Robinson Research Institute

05/09/2025

A, B, C or D – do you know your breast density? Breast density is a key risk factor for breast cancer. High breast density can also make it harder to detect cancer on a mammogram because it’s like looking for a polar bear in a snowstorm – it’s ‘bear-ly’ visible.

Associate Professor Wendy Ingman and her team are leading research to understand how breast density influences cancer risk, uncovering the underlying biology, and developing better ways to detect cancer early.

Wendy’s passion for the topic goes beyond the lab. This week, she is heading to France to take on the Medoc Marathon, raising awareness and funds to support her breast density research program. More here 👉 https://www.justgiving.com/page/medoc-marathon

Jean Hailes for Women's Health

04/09/2025

🏅💫What an achievement for the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Group, WINNING the Australian Infectious Diseases Research Centre Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research last night!

Congratulations to the entire team - we are proud to have group leader Professor Helen Siobhan Marshall AM, Dr Bing Wang, and Dr Mark McMillan as members of our Institute!

This prize is awarded for outstanding infectious diseases research that benefits, or has the potential to benefit, human health. The Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Group demonstrated that one vaccine can protect against both meningococcal B disease and gonorrhoea – two serious infections that disproportionately impact First Nations young people. Their research has changed global vaccine policy and informed national programs, and offers a new strategy to curb gonorrhoea as resistance to antibiotics grows.

Read more 👉 https://australian.museum/get-involved/eureka-prizes/2025-eureka-prize-winners/

02/09/2025

From the current 6+ years to under one year - IMAGENDO’s bold goal is to improve women’s health and make diagnosis of endometriosis faster, more broadly accessible, and importantly, remove the need for invasive surgery to get an accurate diagnosis.

The team is working on further refining Imagendo’s artificial intelligence algorithm and confirming its reliability to interpret and predict endometriosis from ultrasound and MRI across adolescents – a group who feels the impacts of endometriosis strongly during this important time in their development.

Learn more about the IMAGENDO project here: https://www.adelaide.edu.au/robinson-research-institute/news/list?keywords=imagendo&created%5Bmin%5D=&created%5Bmax%5D=
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If you would like to support this research, you can:
🌟 Find out about current activities 👉 https://imagendo.org.au/
🌟 Donate 👉 https://give.adelaide.edu.au/robinson-research-institute

Jean Hailes for Women's Health

28/08/2025

Applications for the Future in Focus work experience program close this Sunday, 31 August.

Do you know a Year 10 – 12 student in South Australia with a passion for science, health and/or medicine? Make sure they know of this 👇

We are proud to launch Future in Focus—a dynamic new initiative designed to inspire and support the next generation of researchers, clinicians, and health professionals. At the heart of this initiative is an exciting opportunity – a 3-day work experience program opening doors into the world of cutting-edge research in reproductive, maternal, and children’s health.

What to expect:

💡Get hands-on experience in real research laboratories

💡Explore topics like fertility, genetics, and reproductive health

💡Hear about real-world medical challenges

💡Meet leading scientists, doctors, and innovators

💡Discover future career pathways in STEM and health research

Applications close 31 August.

For more information and application details, visit: https://lnkd.in/gYTrGtPN

21/08/2025

Dr Nicole McPherson is talking s***m health, IVF, conception and timing with the hosts of How Motherhood Changed Me.

Nicole leads the Male Reproductive Life Course research group at Robinson Research Institute and is Director of Research at Genea.

🎧👉 https://open.spotify.com/episode/4WQmO4fARMIQVKWnNQwIAL

11/08/2025

Do you know a Year 10 – 12 student in South Australia with a passion for science, health and/or medicine? Make sure they know of this 👇

We are proud to launch Future in Focus—a dynamic new initiative designed to inspire and support the next generation of researchers, clinicians, and health professionals. At the heart of this initiative is an exciting opportunity – a 3-day work experience program opening doors into the world of cutting-edge research in reproductive, maternal, and children’s health.

What to expect:

💡Get hands-on experience in real research laboratories

💡Explore topics like fertility, genetics, and reproductive health

💡Hear about real-world medical challenges

💡Meet leading scientists, doctors, and innovators

💡Discover future career pathways in STEM and health research

Applications close 31 August.

For more information and application details, visit: https://lnkd.in/gYTrGtPN

05/08/2025

Among the many determinants of pregnancy challenges, one often goes unnoticed: the maternal microbiome—the trillions of bacteria, fungi, and viruses living in a woman’s reproductive tract.

Join us as our Director Professor David MacIntyre presents on the Maternal Microbiome at The University of Adelaide’s Research Tuesday.

📅 12 August, 5:30 - 6:30pm ACST
📍 The Braggs lecture theatre or online
🎟️ Free event, registration essential 👉
https://www.adelaide.edu.au/research/events/research-tuesdays

04/08/2025

It's been a fun, educational and informative three days showcasing our research at Science Alive! We were thrilled by the response and interest we received in our activities and loved seeing the curiosity and excitement, hearing the ‘aaahs’ and ‘ooohs’ and fuelling interest in our topics with parents, teachers, teens, and toddlers.

🦠Children learned about the microbiome in the female reproductive tract and how it impacts pregnancy – over 1,300 slime tubs, each a unique composition of the microbiome, were created and taken home for lasting fun.

🔬 The microscopes, showing s***m and ovaries, sparked countless conversations about human reproduction – each one tailored to age and prior knowledge.

⚆ We handed out more s***m stress balls than we can count – it was an incredible conversation starter with the adolescent audience.

❔ The Fertility & Pregnancy cartoons and Quiz were a hit with young and old, leading to approximately 1,000 questionnaires completed – some teenagers came back multiple times with refined knowledge and even more eagerness.

🎈Little hands were queuing to push the giant pump of our lung health model, learning about lung health, spirometry testing, and what narrow airways can feel like for children with cystic fibrosis or asthma.

01/08/2025

Who knew that reproductive and children’s health is so much fun?! We did - and now all the students who visited Science Alive today do too! What a fabulous day!

21/07/2025

The placenta could be the key to solving stillbirth. Why? Dr Anya Arthurs explains at our FREE event, co-hosted by Healthy Development Adelaide - HDA.

Register now: https://events.humanitix.com/tick-tock-in-the-womb-how-biological-ageing-before-birth-drives-life-long-health

14/07/2025

Meet Ellie Egg and Sammy S***m at our booth at Science Alive. We guarantee they will teach you a thing or two about the science behind making healthy babies – no matter your age.

08/07/2025

🩸 𝐌𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐛𝐥𝐨𝐨𝐝 - 𝐰𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐰𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐟 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧? 🩸

Drawing from the rich source of biological information in menstrual blood, a new citizen science project might soon help unlock the secrets of the reproductive tract microbiome and how it affects fertility, pregnancy and ultimately, the health of infants and mothers.

Read more 🔗 https://sponsored.chronicle.com/period-poverty/index.html