Research Opportunities

• Queen Elizabeth II Research Institute for Mothers and Infants
• Central Clinical School
• Northern Clinical School
• Western Clinical School
• Nepean Hospital
• Canberra Clinical School

Queen Elizabeth II Research Institute for Mothers and Infants

Professor Ian S Fraser

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Specific interests in menstrual disorders, contraception, menopause, infertility, endometriosis and gynaecological endoscopic surgery.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Numerous clinical projects related to contraception, menopause and menstrual disorders. Laboratory projects related to blood vessels and bleeding in the endometrium and to functional disturbances in endometriosis and adenomyosis.

Associate Professor Suzanne Abraham

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Woman's Health: biopsychosocial and sexual aspects.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Vulval problems. The research includes pathology, treatment and psychosexual sequelae of vulvodynia.
• Eating disorders and women's health. The impact of disordered eating on infertility, pregnancy outcome, selected gynaecological problems and menopause.
• Psychosexual sequelae of gynaecological problems and surgery
• Assessment and participation in a new program for treatment of eating disorders.
• Antenatal assessment of factors associated with poor perinatal outcomes.
• Premenstrual syndrome, biopsychosocial aspects.
• Eating and Exercise Examination. This computer program has been developed to be used by students for community and clinical people.

Dr Graham Thomas

Clinical and Research Interests:

• The focus of current research is a major prospective study of human oral squamous cell carcinoma (HOSCC) and human precancer of the cervix. The major factors being studied include cell proliferation parameters and the role of viruses as transforming agents.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Epidemiology of risk factors in HOSCC. Microvasculature of HOSCC. Cell proliferation in HOSCC.
• Cell proliferation in Cervical Intraepithelial Neoplasia.
• Development of microwave instrument for histopathology.
• Dielectric studies of tissue samples.

Dr Christine Roberts

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Health outcomes for mothers and babies. Specifically, all aspects of antenatal screening and especially whether both the harms and benefits of screening have been considered; analysing population-based perinatal data to identify risk factors for perinatal outcomes and promoting evidence based medicine in obstetric and neonatal care.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Examination of any aspect of antenatal screening, population-based or studies involving the analysis of large data collections ( e.g. Midwives Data Collection, Perinatal Deaths, Inpatient Statistics Collection), evaluation of perinatal services, development of clinical practice guidelines and clinical trials.

David Henderson-Smart

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Paediatrician specialising in Neonatology with clinical appointment at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.
• Regulation of the breathing in the newborn, perinatal epidemiology, systematic reviews of clinical interventions, clinical trials, implimentation og guidelines for effective care.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Causes and consequences of preterm birth.
• Systematic (Cochrane) reviews of effectiveness of care during pregnancy and the neonatal period.
• Implimentation of clinical practice guidelines.

Central Clinical School

Associate Professor Heather Jeffery

Clinical and Research Interests:

• SIDS: sleep, breathing, gastro-oesophageal reflux.
• Rapid diagnosis surfactant deficiency by the click test.
• Neonatal infection especially group B streptococcus.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Spontaneous reflux in infants during sleep and effect on breathing.
• Predictors of infection in infants of different gestational ages.

Professor Robert Jansen

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Reproductive ethics.
• In vitro fertilisation.
• Fallopian tube microsurgery.
• Oocyte and embryo mitochondrial function.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Refer to; www.jansen.com.au/author.html

Northern Clinical School

Professor Douglas M Saunders

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Clinical aspects of an ART Clinic - Improvements of Controlled Ovarian Hyperstimulation protocols for IVF. Follow-up of children post ICSI.
• Chair, Training and Accreditation Committee - Fee paying M Med, M Med Sc.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Clinical trials on female menopause.
• Assessment of embryo quality.

Clinical Associate Professor Michael J Sinosich

Areas of Interest:

• Providing a quality diagnostic service to many varied areas of women’s health, including, infertility, oncology, hormone replacement therapy, pregnancy well-being and prenatal screening for fetal maldevelopment.
• Identification of new proteins expressed by pre-implantation embryos and normal and abnormal trophoblast cells.

