Alan Bocking

Dr. Alan Bocking is a Professor in the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Physiology at the University of Toronto and Associate Scientist at the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, Mount Sinai Hospital.  He is a Past President of the Canadian Association of Academic Professionals in Obstetrics and Gynaecology (APOG), and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, the Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology of Canada and the American Gynecological and Obstetrical Society.

He is the former Gordon C. Leitch Chair of the University of Toronto, Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and Chief of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Mount Sinai Hospital, the University Health Network and Women’s College Hospital (2003 – 2013). Prior to that, he was the Chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at Western University and Chief of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at London Health Sciences Centre and St. Joseph’s Health Centre, London, Canada.

Dr. Bocking’s main areas of study are the mechanisms underlying infection–mediated preterm labour including the role of the vaginal microbiome.  His other research interests include developing new diagnostic tests for preterm labour, understanding the mechanisms underlying Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder as well as creating research Infrastructures to study the developmental origins of health and disease. (DOHaD).  He currently chairs the Steering Committee for the Ontario Birth Study based at Mount Sinai Hospital, Toronto.  He has published over 100 peer-reviewed articles on his research findings.

He was the Founding Director of the Academic Model for Provision of Access to Health Care – Reproductive Health Program, (AMPATH-RH) from 2008 – 2014 and has contributed significantly to the enhancement of Clinical Care, Research and Teaching in the Department of Reproductive Health at Moi University School of Medicine in Eldoret, Kenya. 

Dr. Bocking is currently the Vice-Chair of the Board of the Maternal Infant, Child and Youth Research Network (MICYRN), and Vice-President of the Board of the Molly Towell Perinatal Research Foundation. He is a member of the Advisory Board of the CIHR Institute of Human Development, Child and Youth Health and currently serves as Scientific Advisor for the Canadian Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (Can FASD)  Research Network .