Role of male sex hormones in the placenta

Help diminish the risk of miscarriage and stillbirth

If you are ready to build your career in biology and motivated to make significant strides in preventing miscarriage and stillbirths, the University of South Australia – Australia’s University of Enterprise – is offering a hands-on project-based PhD with real-world impact within Health and Biomedical Innovation (HBI).

About this project

Rates of miscarriage and stillbirth are higher for male than female foetuses. This is evident not only from human population data, but also from other mammalian species, such as those used for agricultural purposes. Indeed, miscarriage and stillbirth have a significant economic burden for both the agricultural and medical industries.

A major contributor to miscarriage and stillbirth is reduced foetal growth that is often the result of poor placenta function. It’s possible that aspects of the placental-specific androgen signalling axis are potential regulators of male foetal growth outcomes, whereas alternative pathways are prioritised in female placentae to ensure survival in a similar intrauterine environment.

Our project will test the hypothesis that increased activity of the androgen signalling axis in gestation maximises male birthweight and therefore survival, leading to reproductive success in adulthood. However, under lengthy or significant periods of reduced oxygen and/or glucose in gestation, this androgen-driven adaptation will be dysregulated in males that have reduced growth.

You will join the worldclass HBI and become part of a rich cohort of early and specialist researchers. You will have access to a well-equipped laboratory (realtime PCR, Western blotting, LC-MS/MS, histology) and will be trained by a team of experts in each of these procedures.

This project will give you unique access to SAHMRI’s Preclinical Imaging and Research laboratories where the animal studies will be performed. No other facility in Australia allows access to surgical theatres, long term animal housing, CT and MRI facilities. You will also have access to an extensive BioBank of fixed and frozen tissue with extensive clinical records and in vivo physiological data to support your studies.

You will be supported by an international network of scientists and clinicians with expertise that span many facets of foetal physiology.

What you'll do

In this project-based research degree, you will be involved in computer, lab and animal house work. You’ll participate in foetal surgery, postoperative care, blood pressure studies and tissue collection.

We will train you to perform histology to quantitate neurons in the foetal brain and analyse MRI data of the brain. Data will be analysed in Excel and Prism. You will have the opportunity to use real-time PRC and Western blotting to study gene and protein expression in brain regions as well as immunohistochemistry.

During the project, you will have the unique opportunity of working with human placenta samples while also gaining experience with a large animal model of pregnancy, which includes participating in foetal surgery, postoperative care, foetal cardiac MRI and tissue collection.

You will participate in discussions about our research with national and international collaborators and, if appropriate, have the opportunity to travel to collaborator laboratories in Australia or overseas. There will be opportunities to attend conferences to present your work (virtual and/or face to face locally, nationally and internationally).

Upon completion of your studies, you will have gained a range of transferable skills, including study design, organisation of long-term projects, working productively independently and in a team environment, communicating effectively with scientists from a range of disciplines (foetal physiology, pharmacology, pharmaceutical sciences, endocrinology), performing experimental work, and writing for science.

Where you'll be based

You will be based within the Health and Biomedical Innovation concentration. We study the complex workings of the body and its interaction with environment. Our goal is to address fundamental questions about how the body and its environment work and to integrate this knowledge to increase our understanding of the human body as a whole, in both health and disease. This approach involves measuring changes in the body with disease and the impact of interventions and allows us to discover biomedical pathways to improve health while providing the foundational knowledge required for translation into clinical practice. We achieve this through initiating, and being sought for engagement with, strong partnerships with other national and international thought leaders in academia, clinical practice, industry, government and our community.

Our work is disseminated through production of high-quality publications, engagement with end-users and the community at conferences and with public presentations. Our fundamental approach to science provides a strong basis for student engagement across all health science programs, integrating our research into our teaching practices to develop industry ready graduates and engage them in our research endeavours.

Our research pillars represent a new direction in health and chronic disease research, focusing on strong engagement with government, industry, regulatory bodies, policy-makers and the community.

Supervisory Team

Professor Janna Morrison

Principal Supervisor

Associate Professor Michael Wiese

Co-supervisor