
Miss Emmalee Ford
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy (Medical Biochemistry)
Career Summary
Biography
Education is a road to empowerment
Emmalee is passionate about scientific literacy and education about reproductive health. Having began her university journey as a secondary science education student, Emmalee was determined to inspire the next generation of scientists. Realising the research potential at the University of Newcastle, Emmalee decided to pursue her goal in a new environment, by working with other scientists and the public to increase awareness about fertility and reproductive health.
“Even when I was specialising in reproduction, there was so much I still didn’t know about how my body worked.”
Though trained as a traditional molecular biologist, Emmalee began to incorporate public health research into her PhD. During this time Emmalee investigated how much the general public understood fertility, and investigated new ways to bridge the gap in fertility knowledge.
The cause is key to the cure
Emmalee also specialises in researching a process that occurs in the ovaries known as primordial follicle activation. Primordial follicle activation is the mechanism by which eggs are selected for growth and eventual ovulation. When this process is altered, it can lead to the early loss of eggs in a condition known as premature ovarian insufficiency. One in 100 women are diagnosed with premature ovarian insufficiency, which is characterised by early menopause before the age of 40.
The process of primordial follicle activation remains poorly understood despite decades of research, and Emmalee investigates the role of supporting cells in the ovary to determine how the ovary selects which eggs to grow. This type of research is used to find better ways to diagnose premature ovarian insufficiency, and to find treatments for those at risk of losing their fertility, like patients undergoing chemotherapy.
Modern solutions applied to modern problems
Emmalee’s current research is focused on addressing fertility knowledge in young people. Throughout her PhD, Emmalee studied reproductive health apps which include apps that track menstrual cycles, or provide fertility ratings to avoid or plan pregnancies. She believes that apps have an important role to play in understanding fertility, but there is much work to be done.
“Apps provide a comfort to hundreds of thousands of people who want to learn more about their bodies. Except the market isn’t regulated, and apps are selling a service that isn’t one-fits-all. Lots of content can be misleading or outright false. Even the apps with better quality information hide this behind a paywall, which really limits the good they can do for us.”
Emmalee continues to champion reproductive health knowledge by using her voice in the community to reduce the taboo of discussing sexual health. She appears in local media, and at community events to foster interest in fertility awareness and to continue to be a visible young women in STEMM to inspire the next generation of scientists.
A new project sees Emmalee along with Doctor Jessie Sutherland and a multi-disciplinary team of academics and industry leaders to research fertility knowledge in high schools. By educating young people at this key period in their lives, they can be empowered to understand their bodies and make informed decisions with their lifestyle and future family planning.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Science (Honours), University of Newcastle
Keywords
- fertility knowledge
- infertility
- mhealth
- ovary development
- primordial follicle activation
Professional Experience
UON Appointment
Title | Organisation / Department |
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Postdoctoral Research Fellow | University of Newcastle School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy Australia |
Professional appointment
Dates | Title | Organisation / Department |
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2/3/2020 - 18/12/2020 | Research Assistant | University of Newcastle - Faculty of Health and Medicine School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy |
Awards
Award
Year | Award |
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2020 |
Most Valuable Postgraduate (MVP) University of Newcastle Student Association | UNSA |
2018 |
Australia Day Award from the NSW Council for Women & Soroptimists Nation Council For Women NSW |
2018 |
Best Oral Presentation | People's choice UON Biology HDR Society |
Nomination
Year | Award |
---|---|
2019 |
Oozoa Award Finalist Australian Society for Reproductive Biology |
Publications
For publications that are currently unpublished or in-press, details are shown in italics.
Journal article (4 outputs)
Year | Citation | Altmetrics | Link | ||||||||
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2020 |
Frost ER, Ford EA, Peters AE, Reed NL, McLaughlin EA, Baker MA, et al., 'Signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) 1 and STAT3 are expressed in the human ovary and have Janus kinase 1-independent functions in the COV434 human granulosa cell line', Reproduction, Fertility and Development, 32 1027-1039 (2020) [C1]
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2020 |
Ford E, Beckett EL, Roman S, McLaughlin EA, Sutherland J, 'Advances in human primordial follicle activation and premature ovarian insufficiency.', Reproduction, 159 R15-R29 (2020) [C1]
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2020 |
Ford EA, Roman SD, McLaughlin EA, Beckett EL, Sutherland JM, 'The association between reproductive health smartphone applications and fertility knowledge of Australian women', BMC Women's Health, 20 (2020) [C1]
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2018 |
Sutherland JM, Frost ER, Ford EA, Peters AE, Reed NL, Seldon AN, et al., 'Janus Kinase JAK1 maintains the ovarian reserve of primordial follicles in the mouse ovary.', Molecular Human Reproduction, 24 533-542 (2018) [C1]
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Show 1 more journal article |
Grants and Funding
Summary
Number of grants | 1 |
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Total funding | $10,000 |
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
20211 grants / $10,000
Cooper Surgical Support for: Fertility Education in High School Project$10,000
Funding body: Origio Australasia Pty Ltd
Funding body | Origio Australasia Pty Ltd |
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Project Team | Doctor Jessie Sutherland, Miss Emmalee Ford |
Scheme | Research Grant |
Role | Investigator |
Funding Start | 2021 |
Funding Finish | 2021 |
GNo | G2001205 |
Type Of Funding | C3111 - Aust For profit |
Category | 3111 |
UON | Y |
News
Australia Day award honours outstanding women in research
January 25, 2018
Miss Emmalee Ford
Position
Postdoctoral Research Fellow
Priority Research Centre for Reproductive Science
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy
College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing
Focus area
Medical Biochemistry
Contact Details
emmalee.ford@newcastle.edu.au | |
Link |
Office
Room | LS3.45 |
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Building | Life Sciences Building |
Location | Callaghan University Drive Callaghan, NSW 2308 Australia |