Tick Tock in the Womb: How Biological Ageing Before Birth Drives Life-Long Health

Please join us for the Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA) and Robinson Research Institute forum.

What if your health in later life was already shaped before you were even born?

We often think of ageing as something that happens later in life—but scientists are uncovering something much more surprising. It turns out that the processes of biological ageing—how quickly our cells and tissues wear out—begin in the womb, and they play a powerful role in shaping our health across the lifespan.

Join us for an eye-opening evening of science, stories, and solutions as two of the Robinson Research Institute’s emerging leaders share their discoveries on how ageing starts before birth, and what this means for pregnancy outcomes, childhood development, and our risk of disease later in life.

You’ll hear how environmental and lifestyle factors around conception can "set the clock" for the embryo, how a unique and short-lived organ—the placenta—can age too fast or too slow, and how this can affect whether a baby is born too early, too small, or at higher risk of illness.

Discover:

·       Why not all ageing is the same—and why that matters

·       How pregnancy can shape the long-term health of the next generation

·       What researchers are doing now to optimise health outcomes before life even begins

This free event is open to everyone - scientists, students, policy makers, health professionals, and curious community members. Come along and find out what it really means to be born old—and why we may not be doomed after all.

OUR SPEAKERS

Dr Yasmyn Winstanley, Postdoctoral Researcher, Ovarian Cell Biology and Embryology group, Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide

Maternal health at conception shapes child biological age

How early-life exposures influence the embryo’s biological ageing clocks, and what we can do to prevent or even reverse damage.

Long before a person knows they’re pregnant, important cellular processes are occurring in the early embryo that impact a person’s lifetime risk of chronic aging-related diseases. A mother’s health and environmental factors at conception can negatively affect these processes, however we are discovering that they can be restored with early intervention.

Yasmyn’s research primarily focusses on how parental age, obesity, and toxicant exposure alters the first five days of embryo development. Overall, her work seeks to understand how environmental signals are transmitted to the next generation through the preimplantation embryo, and the implications for lifetime health.

Dr Anya Arthurs, Future Making Fellow, Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide

Beat the Clock: detecting placental ageing to signal stillbirth risk.

The placenta’s unique role in regulating ageing before birth, and what happens when its internal clock ticks off-beat.

Certain molecules linked to ageing build up in the placenta and appear earlier in some pregnancy complications. These molecules may damage DNA and reduce placental function. Our findings suggest a potential new way to identify high-risk pregnancies early using a simple blood test.

Anya is a molecular biologist where she leads research focused on placental genomics and reproductive health. Her research explores how molecular ageing processes contribute to pregnancy complications, including stillbirth, with a special interest in circular RNAs. She has received national funding, multiple awards, and holds a provisional patent for a novel stillbirth screening test. With a strong publication record and commitment to science communication and teaching, Anya is passionate about advancing maternal-fetal health through innovative research and collaboration. Ultimately, she hopes to make pregnancy safer for mothers and their babies.

OUR CHAIR

Professor David MacIntyre, Director, Robinson Research Institute, University of Adelaide

David MacIntyre is a Professor of Reproductive Systems Medicine. He received his PhD in Reproductive Medicine, University of Newcastle, Australia (2007), before undertaking post-doctoral training in metabolic profiling at the Centro de Investigacion Principe Felipe in Valencia, Spain where he was awarded the Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship. At Imperial College London, he received the prestigious UK Medical Research Council Career Development Award (2013), where he established an internationally recognised research program focused on understanding how the microbiome influences reproductive health outcomes. He also maintains a role at Imperial College London, where he is developing diagnostic and predictive tools that can be translated to clinical settings to improve maternal and neonatal health.

Other event information:

Networking and light refreshments will follow the session from 6.30pm.