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 program in perinatal social nutrition, in collaboration with Professor Alex Dumas (School of Human Kinetics), takes a socially-engaged approach focused on nutritional equity during pregnancy and early childhood. Perinatal social nutrition is based on theories and methodologies of the sociology of social inequality, to address social, cultural, organizational and political barriers to optimal perinatal nutrition and health. The research program uses blended methods and seeks to offer nutritional services adapted to critical periods of development, from conception to early childhood. The primary goal is to reduce social inequality by improving the nutrition, health and wellness of families living with material and social insecurity.

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

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

Bénédicte Fontaine-Bisson is an affiliated researcher with the Institut du savoir Montfort (Montfort Hospital) and the LIFE Research Institute. She has received an Excellence in Teaching Award from the Faculty of Health Sciences (University of Ottawa) and a Knowledge Mobilization (KMb) Excellence Award (University of Ottawa), as well as research funding from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC), Sodexo, the Institut du savoir Montfort and the Consortium national de formation en santé (CNFS).

Research site

• Dumas A, Fontaine-Bisson B, La nutrition sociale périnatale : une approche en développement pour une profession en évolution, Nutrition, la revue de l’Ordre professionnel des diététistes nutritionnistes du Québec, 2024, Hiver, 3(1), 38-44.
• Carbonneau É*, Dumas A, Lepage S, Dumas A, Fontaine-Bisson B, A perinatal social nutrition approach to improve breastfeeding in a multicultural group of low-income women, Applied Physiology, Nutrition, and Metabolism, 2024, Feb 22.
• Charpentier N*, Dumas A, Morisset AS, Fontaine-Bisson B, Evaluation of the Olo prenatal nutrition follow-up care for vulnerable pregnant women, Canadian journal of dietetics research and practice, 2023 May 23:1-10.
• Michaud-Létourneau I, Gayard M, Lauzière J, Beaudry M, Pascual L, Chartier I Herzhaft-LeRoy J, Chiasson S, Fontaine-Bisson B, Pound C, Gaboury I, Understanding the challenges related to breastfeeding education and barriers to curricular change: A systems perspective for transforming health professions education, Canadian Medical Education Journal, 2022; 13(3); 91-104.
• Carbonneau É*, Dumas A, Brodeur-Doucet A, Fontaine-Bisson B, A community prenatal intervention in social nutrition: Evaluation the impact on pregnancy and birthweight outcomes, Nutrients, 2022 (14) 6; 2-13.
• Campeau* M, Philippe S, Martini R, Fontaine-Bisson B, The baby-led weaning method; a focus on mealtime behaviours, food acceptance and fine motor skills, Nutrition Bulletin, 2021; (46); 476-485.
• Mida LM*, della Zazzera V, Fontaine-Bisson B, Knowledge, Attitude and Practice of Physicians Regarding Periconceptional Folic Acid for women at low risk of a neural tube defect affected pregnancy, Preventative Medicine Report, 2021, (22) 101327, 1-9.
• Savard C, Lebrun A, O’Connor S, Fontaine-Bisson B, Haman F, Morisset AS, Energy Expenditure during pregnancy: A systematic review, Nutrition Reviews, 2021; 79(4); 394-409.
• Lebrun A, Plante AS, Savard C, Dugas C, Fontaine-Bisson B, Lemieux S, Robitaille J, Morisset AS, Tracking of dietary intake and diet quality from late pregnancy to the postpartum period, Nutrients, 2019, 11(9).
• Tessier F*, Fontaine-Bisson B, Lefebvre JF, El-Sohemy A, Roy-Gagnon MH, Investigating Gene-gene and Gene-environment Interactions in the Association between Overnutrition and Obesity-related Phenotypes, Frontiers in Genetics-Applied Genetic Epidemiology, 2019, 10 (151), 1-10.
