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| Tayla Penny, Madison Paton, Aidan Kashyap, Annie Cox |
Graduate research students from The Ritchie Centre at the
Monash Health Translation Precinct took the lion’s share of awards at the
recent Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) annual scientific
meeting.
PhD students Aidan Kashyap, Madison Paton, Tayla Penny and
Annie Cox were all recognised for their outstanding research at the premier
perinatology event in Auckland, New Zealand last month.
Aidan Kashyap received the PSANZ-PRS Mont Liggins Early
Career Award and the New Investigator Award for Best Oral Presentation in Basic
Science for his research into congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH), a
devastating cause of impaired lung development which affects 1 in 3000 babies.
Babies with CDH are born with a hole in the diaphragm, which
allows abdominal organs to enter the chest and prevents the lungs from growing
appropriately.
“My research is investigating promising
new therapies that could be used to treat these babies before they are even
born,” Aidan said.
“The first therapy involves performing keyhole-surgery called
“FETO” to place a small balloon in the developing baby’s throat. This balloon
traps naturally-secreted liquid within the airways that promotes lung growth,
to give even the most severely affected babies a better chance of survival
after birth.”
“Unfortunately, some babies do not respond to FETO therapy, and
our research is showing that this may be because even though their lungs grow
bigger, there is still not enough blood flowing through them to collect oxygen
for the rest of the body.”
“To further improve survival, we are also investigating giving a
medication called sildenafil to pregnant mothers carrying a baby diagnosed with
CDH.”
“Sildenafil allows blood vessels within the fetal lungs to grow
normally again, so when these babies are born, enough blood can flow through
the lungs to collect life-sustaining oxygen,” Aidan said.
Aidan said he
was honoured to receive the Mont Liggins Early Career Award, the most
prestigious award for an oral presentation at the PSANZ Annual Scientific
Congress which includes an invitation to speak at the US-based Perinatal
Research Society (PRS) Annual Meeting later this year.
PhD and medical
student Annie Cox was awarded Best Oral Presentation in Obstetrics and
Gynaecology for her bench side analysis of the use of broccoli sprout extract
as an adjuvant therapy for preeclampsia.
“Broccoli
sprout extract is high in sulforaphane, and I’ve developed laboratory evidence
supporting sulforaphane’s ability to act as an antioxidant and improve cellular
resilience to oxidative and inflammatory stress,” Annie said.
Annie will
conduct a clinical trial assessing broccoli sprout extract as an adjuvant
therapy for women diagnosed with preeclampsia.
“I hope to
improve maternal vascular health, thereby allowing for safe prolongation of
pregnancy to enable fetal maturation,” Annie said.
Third year PhD
student Madison Paton’s stem cell research was recognised with the PSANZ
Ritchie Centre Award for Translational Research. Madison was also awarded the
Senior Investigator Prize for Best Oral Presentation at the accompanying Fetal
and Neonatal Workshop of Australia and New Zealand.
Madison is
investigating the benefit of stem cells from human umbilical cord tissue to
reduce white matter brain injury.
“We are
assessing the efficacy of stem cells as a therapy to protect the brain of
babies born preterm after exposure to inflammation while developing in the
womb,” Madison said. “This will help
contribute to finding a therapy to protect against cerebral palsy.”
Tayla Penny was
awarded the Cerebral
Palsy Alliance Research Award (first place) and the Early Career Researcher
Travel Award for her work in hypoxic ishcemic brain injury.
“My research compares dose and delivery
method of Umbilical Cord Blood (UCB) in
a neonatal rat model of hypoxic ishcemic brain injury, and
I’ve shown that UCB administration improves brain weight and behavioural
outcomes,” Tayla said.
“I hope my
research will elude to the long term effects of neonatal hypoxic ischemic brain
injury, and determine if UCB cell therapy has a sustained effect and is able to
reduce brain injury and improve behavioural and motor outcomes.”
All students
acknowledged the ongoing support of their lab teams and supervisors, including:
Associate Professor Ryan Hodges, Professor Stuart Hooper, Associate Professor
Suzie Miller, Professor Graham Jenkin, Professor Euan Wallace, Dr Courtney
McDonald, Dr Kirsten Palmer, Dr Sarah Marshall, Dr Seshini Gurusinghe, Dr Kelly
Crossley, Dr Philip Dekoninck, Dr Beth Allison and Associate Professor Michael
Fahey.
