as well as research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Institut du savoir Montfort and the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS).

Professor Fontaine-Bisson is accepting new students for thesis supervision.

• Research Website

• Perinatal nutrition (pregnancy and infancy)
• Maternal health and well-being
• Child health and development
• Vulnerable populations
• Food insecurity
• Breastfeeding
• Interdisciplinary research
• Knowledge transfer

• Energy expenditure during pregnancy: a systematic review. Savard C, Lebrun A, O'Connor S, Fontaine-Bisson B, Haman F, Morisset AS. Nutr Rev. 2021 Mar 9;79(4):394-409. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuaa093. PMID: 32974660 Free PMC article.

• A crucial role for maternal dietary methyl donor intake in epigenetic programming and fetal growth outcomes. McGee M, Bainbridge S, Fontaine-Bisson B. Nutr Rev. 2018 Jun 1;76(6):469-478. doi: 10.1093/nutrit/nuy006. PMID: 29529267 Review.
• Nutrigenomics of taste - impact on food preferences and food production. El-Sohemy A, Stewart L, Khataan L, Fontaine-Bisson B, Kwong P, Ozsungur S, Cornelis MC. Forum Nutr. 2007;60:176-182. doi: 10.1159/000107194. PMID: 17684414 Review.
• Obesity and type 2 diabetes in Northern Canada's remote First Nations communities: the dietary dilemma. Haman F, Fontaine-Bisson B, Batal M, Imbeault P, Blais JM, Robidoux MA. Int J Obes (Lond). 2010 Dec;34 Suppl 2:S24-31. doi: 10.1038/ijo.2010.236. PMID: 21151143 Review.
• Investigating Gene-Gene and Gene-Environment Interactions in the Association Between Overnutrition and Obesity-Related Phenotypes. Tessier F, Fontaine-Bisson B, Lefebvre JF, El-Sohemy A, Roy-Gagnon MH.Front Genet. 2019 Mar 4;10:151. doi: 10.3389/fgene.2019.00151. eCollection 2019. PMID: 30886629 Free PMC article.
• Knowledge, attitude and practice of physicians regarding periconceptional folic acid for women at low risk of a neural tube defect affected pregnancy. Mida LA, Della Zazzera V, Fontaine-Bisson B. Prev Med Rep. 2021 Feb 6;22:101327. doi: 10.1016/j.pmedr.2021.101327. eCollection 2021 Jun. PMID: 33665065 Free PMC article.
• Tracking of Dietary Intake and Diet Quality from Late Pregnancy to the Postpartum Period. Lebrun A, Plante AS, Savard C, Dugas C, Fontaine-Bisson B, Lemieux S, Robitaille J, Morisset AS. Nutrients. 2019 Sep 3;11(9):2080. doi: 10.3390/nu11092080. PMID: 31484415 Free PMC article.
• Adequacy of nutritional intake during pregnancy in relation to prepregnancy BMI: results from the 3D Cohort Study. Dubois L, Diasparra M, Bédard B, Colapinto CK, Fontaine-Bisson B, Tremblay RE, Fraser WD. Br J Nutr. 2018 Aug;120(3):335-344. doi: 10.1017/S0007114518001393. Epub 2018 Jun 7. PMID: 29875026
• Effect of folic acid on human trophoblast health and function in vitro. Ahmed T, Fellus I, Gaudet J, MacFarlane AJ, Fontaine-Bisson B, Bainbridge SA. Placenta. 2016 Jan;37:7-15. doi: 10.1016/j.placenta.2015.11.012. Epub 2015 Nov 27. PMID: 26748157
• Trimester-Specific Dietary Intakes in a Sample of French-Canadian Pregnant Women in Comparison with National Nutritional Guidelines. Nutrients 2018, 10, 768. Savard C, Lemieux S, Weisnagel SJ, Fontaine-Bisson B, Gagnon C, Robitaille J, Morisset AS. Nutrients. 2019 Jan 4;11(1):84. doi: 10.3390/nu11010084. PMID: 30621126 Free PMC article.
• Periconceptional intake of folic acid among low-risk women in Canada: summary of a workshop aiming to align prenatal folic acid supplement composition with current expert guidelines. Lamers Y, MacFarlane AJ, O'Connor DL, Fontaine-Bisson B. Am J Clin Nutr. 2018 Dec 1;108(6):1357-1368. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqy212. PMID: 30541097 Free PMC article.
• Prevalence of Insulin Resistance, Metabolic Syndrome, and Type 2 Diabetes in Canadian Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer. Dumais V, Lumingu J, Bedard M, Paquet L, Verma S, Fontaine-Bisson B. Breast J. 2017 Jul;23(4):482-483. doi: 10.1111/tbj.12772. Epub 2017 Jan 25. PMID: 28121048 No abstract available.