Prof Niamh Forde

Symposium 1 - Implantation and Early Pregnancy

Professor Forde is Professor and Chair of Molecular Reproductive Biosciences based in the School of Medicine at the University of Leeds where she established her group in 2015. She also Co-founded, is Co-Director and current Academic Lead for LeedsOmics a virtual research Institute. Her group is focused on understanding the molecular interactions between the uterine endometrium and the embryo that are required for successful early pregnancy in mammalian species with different implantation strategies (cattle, pigs, humans). We are also interested in and how the maternal environment, sex of the embryo, and extracellular vesicles influences these interactions. To achieve this her group uses a combination of in vivo and in vitro (including micro-fluidics, organoids, and extracellular scaffolds) approaches, as well as omics technologies to understand fundamentally how both protein coding and non-coding parts of the genome regulate endometrial function for food, fertility and health.

Dr Emma Lucas

Symposium 1 - Implantation and Early Pregnancy

Emma Lucas is an Assistant Professor at Warwick Medical School, UK, based in the Tommy’s National Centre for Miscarriage Research and working as part of the University of Warwick’s Centre for Early Life where she has spearheaded the establishment of single-cell sequencing technologies. Her research focuses on identifying and understanding endometrial cell populations and how tissue homeostasis contributes to successful implantation and also to reproductive failure. She has published extensively on the cellular and molecular mechanisms underpinning the implantation window of the menstrual cycle and how these are disrupted in recurrent early pregnancy loss, and her work has identified and characterized the role of endometrial senescence at the time of implantation in endometrial function and failure.

Prof Anna David

Symposium 2 - Clinical therapies for placental pregnancy disorders

Anna is Director of the Elizabeth Garrett Anderson Institute for Women’s Health at University College London in London and an Honorary Consultant in Obstetrics and Maternal Fetal Medicine at UCL Hospital. Clinically she specializes in fetal medicine, severe congenital disease, fetal growth restriction and prevention of preterm birth. Her research team is developing novel prenatal therapies using stem cells and gene therapy. She works closely with engineers to optimize fetal and placental imaging for prenatal diagnosis. With a large team she coordinated the introduction of fetal surgery for spina bifida to the UK in 2018 and secured NHS England specialist commissioning. She has lead development of the first standardized Maternal and Fetal Adverse Event Terminology: MFAET for use in clinical trials of pregnancy interventions. This terminology aims to transform the conduct of trials to test new maternal and fetal therapies, making them much safer for pregnant women and their babies.

Dr Lynda Harris

Symposium 2 - Clinical therapies for placental pregnancy disorders

Dr Lynda Harris is an Associate Professor within The Olson Center for Women’s Health at The University of Nebraska Medical Center, USA. She holds a PhD in vascular biology from The University of Reading UK, which was followed by postdoctoral studies on normal and abnormal human placental development and function at The University of Manchester, UK. After receiving a 5-year, BBSRC-funded Research Fellowship to develop targeted nanomedicines for placental drug delivery, she spent 2011 working with Professor Erkki Ruoslahti at The University of California Santa Barbara, a renowned specialist in targeted delivery of drugs to tumours. She then returned to Manchester to start her own lab creating novel therapeutics to treat placental dysfunction, accepting a position as Lecturer in The Division of Pharmacy and Optometry in 2015. She was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2018, and in 2022 relocated her lab to the USA. Her research interests include the identification of novel therapeutics and development of nanoparticle formulations to treat placental dysfunction, and dissection of the biological mechanisms critical to successful pregnancy, to identify new therapeutic targets.

