Research output per year
Research output per year
Prof
Melissa is Professor of Endocrinology (2015) and Associate Vice-President for Research (2018). She is also Academic Director of the University’s MRC-funded Doctoral Training Partnership. Previously, she was Associate Dean for Postgraduate Research in the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health (2015-18) and Lead of the Centre for Women's Health in the Faculty's Institute of Human Development (2011-2015).
Melissa graduated from the University of Manchester with a first class honours degree in Anatomical Sciences in 1991 and began her PhD studies, also at the University of Manchester, on the role of the insulin-like growth factor (IGF) axis in diabetes. However, an unexpected finding led her into pregnancy research and she was awarded a prestigious Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (1997) to pursue her PhD findings, which resulted in a number of key studies relating to IGF function in normal and compromised pregnancies. ‘Finding solutions to pregnancy problems’ became the focus of her research; her current interests, funded through Research Council and UK charities, include the influence of maternal hormonal and nutritional signals on implantation and placental development/function, aiming to develop new strategies for clinical intervention.
Melissa is an elected member of the Council of the Society for Endocrinology and a member of the International Federation of the Placenta Association's Executive Committee. She serves on the Editorial Board for Placenta and the Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease.
The Manchester Maternal and Fetal Health Research Centre, part of the Centre for Women's Health, aims to perform basic scientific and clinical studies of normal and complicated pregnancies in order to improve pregnancy outcome though the translation of research findings into clinical practice.
Adequate placental development and function are essential for a healthy and successful pregnancy as the placenta provides a physical interface that permits the efficient exchange of nutrients and waste products between the mother and the developing baby. Consequently our Centre's portfolio of projects on the development and function of the placenta span from the point of pregnancy inception through to late gestation with an emphasis on establishing and refining laboratory models that replicate normal placental behaviour.
Pre-eclampsia, fetal growth restriction (FGR) and maternal diabetes, which leads to fetal overgrowth, are the most commonly encountered pregnancy complications. All three conditions are associated with significant neonatal mortality and morbidity and currently, there are no effective interventions. Furthermore, abnormal fetal growth is also linked to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease and diabetes in later life, suggesting that individuals can be ‘programmed’ during fetal life, resulting in life-threatening disease in adulthood. The exact cause of both pre-eclampsia and FGR is unknown, although abnormal development and / or function of the placenta have been implicated in both conditions. Abnormal placental growth and function also contribute to the fetal overgrowth that occurs in pregnancies complicated by maternal diabetes
My research group studies the initial embryo-maternal dialogue at implantation and how the placenta normally develops and functions. In particular, we are trying to understand how these events are regulated at the molecular (e.g. by miRNAs), and cellular (e.g. growth factors and nutrients) level in order to identify novel strategies for clinical intervention. We are currently testing potential therapies, identified through our previous research, in models of pregnancy disease.
I have successfully supervised 14 PhD and MPhil students and am currently supervising 2 further students.
I, and other members of the Research Centre, would be pleased to hear from students wishing to study for a higher research degree in the area of pregnancy. For further information on studentships currently available within our Centre, please see Posgraduate Opportunities.
Through lecture events, tutorials, PBL and project / dissertation supervision, I contribute to many aspects of the BSc and MBChB programmes within the Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health.
Society for Endocrinology
American Endocrine Society
European Placenta Group
International Federation of the Placenta Associaltions
Fellow Society of Biology
1991 BSc (Hons) Anatomical Sciences (1st class), University of Manchester
1995 PhD Medicine, University of Manchester
2006 PGCE Teaching & Learning in Higher Education, University of Manchester
In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):
External Examiner, Reproductive and Developmental Sciences BSc, Imperial College London
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Stevens, A., Heazell, A., Tower, C., Brison, D., Johnstone, E., Cottrell, E., Mann, E., Ingram, E., Crocker, I., Chernyavsky, I., Myers, J., Aplin, J., Higgins, L., Harris, L., Dilworth, M., Westwood, M., Whitworth, M., Desforges, M., Brownbill, P., Ruane, P., Sturmey, R., Worton, S., Greenwood, S. & Sibley, C.
1/09/18 → 31/12/22
Project: Research