By Laura Michell
A Northern Health fetal medicine specialist is set to take a closer look at the role of genomic technologies in improving health outcomes for babies, after receiving a research grant from the Medical Research Future Fund.
Associate Professor Lisa Hui was recently awarded an investigator grant from the MRFF as part of its clinician researchers initiative, which aims to help the next generation of researchers to make medical discoveries.
Her research will focus on a few areas, including looking at the childhood outcomes for children diagnosed in pregnancy with a genomic change of uncertain significance.
Associate Professor Hui said she believed genomics was one of the most exciting fields in medicine and has created new powerful tools that tell us how the body works.
Genomic technology allows researchers to conduct non-invasive prenatal testing that allows the DNA of a fetus to be examined without increasing the risk of miscarriage.
“My research program is about how we harness the power of genomic technologies to improve outcomes for mothers and babies,” Associate Professor Hui said.
“About five per cent of the time, when we sample cells to check the baby’s chromosomes, we find these genomic changes of ‘uncertain’ or ‘unknown’ significance. We don’t have enough information to know if they have implications for future health or not. This means we can’t give a couple accurate information about the expected health and development of their future child.”
Associate Professor Hui, who has clinical appointments at the Northern Hospital and the Mercy Hospital for Women, and is Associate Professor of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology at the University of Melbourne, said doing research in the northern community was extremely important.
“Over 25 per cent of our research participants come from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds … this is very reassuring, because it tells us that our women are very keen to support research and that we are trusted,” she said.
Northern Health chief medical officer John Ferguson said the health service was proud of Associate Professor Hui’s work in perinatal genomics.
“The sheer diversity of our catchment population means we have a wide variety of genetic variability based on ethnicity and this recognises that specific genetic conditions are more prevalent in certain nationalities,” Dr Ferguson said.
“Lisa is an inspiration to both current and future generations of clinical researchers.”