A/Prof Helen Jones

Symposium 2 - Clinical therapies for placental pregnancy disorders

Dr. Helen Jones completed her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at the University of St. Andrews and went on to do her Ph.D. at the Rowett Research Institute and the University of Aberdeen studying regulation mechanisms of placental nutrient transfer, compensation, and stress responses. Helen then moved to the University of Cincinnati for her postdoc fellowship investigating the impact of maternal obesity on placental function. Upon completion of this she wanted to expand her research beyond just understanding the placenta in complicated pregnancies to develop in utero interventions specific to the placenta to improve its development and function. A short move (literally across the road) to the Center for Molecular Fetal Therapy at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital facilitated this in 2009, along with promotion to assistant professor and NIH funding from 2011, and in 2017 Helen became the scientific lead for the newly established Center for Fetal and Placental Research.

In 2019, Helen was invited to join the Faculty at the University of Florida as an associate professor in the departments of Physiology & Ageing and Obstetrics & Gynecology and was appointed the Director of the Interface research program and Co-director of the Center for Research in Perinatal Outcomes in 2020.

Helen was recognized by the International Federation of Placenta Associations and awarded the Andree Gruslin Mid-career award in 2022 for her research and mentoring contributions to the field.

Prof Dave Grattan

Symposium 3 - Conversations in the Uterus

Professor Dave Grattan received a PhD in Physiology from Victoria University in Wellington, New Zealand in 1991, and after a period at the University of Maryland (USA) has been at the University of Otago since 1995. He is now director of the Centre for Neuroendocrinology at the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand. Prior to this, he was Head of the Department of Anatomy from 2011-2014, and has served as the President for the New Zealand Society of Endocrinology (2003-2006) and Hypothalamic Neuroscience and Neuroendocrinology Australasia (2017-2020). From 2009-2014 he was the Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroendocrinology, and is currently an Associate Editor at Endocrinology. His research has focused on the pituitary hormone prolactin (and its placental homologue, placental lactogen), and in particular, how actions of these hormones through the prolactin receptor in the maternal brain during pregnancy and lactation functionally influence both physiology and behaviour in the mother.

A/Prof Kirsty Pringle

Symposium 3 - Conversations in the Uterus

Professor Kirsty Pringle is Assistant Dean Equity, Diversity and Inclusion in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing and a teaching/research academic in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy and at the University of Newcastle, NSW, Australia. Kirsty completed her PhD in Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Adelaide before joining the University of Newcastle in 2008. She is Deputy Director of HMRI’s Mothers and Babies Research Program and leads the Placental Biology and Pregnancy Research group. Kirsty is passionate about improving outcomes for mothers and their babies, especially in Australian Aboriginal communities. Her research focusses on the role of the intrauterine, circulating and intrarenal renin angiotensin systems (RASs) in pregnancy and the developmental origins of health and disease.

Dr Ramkumar Menon

Symposium 3 - Conversations in the Uterus

Dr. Ramkumar Menon is a tenured Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology/Cell Biology at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, TX. He is also the Director of the Division of Basic Science and Translational Research at UTMB. The primary focus of his lab is to design strategies to reduce PTB risk using extracellular vesicles as a drug delivery vehicle to treat the fetal inflammatory response. His lab also develops various Organ-on-Chip models for various intrauterine organ systems. His research is funded by multiple grants from the National Institute of Health (NIH, USA) and other non-federal agencies. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. Dr. Menon is also a mentor to over 40 medical and postgraduate students. Dr. Menon is also the executive director of Preterm Birth International Collaborative, a not-for-profit research and educational organization involved in preterm birth research.

Awards Speakers

Prof Greg Rice

Joan Hunt IFPA Senior Award

Dr Greg Rice is Honorary Professor in the Centre for Clinical Research, The University of Queensland and Centro De Investigación E Innovación Biomédica, Universidad de los Andes, Chile. He has more than 35 years’ experience as an academic and commercial scientist focusing on reproductive biology, oncology, perinatology and clinical translational research. He served as President of IFPA (2007 to 2009) and the Perinatal Society of Australia & New Zealand (1995-97). Over the past 10 years, his research objectives have been to elucidate the role of extracellular vesicles in pregnancy and gynaecological oncology. Currently, Greg is Chief Scientific Officer of INOVIQ Ltd (ASX: IIQ) where he and his team are developing exosome-based diagnostics and therapeutics.

