Dr Courtney Hanna

Dr. Courtney Hanna completed her PhD in Dr. Wendy Robinson’s lab at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, investigating the aetiology of recurrent miscarriage. She then moved to Dr. Gavin Kelsey’s group at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK, as a postdoctoral fellow, studying epigenetics in oogenesis. In 2018, Courtney received a Next Generation Fellowship from the Loke CTR to establish a programme of semi-independent research investigating epigenetic programming in the placenta. 

Courtney established her research group in 2021 at the Loke CTR and the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge, supported by a Wellcome Trust and Royal Society Sir Henry Dale Fellowship. Her research uses advanced sequencing techniques, imaging and model systems to investigate mechanisms of epigenetic regulation in placental development and their importance in healthy pregnancy. In 2026, Courtney joined the Life Sciences Institute as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, where she continues her research in placental epigenetics.  She remains an active Honorary Member of the Loke CTR, maintain close collaborations and shared research interests.