For Post-Graduate Students:

• Identification and charaterisation of proteins, expressed by murine oocytes and embryos, as potential targets for immunological regulation of fertility.
• Assessment of new markers for and cost-benefit analysis of prenatal screening in the first trimester of pregnancy.
• Physiology and characterisation of Pregnancy-Associated Plasma Protein-A.
• Evaluation of diagnostic efficacy of maternal serum screening at midgestation.
• Identification of new markers and development of screening strategy for detection of gonadal (ovarian, testicular) carcinoma.
• Trophoblast physiology in normal and pre-eclamptic pregnancies (see E Gallery).

Professor Eileen Gallery

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Renal disease, hypertension in pregnancy, endothelial cell, trophoblast biology. Catecholamines, renin/aldosterone/salt & water/volume homeostasis.

Available for Post Graduate students:

• Endothelial/trophoblast function. Prostaglandin physiology, placentation, adhesion molecules, secretion of matrixmetalloproteinases.

Dr Rodney Baber

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Menopause, osteoporosis.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• The effects of phytoestrogens on menopausal symptoms.
• Lipids and markers of bone turnover.

Jonathan Morris

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Evaluation of diagnostic tests.
• The use of ultrasound in antenatal fetal assessment and teaching evidence based obstetrics and gynaecology.
• Basic science research interest in placental cytotrophoblast cell culture, lipase activation in the placenta and the maternal response to pregnancy.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Antenatal assessment of fetal cardiac function - It's relation to oligohydramnios.
• Monocyte and endometrial cell activation in pregnancy.
• Identification of genotypes that increase susceptability to HELLP syndrome.
• Strategies to reduce Caesarean Section rates.

Western Clinical School

Professor Brian Trudinger

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Clinical practice in high risk obstetrics and ultrasound. Certified maternal fetal medicine subspecialist RACOG. Research; placenta and placental blood flow, fetal physiology, fetal growth restriction, placental insufficiency.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Continuing studies in vascular pathology and pathogenesis of placental insufficiency and umbilical placental blood flow.
• Doppler ultrasound in obstetrics.

Associate Professor Peter Illingworth

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Reproductive endocrinology, inhibins, pregnancy recognition, breastfeeding.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Regulation of steroidogenesis in the human ovary, clinical studies of inhibin secretion in women, mechanisms of pregnancy recognition in women.

Dr Henry Murray

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Perinatal medicine, fetal asphyxia.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Cerebral blood flow in pregnant women, growth factors in pregnancy.
• Fetal peak systolic flows vs anaemia.
• Intervention in high risk pregnancy.

Dr Roger Fay

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Uteroplacental blood flow - Doppler in the prediction of pre-eclampsia, IVGR and preterm delivery. Advanced endoscopic surgery - laparoscopic hysterectomy.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Assess the ability of uterine artery by Doppler in predicting pregnancy outcome in high risk patients.

Dr Heather Coughtrey

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Neonatal cerebral blood flow under various conditions. Fetal sleep - cerebral blood flow and pathology in asphysxia.
• Gastric pH in acutely unwell infants.
• Effects of sedation on cardiovascular and renal function.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• New analysis programme needed to analyse Doppler waveforms in neonates.

Dr Steven Fleming

Clinical and research Interests:

• Infertility. Use of immature gametes in IVF.
• Follicle growth and oocyte maturation.
• Embryo implantation and endometrial differentiation.

Projects avaliable for Post Graduate students:

• Cryopreservation and invitro growth and maturation of human ovarian follicles.
• Regulation of hormone-induced maturation of murine oocytes.
• Role of platelet-activating factor in murine oocyte maturation and embryogenesis.

Nepean Hospital

Dr Michael Peek

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Pre-eclampsia, fetal lung development, fetal pain, medical disorders in pregnancy.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Fetal pain. Role of clotting disorders in pre-eclampsia.

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Dr Scott Adam Morris

Clinical and Research Interests:

• Parenteral nutrition in neonates.
• DHA and brain development.
• Cerebral blood flow in premature infants.

Projects available for Post Graduate students:

• Cerebral blood flow and intraventricular haemorrhage in preterm infants.