Lindsay Chura
Lindsay Chura |
U.S. Fulbright Postgraduate Award
Media Profile
“For a wide variety of reasons female infertility rates are rapidly increasing. Australia is one of the most affected countries with 3 per cent of pregnancies requiring Assisted Reproductive Technologies. In addition, Australia has particularly high rates of obesity. These statistics highlight the importance of identifying correlations and possible causation between the two health conditions.”
Lindsay Chura is one of fourteen Americans to be granted a Fulbright Postgraduate Award in 2006. She will conduct research investigating the role of diet, specifically obesity, in relation to female infertility at the University of Adelaide Medical School and the Repromed Clinic.
Lindsay graduated with distinction from Mount Holyoke College, America’s oldest continuing institution of higher learning for women, with a dual major in the biological sciences and psychology. During her undergraduate years Lindsay presented her research at the World Congress on In Vitro Biology and the Society for the Study of Reproduction Annual Meeting, received two Emory/Howard Hughes Medical Institute Science grants and the Bausch and Lomb Medal for Excellence in Science. In Australia Lindsay will be based in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Adelaide working with Dr Robert Norman, an internationally recognised expert in female infertility and Polycystic Ovary Syndrome.
Dr Norman runs a unique lab that brings together top researchers in the fields of reproductive and dietary health. His current research indicates that diet and lifestyle have a clear effect on a woman’s ability to ovulate and conceive. Lindsay will work with Dr Norman investigating whether specific dietary elements affect the quality of oocyte (germ cells involved in reproduction) by altering the cumulus cells which surround the oocyte and control its microenvironment and developmental potential.
“I look forward to applying my background training in both biology and psychology to this type of translational bench to bedside science” Lindsay commented. “Research of this scope can only be done in Australia where the current practice is to only implant single embryos in IVF patients. This practice helps to ensure that women only have a single healthy baby, and allows the accurate correlation of oocyte and blastocyst quality neonatal outcomes.”
The correlation of defects in the signalling pathways of blastocyst quality and the neonatal outcomes at the time of birth is an important research area. It is Lindsay’s aim to better understand how these mechanisms influence female reproductive health so that women can make informed lifestyle choices that enable the healthiest start for future generations.