Dr. Stephen Lye

Dr. Stephen Lye is a recognized leader in the field of women's and infants' health. His research holds promise for a new understanding of preeclampsia, a leading global cause of maternal and infant illness and death. In addition, his lab has conducted pre-clinical trials of a drug to stop uterine contractions, which is now being tested on patients in preterm labor at Mount Sinai Hospital.

He has also developed a diagnostic test, pilot tested and now part of a larger study, to distinguish false labor from preterm labor. Once it meets regulatory approval, this test will have a significant impact on patient care, preventing unnecessary hospitalization costs and negative impact on fetal health, since drugs given to stop labor and mature the fetus in case of preterm birth can have damaging side effects when, as is often the case, they are not needed.

Dr. Lye has also joined a fascinating Australian study investigating the developmental origins of health and disease. This project recruited 3,000 pregnant women, recorded their birth parameters and has followed their offspring for 20 years, studying a range of factors including growth, physiology, and psychosocial development. Dr. Lye will be genotyping the children and the parents, a process that will reveal important data about the complex interplay of genetic and environmental factors involved in health and susceptibility to illness.

Currently, in collaboration with Dr. Alan Bocking and over a team of 30 clinicians and researchers at Mount Sinai Hospital, Dr. Lye is leading the Ontario Birth Study -  the largest Canadian study of its kind to track the health of women and their babies.