Late last year, trailblazing early-career researcher Dr Joshua Fisher was named the inaugural Newcastle Permanent Emerging Innovator at the 2024 Hunter Medical Research Institute's Research Excellence Awards for his work which aims to understand the mechanisms behind foetal growth restriction (FGR) and stillbirth.
Since then, the postdoctoral researcher at the University of Newcastle from HMRI’s Mothers and Babies Research Program has been hard at work in the lab making huge strides.
“Babies that are born small in Australia account for approximately 10 per cent of all pregnancies and when they are small the risk of stillbirth is increased fourfold,” said Dr Fisher.
At the heart of his work is the placenta — specifically, how mitochondrial dysfunction caused by mutations in the nuclear genome can impair placental development and metabolism, ultimately restricting foetal growth. Dr Fisher is at the forefront of translating these complex molecular insights into practical health applications, in a field still searching for definitive causes and treatments for FGR.
“What’s most exciting,” said Dr Fisher, “is that we now have a placenta growing in a dish in the lab.”
This cell model allows his team to test promising therapeutics in real time, measuring their impact on growth and metabolic function. It's a milestone that was only a concept less than a year ago and opens the door to potential treatments and diagnostic tools like screenings that could dramatically improve outcomes for families affected by FGR and stillbirth.
“Without the Newcastle Permanent’s backing, the cell model and the drug treatments wouldn't have got to where they are."
"The predictive analysis would have stayed a concept driven process waiting for national federal funding, which, as an early-career researcher, you don't have a great chance of obtaining.”
“The award gave me the opportunity to progress this research,” said Dr Fisher, “and it's exciting work that has not been done before.”
