Amy Winship

Dr Winship obtained her PhD in 2016 at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and Monash University, which focused on the role of cytokines in the female reproductive tract and reproductive cancer. She found that the cytokine, IL-11 was upregulated in maternal serum during the first trimester of pregnancy in women that subsequently developed the severe pregnancy complication, preeclampsia and based on this, developed an animal model of preeclampsia characterised by IL-11 overexpression during placental formation in mice (PNAS 2015; 112(52):15928-33). She also established that IL-11 drives uterine cancer growth, but that an IL-11 receptor blocking antibody could prevent tumour growth and metastasis in preclinical xenograft models (Molecular Cancer Therapeutics 2016; 15(4):720-30; Oncotarget 2017; 4;8(14):22716-22729), whilst preserving fertility in female mice (Reproductive Biomedicine Online 2018;36:250-258). In 2016 she received a Cancer Council Victoria Postdoctoral Fellowship to continue research on this novel, fertility-preserving therapeutic strategy for treating uterine cancer and was awarded a commendation at the Victorian Premier’s Awards for Health and Medical Research. Dr Winship was awarded a NHMRC ECF (2017-2020) to begin research with Dr Hutt in the Ovarian Biology Laboratory at the Monash Biomedicine Discovery Institute to examine the importance of DNA damage repair for oocyte quality, female fertility and offspring health (Reviewed: Human Reproduction Update. 2018; 24(2):119-134). This research is highly relevant to population health in Australia in context of fertility of female cancer survivors and maternal ageing.