Prof Terry Morgan

IFPA Award in Placentology

Dr. Terry Morgan, MD, PhD, is a Professor of Pathology, Obstetrics & Gynecology, and Biomedical Engineering at OHSU in Portland, Oregon, USA. He is also the Associate Director of the Center for Developmental Health with Dr. Leslie Myatt. Terry has been a NIH-funded investigator since 2012 and has authored over 100 peer-reviewed manuscripts and two books about pathology, including serving as an editor of Pathology of the Placenta: A Practical Guide. His primary research mission is to determine how uteroplacental vascular remodeling during pregnancy affects blood flow to the placenta, which seems to be a common underlying cause of maternal pregnancy complications and fetal programming of adult onset disease.

Dr Padma Murthi

Andree Gruslin Award

Dr Padma Murthi, Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University.
Dr Padma Murthi has built her research career understanding the role of developmentally important growth control genes called homeobox transcription factor in human placental development in normal and in the major disorders of pregnancy, fetal growth restriction (FGR) and preeclampsia (PE). More recently, she has used this expertise and knowledge to develop innovative models of diseased 3D placentas across gestation to identify critical regulators of placental development. Her research team aims to identify novel pathways and develop molecular therapies to improve placental function in FGR, stillbirth and PE. She is currently a recipient of the Researcher Exchange and Development within Industry (REDI)-Bridge fellowship. She has served as an elected secretary of ANZPRA, as elected secretary of IFPA and chair of the IFPA award committee.

Dr Sathish Kumar

NIH Lecturer

Sathish Kumar obtained his Bachelor's degree in Veterinary Medicine from the prestigious Madras Veterinary College in India. He completed his Master's in Veterinary Pharmacology at the same institution before pursuing his Ph.D. at the Indian Veterinary Research Institute. His doctoral research focused on nitric oxide and adrenergic signaling mechanisms in pulmonary arteries.

After completing his Ph.D., Dr. Kumar moved to the United States to join the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) as a postdoctoral fellow. His research efforts at UTMB were focused on examining the impact of maternal low protein diet on placental function and long-term fetal health. Dr. Kumar was appointed Assistant Professor in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology at UTMB. He was later promoted to Associate Professor before relocating his laboratory to the University of Wisconsin.

Currently, Dr. Kumar is a Professor of Comparative Biosciences in the School of Veterinary Medicine at the University of Wisconsin, where he also holds a joint professorship in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynecology. His research interests center on understanding the mechanisms of maternal adaptation to pregnancy. Specifically, he focuses on the roles of steroid hormones, angiotensins, and environmental exposures in regulating placental function, fetal growth, and lifelong health. Dr. Kumar has published over 70 papers and textbook chapters in this field and has received numerous prestigious research and teaching accolades, such as the NIH Young Investigator Award, the University of Texas Medical Branch Researcher of the Year Award, and the Zoetis Distinguished Teacher Award. His research is currently funded by three NIH R01 grants.

Dr William Cooke

Elsevier Trophoblast Research Award Lecture

William Cooke is an academic-clinician currently undertaking a DPhil at the University of Oxford, UK. After studying clinical medicine at New College, Oxford, he was awarded an NIHR Academic Foundation post at UCL in London, with a research component investigating RNA signalling. He spent six months in Malawi in 2015, leading a clinical study investigating Acute Kidney Injury in pregnancy and preeclampsia at Queen Elizabeth Central Hospital, Blantyre supported by the RCOG Eden Travelling Fellowship. He returned to Oxford in 2016, commencing specialist training in Obstetrics and Gynaecology. After receiving an NIHR Academic Clinical Fellowship in Oxford he identified novel tRNA species within placental extracellular vesicles, winning first prize at the RCOG Blair Bell Research Competition. In 2020 he was awarded a Wellcome Trust Doctoral Training Fellowship to investigate the role of tRNA fragments within extracellular vesicles in the context of normal pregnancy and preeclampsia.