• Research
  • Discovery
  • Development
WIRF is one of Australia's leading organisations that is dedicated to improving the health of women and infants.

Our Laboratories

  • The Women and Infants Research Foundation School of Women’s and Infants’ Health (WIRFSWIH) Lotterywest Perinatal Research Laboratories are housed within the University of Western Australia’s Large Animal Facility (LAF) on the Crawley Campus. For over a decade they have played a critical role in supporting pre-clinical sheep research and surgical training undertaken by SWIH and the Foundation. Supporting this important aspect of the Foundation’s work remains the primary focus of these laboratories. Recent upgrades to these laboratories have also yielded an improved capacity to comprehensively support basic science and clinical studies, in addition to the core sheep-based research.

    Each equipped with cutting-edge equipment, the laboratories are comprised of three complementary facilities, allowing a seamless workflow from experiment to analysis: the PC2 Laboratory supports microbiology and general laboratory analyses; the Pre-PCR Laboratory allows for protein analysis, cell culture and nucleic acid handling; and finally, the Core Laboratory allows for nucleic acid amplification, electrophoresis and ultra-low temperature storage. An especially important feature of this facility is that it allows investigators to directly transfer research samples from operating theatres and animal holding rooms into customdesigned research laboratories for rapid downstream analysis.
     
  • Perth
    • Assoc Prof Matt Kemp
    • Ms Lucy Furfaro
    • Dr Demelza Ireland Ph.D.
    • Ms Lisa Stinson
    • Dr Matt Payne Ph.D.
    • Dr Judith Böhm M.D.
    • Dr Eleanor Woodward Ph.D.
    • Professor John Newnham FRANZCOG
    • Dr Haruro Usuda M.D.

    Sendai, Japan
    • A/Prof Masatoshi Saito Ph.D.
    • A/Prof Tadashi Matsuda M.D.
    • Dr Ryuta Kitanishi M.D.
    • Dr Shinichi Sato M.D.
    • Dr Shimpei Wanatabe M.D.
    • Dr Takushi Hanita M.D.
    • Dr Yuichiro Miura Ph.D.

    Cincinnati, Ohio
    • Dr Noah Hillman M.D.
    • Professor Alan Jobe Ph.D.
    • Professor Suhas Kallapur Ph.D.
    • Dr Augusto Schmidt Ph.D.
    • Dr Brett Koethe M.D.

    Maastricht, Netherlands
    • Professor Boris Kramer Ph.D.
    • Dr Tim Wolfs Ph.D.

    Edinburgh, Scotland
    • Dr Sarah Stock Ph.D.
    • Dr Sarah Rinaldi Ph.D.

    Cardiff, Wales
    • Dr Brad Spiller Ph.D.
    • Dr Mike Beeton Ph.D.
  • The Women and Infants Health Research Laboratories are located on the second floor of King Edward Memorial Hospital in the School of Women’s and Infants’ Health (University of Western Australia). They support both clinical and basic research undertaken through the Foundation, the Hospital and the University, and also provide additional analytical facilities for research conducted in the Perinatal Research Laboratories on the UWA campus in Crawley.
    • Immunoblotting analysis of placental tissues and maternal serum to identify markers of risk of preterm birth
    • Establishment of a Transwell model to explore Ureaplasma colonisation, penetration and inflammation in human fetal membranes
    • Analysis of serum concentrations of chemokines and adipokines in participants of a clinical trial of exercise in pregnancy for prevention of gestational diabetes
    • Publication of 20 papers and reviews arising from research associated with the laboratories
    • Jeffrey Keelan, PhD
    • Head of Laboratories
    • Associate Professor Craig Pennell Ph.D., FRANZCOG
    • Dr Demelza Ireland Ph.D.
    • Dr Shaufu Li Ph.D.
    • Dr Kamali Pugazhenthi Ph.D.
    • Dr Matt Payne Ph.D.
    • Dr Matt Kemp Ph.D.
    • Dr Rhiannon Halse Ph.D.
    • Dr Jian Xiao Ph.D. (GuangXi University, CHINA)
    • Mrs Blagica Penova-Veselinovic M.Sc.
    • Mrs Narisha Pendelton B.Nurs.
    • Ms Melanie Walls B.Sc (Hons).
    • Mrs Melanie White B.Sc (Hons).
    • Ms Joan Leong B.Sc (Hons).
    • Ms Lisa Stinson M.Sc.
    • Ms Pearl Ng B.Sc (Hons)
    • Ms Alana De Luca B.Sc.
    • Ms Georgia Paverly B.Sc

Sign up to our newsletter

Get the latest announcements, news and updates.

Contact details

Women and Infants Research Foundation
Carson House, King Edward Memorial Hospital
374 Bagot Road, Subiaco, WA 6008

Telephone: 08 6458 1437
Fax: 08 6458 1642
Email: info@wirf.com.au

Social Media