• Bauman-Fortin J*, Ma D, Mutch D, Abdelmagid S, Badawi A, El-Sohemy A, Fontaine-Bisson B, The association between plasma omega-6/omega-3 ratio and anthropometric traits differ by racial/ethnic groups and NFKB1 genotypes in health young individuals, Journal of Personalized Medicine, 2019, 9 (13), 1-13.
• Lamers Y, MacFarlane AJ, O’Connor DL, Fontaine-Bisson B, Periconceptional intake of folic acid among low-risk women: summary of a workshop aiming to align prenatal folic acid supplement composition with current expert guidelines, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2018, 108 (6), 1357-1368.
• Lauzière J, Michaud-Létourneau I, Beaudry M, Wassef J, Fontaine-Bisson B, Allaitement – Agir collectivement sur les environnements pour mieux soutenir les familles, Nutrition Science en évolution, Revue de l’Ordre professionnel des diététistes du Québec, Hiver 2018, volume 15, p.31-32.
• Dubois L, Diasparra M, Bédard B, Colapinto CK, Fontaine-Bisson B, Tremblay RE, Fraser WD, Adequacy of nutritional intake during pregnancy in relation to prepregnancy BMI: results from the 3D cohort study, British Journal of Nutrition, 2018, 120 (3), 335-344.
• Savard C, Lemieux S, Weisnagel SJ, Fontaine-Bisson B, Gagnon C, Robitaille J, Morisset AS, Trimester-specific dietary intakes of pregnant women in comparison with national nutritional guidelines, Nutrients, 2018, 10 (6), 768, 1-14.
• McGee M*, Bainbridge-Whiteside S, Fontaine-Bisson B, A crucial role for maternal dietary methyl donor intake in epigenetic programming and fetal growth outcomes, Nutrition Reviews, 2018, 76 (6):469-478.
• Dubois L, Diasparra M, Bédard B, Colapinto CK, Fontaine-Bisson B, Morisset AS, Tremblay RE, Fraser WD, Adequacy of nutritional intake from food and supplements in a cohort of pregnant women in Québec, Canada: the 3D Cohort Study, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2017, 106 (2), 541-548.
• Dumais V*, Lumingu J, Bédard M, Paquet L, Verma S, Fontaine-Bisson B, Prevalence of insulin resistance, metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes in Canadian women at high risk for breast cancer, The Breast Journal, 2017, 23 (4), 482-483.
• Dubois L, Diasparra M, Bogl L, Fontaine-Bisson B, Bédard B, Tremblay R, Kaprio J, Boivin M, Dietary intake at 9 years and subsequent BMI in adolescent boys and girls: a study of monozygotic twin pairs, Twin Research in Human Genetics, 19 (1), 47-59, 2016.
• Ahmed T*, Fellus I, Gaudet J, MacFarlane AJ, Fontaine-Bisson B, Bainbridge S, Effect of folic acid on human trophoblast health and function in vitro, Placenta, 37, 7-15, 2016.
• Burkett KM, Roy-Gagnon MH, Lefebvre JF, Wang C, Fontaine-Bisson B, Dubois L, A comparison of statistical methods for the discovery of genetic risk factors using longitudinal family study design, Frontiers in Immunology, 19 (6), 589:1-10, 2015.
• Fontaine-Bisson B, Thorburn J, Gregory A, Zhang H, Sun G, Melanin-concentrating hormone receptor 1 polymorphisms are associated with components of energy balance in the Complex Diseases in the Newfoundland Population: Environment and Genetics (CODING) study, American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 99(2), 384-391, 2014.
• Dubois L, Diasparra M, Bédard B, Kaprio J, Fontaine-Bisson B, Tremblay RE, Boivin M, Pérusse D, Genetic and environmental influences on eating behaviours in 2.5- and 9-year-old children: a longitudinal twin study, International Journal of Behavioral Nutrition and Physical Activity, 10(134), 1-12, 2013.
• Dubois L, Diasparra M, Bédard B, Kaprio J, Fontaine-Bisson B, Pérusse D, Tremblay R, Boivin M, Gene-environment contributions to energy and macronutrient intakes in 9-year-old children: results from the Quebec Newborn Twin Study, Physiology and Behavior, 119, 30-37, 2013.