From Inheritance to Intervention: Reprogramming the Sperm Epigenome

Professor Sarah Kimmins holds a Senior Tier 1 Canada Research Chair in the Epigenetic Inheritance of Disease and is appointed in the Department of Pathology and Cell Biology at the Université de Montréal and as an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at McGill University.

She completed her PhD at Dalhousie University (Nova Scotia, Canada) where her research focused on the molecular mechanisms regulating the estrous cycle and uterine receptivity to pregnancy. She then undertook postdoctoral training with Paolo Sassone-Corsi at the Institut de Génétique et de Biologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire (IGBMC, Strasbourg France), using transgenic models to investigate epigenetic mechanisms governing spermatogenesis and male fertility.

Professor Kimmins’ research centres on the molecular basis of epigenetic inheritance, with a particular emphasis on how the paternal environment shapes sperm epigenetic programming, early embryo development, and intergenerational disease risk. She is Co-Director of the Québec Developmental and Intergenerational Origins of Child Health Research Network (ODISÉ).

In parallel with her academic work, Professor Kimmins is the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of HisTurn, a male fertility diagnostics company advancing a personalized medicine approach to improve the diagnosis and treatment of male infertility. Her research and translational efforts have been recognized with multiple international awards.