Prof. Stacey Ellery, PhD

Dr Ellery is an NHMRC Peter Doherty Early Career Research Fellow, with a primary interest in uteroplacental and fetal energy homeostasis during pregnancy. The focus of her PhD studies was an investigation of the adverse outcomes of intrapartum asphyxia on renal function, together with an evaluation of prenatal [maternal] administration of creatine to protect the fetal/neonatal kidney. During these studies, Dr Ellery identified maternal adaptations to creatine homeostasis during pregnancy, suggesting this is an essential pathway for buffering the fluctuating energy demands of the developing placenta and fetus.

Dr Ellery has developed a research program that includes retrospective and prospective clinical studies as well as the use of numerous animal models (spiny mouse, sheep, rhesus macaque). This program comprises international teams of clinicians (neonatologists, pediatric radiologists and developmental therapists) and laboratory-based (biomedical scientists, neuroscientists and analytical chemists) across Australia, New Zealand and the United States.