Élyse Caron-Beaudoin

Élyse Caron-Beaudoin is an Assistant Professor in environmental health in the Department of Health and Society at the University of Toronto Scarborough. Her research is focused on the development of transdisciplinary community-based research projects to assess the impacts of anthropogenic pressures on health by combining information from multiple levels of biological organization. Élyse holds a PhD in biology with a specialization in toxicology from the Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique – Armand-Frappier Institute in Laval, Quebec. From 2018 to 2020, she completed a Canadian Institutes of Health Research Postdoctoral Fellowship in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the Université de Montreal. During her fellowship, Dr. Caron-Beaudoin investigated the associations between density and proximity to hydraulic fracturing wells and birth outcomes in Northeastern British Columbia. She is currently investigating gestational exposure to environmental contaminants associated with unconventional natural gas exploitation and their endocrine disrupting potential. She is a collaborator and co-investigator on several other research projects in environmental and Indigenous health, including in the Arctic.

PhD, biology, specialization in toxicology (Institut National de la Recherche Scientifique, Institut Armand-Frappier)

MSc, biology, specialization in environmental toxicology (Université du Québec à Montréal)

BSc, biology, specialization in environmental health (Université du Québec à Montréal)

Graduate Cross-Appointment, Department of Environmental and Physical Sciences, University of Toronto Scarborough

Associate researcher, Centre for Clinical Epidemiology and Evaluation, Vancouver Coastal Health Research Institute

Associate researcher, Population Health and Optimal Health Practices, CHU de Québec Research Center, Université Laval

Environmental contaminants, vulnerability and toxicity

Pathophysiology

Toxicology

Molecular biology

Public and environmental health

Community-based research

Exposure assessment and biomonitoring

Selected Grants:

Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada NOVA Program, There’s something in the air: disentangling the role of airborne microbes and pollutants in the inflammatory response of asthma along a latitudinal gradient in Canada (2022-2025, co-Principal Investigator)

University of Toronto XSeed Program, Quantifying environmental exposure to contaminants emitted by hydraulic fracturing in Northeastern British Columbia (2021-2023, co-Principal Investigator)

Northern Contaminants Program, Elevated exposure to perfluoroalkyl acids (PFAAs) in Nunavimmiut adults: determinants of exposure and harmful effects on the immune system and respiratory health (2021-2024, co-Principal Investigator)

Canadian Institutes of Health Research Project Grant, Gestational exposure to chemicals related to hydraulic fracturing and their endocrine disrupting potential in Northeastern British Columbia (2019-2023, co-Principal Investigator)

The Lloyd Jones Collins Foundation, Is there an association between exposure to hydraulic fracturing (HF) and exacerbations of asthma in Northeastern British Columbia (BC)? (2020-2021, co-Investigator)

Northern Contaminants Program, Exposure to food chain contaminants in Nunavik : biomonitoring in adult and youth cohorts of the Qanuilirpitaa survey (Year 3) (2019-2020, co-Investigator)

Selected Awards:

Journal of Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology Young Investigator Award (2020)

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Canadian Institutes of Health Research (2019-2020)

Relève Étoile Award, Fonds de Recherche Québec – Santé (2018)

Postdoctoral Fellowship, Fonds de Recherche Santé – Québec (2017-2018)

Doctoral fellowship, Armand-Frappier Foundation (2015-2016)

Doctoral Fellowship, Fonds de Recherche Nature et Technologies – Quebec (2014-2015)

Selected Peer-Reviewed Publications:

• Caron-Beaudoin, É., Whyte, K. P., Bouchard, M. F., Chevrier, J., Haddad, S., Copes, R., Frohlich, KL., Dokkie, D., Treaty 8 Tribal Association, Juul, S., Bouchard, M. and Verner, MA. (2021). Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in indoor air and tap water samples in residences of pregnant women living in an area of unconventional natural gas operations: Findings from the EXPERIVA study. Science of The Total Environment, 150242.
• Caron-Beaudoin, É., Whitworth, K. W., Bosson-Rieutort, D., Wendling, G., Liu, S., & Verner, M. A. (2020). Density and proximity to hydraulic fracturing wells and birth outcomes in Northeastern British Columbia, Canada. Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology, 1-9.
• Caron-Beaudoin, É., Bouchard, M., Wendling, G., Barroso, A., Bouchard, M. F., Ayotte, P., ... & Verner, M. A. (2019). Urinary and hair concentrations of trace metals in pregnant women from Northeastern British Columbia, Canada: a pilot study. Journal of exposure science & environmental epidemiology, 29(5), 613-623.
• Caron-Beaudoin, É., Ayotte, P., Sidi, E. A. L., of Nutashkuan, C. T. K., McHugh, N. G. L., & Lemire, M. (2019). Exposure to perfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and associations with thyroid parameters in First Nation children and youth from Quebec. Environment international, 128, 13-23.
• Caron-Beaudoin, É., & Armstrong, C. G. (2019). Biomonitoring and ethnobiology: Approaches to fill gaps in indigenous public and environmental health. Journal of Ethnobiology, 39(1), 50-64.
• Caron-Beaudoin, É., Viau, R., & Sanderson, J. T. (2018). Effects of neonicotinoid pesticides on promoter-specific aromatase (CYP19) expression in Hs578t breast cancer cells and the role of the VEGF pathway. Environmental health perspectives, 126(4), 047014.
• Caron-Beaudoin, É., Valter, N., Chevrier, J., Ayotte, P., Frohlich, K., & Verner, M. A. (2018). Gestational exposure to volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in Northeastern British Columbia, Canada: a pilot study. Environment International, 110, 131-138.
• Caron-Beaudoin, E., Viau, R., Hudon-Thibeault, A. A., Vaillancourt, C., & Sanderson, J. T. (2017). The use of a unique co-culture model of fetoplacental steroidogenesis as a screening tool for endocrine disruptors: The effects of neonicotinoids on aromatase activity and hormone production. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 332, 15-24.
• Caron-Beaudoin, É., Denison, M. S., & Sanderson, J. T. (2016). Effects of neonicotinoids on promoter-specific expression and activity of aromatase (CYP19) in human adrenocortical carcinoma (H295R) and primary umbilical vein endothelial (HUVEC) cells. Toxicological Sciences, 149(1), 134-144.