Sarah Bacon

  • Professor of Biological Sciences
Sarah Bacon

A 1987 graduate of Mount Holyoke, Bacon went on to earn a Ph.D. in organismal biology at the University of Chicago; after a one-year postdoctoral research fellowship at Cornell's College of Veterinary Medicine, she returned to Mount Holyoke as an assistant professor of biological sciences in 1998.

Bacon credits her undergraduate education with having a positive impact on her career. "There is an important way in which being here shaped how I went about my research," she says. "I consciously sought out female mentors, and it worked out very well for me." She chose a female adviser at the University of Chicago, who "modeled family life in combination with professional life in a way I did not see men doing," Bacon remembers. "I learned a huge amount from her." Bacon says the caring attention she was given by her professors at MHC also made a difference. "It can make you realize you have potentials that maybe you didn't suspect," she says. "There are people in this department who did that for me, and now I get to teach with them." In 2002, Bacon was awarded $110,480 by the National Institutes of Health AREA program for her project "Maternal-Fetal Immune Interaction and Pregnancy Success."

Areas of Expertise

Physiological interaction between mother and fetus in mammalian pregnancy, particularly how early placental development affects pregnancy success

Education

  • Ph.D., University of Chicago
  • A.B., Mount Holyoke College

Happening at Mount Holyoke

Recent Campus News

Mount Holyoke College student Alexandra Mihailopol ’26 has been selected by Middlebury College as a recipient of a Projects for Peace grant. She will offer financial literacy education to women in rural Romania via her EmpowHER project.

Mount Holyoke senior Qiao Se Ong ’25 is among the 2025 cohort for Projects for Peace. Her project, based in Colombia, aims to address the impact of dam construction on local communities through creative workshops and collaborations with local artists.

Craig Woodard, Christianna Smith Professor of Biological Sciences, has been recognized as a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Recent Publications

de Mestre A.M., Bacon S.J., Costa C.C., Leadbeater J.C., Noronha L.E., Stewart F, Antczak D.F. 2008. Modeling Trophoblast Differentiation using Equine Chorionic Girdle Vesicles. Placenta. 29(2):158-69.

Bacon, S.J., Ellis, S.A., and Antczak, D.F. 2002. Control of Expression of Major Histocompatibility Complex Genes in Horse Trophoblast. Biology of Reproduction. 66:1612-1620.

Carpenter, S., Baker, J.M., Bacon, S.J., Hopman, T., Maher, J., Ellis, S. and Antczak, D.F. 2001. Molecular and Functional Characterization of Genes Encoding Horse MHC Class I Antigens. Immunogenetics. 53(9):802-9.

Bacon, S.J. and McClintock, M.K. 1999. Sex Ratio Bias in Postpartum-Conceived Norway Rat Litters is Produced by Embryonic Loss in Midpregnancy. Journal of Reproduction and Fertility 117(2):403-411.

View More