Dr Karla Hutt obtained her PhD from the Australian National University in 2006, where her studies focussed on the establishment and maintenance of the primordial follicle pool during ovarian development. She then undertook her postdoctoral studies at the University of Kansas Medical Center (USA), where she investigated the impact of environmental toxicants on oocyte and embryo quality. In 2008 she returned to Australia and to join Professor Jock Findlay's laboratory at Prince Henrys Institute (now the Hudson Institute of Medical Research). In 2015 she relocated to Monash University and leads the Ovarian Biology Laboratory. Her group investigates the role of DNA repair and apoptosis in determining oocyte number and quality, with the aim of i) improving women’s health and fertility during maternal aging and ii) developing new therapeutic strategies to protect female fertility during anti-cancer therapy.