David MacIntyre

Host, microbial and environmental drivers of vaginal microbiota composition The human vagina harbours a microbial community that differs markedly in compositional structure from all mammals, including closely related primates.…

www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Very much enjoyed putting this review together with Remy Young and Gonçalo Correia. In it we look at host and microbial determinants that influence microbial community structure within the vaginal niche.

We are thrilled to celebrate the incredible achievements of our members whose projects have received over $5.5 mil in funding in the latest round of NHMRC Ideas Grants. Congratulations to Dr Ashley Meakin, A/Prof Martin Donnelley and Dr Clare van Eyk. More 👉 adelaideuni.edu.au/about/news/2...

🚨 Job alert 🚨
Do sperm actively influence female reproductive success? @drdavidsharkey.bsky.social is looking for a Research Officer to join the team and contribute to this investigation. Job details 👉 careers.adelaide.edu.au/cw/en/job/51...

We love giving at RRI - from gifting healthy futures to gifting Reverse Advent Calendar boxes, providing food and essentials to local families in need this year.

Team RRI got behind it with many members collecting boxes to fill, and the communal boxes in the office are taking shape too!

We proudly hosted the annual Lloyd Cox Memorial Lecture 'From Aspiration to Access: Building equitable, high-quality women’s sexual and reproductive health care in Australian primary care settings' delivered by Prof Danielle Mazza AM. Read more 👉 shorturl.at/C1ytc

Aiming to bridge skills gap in endometriosis ultrasound

👋Meet AIMEE - the AI Mentor for Endometriosis Ultrasound Education. The development of AIMEE is supported by funding from RRI, aiming to close the shortage of sonographers with the specialised skillset required to perform complex scans for endometriois. Read more:

Half the funding. Half the future. The Medical Research Future Fund was meant to deliver $1B each year – only $650M is reaching researchers. Join the call to release the full funds now to ensure the viability of medical research in Australia. More
👉 www.aamri.org.au/mrff

What an achievement for the Vaccines and Infectious Diseases Group, WINNING the Eureka Prize for Infectious Diseases Research! Congratulations to the team - we are proud to have Prof Helen Marshall AM, Dr Bing Wang, and Dr Mark McMillan as members of our Institute! More tinyurl.com/5xytkjv7

There are many pieces to the puzzle when it comes to IVF success. Learn how researchers at the Robinson Research Institute are addressing challenges in the field, incl improving IVF success rates and minimising the mental and financial burden for families. 👉https://shorturl.at/b8s7R
#IVFsuccess

Are the diet versions of your favourite soft drink a healthier option during pregnancy? These drinks often contain artificial sweeteners which are linked to an increased risk of gestational diabetes and potentially other undesired pregnancy outcomes. 👉 www.adelaide.edu.au/robinson-res...

Last week, our Director Professor David MacIntyre presented on ‘The maternal microbiome’ at the University of Adelaide’s Research Tuesday. If you missed the talk but are interested in the topic, you can watch the recording here 👉 youtu.be/5JjslmURpg4?...

Congratulations to Danielle Bailey, PhD student, who was awarded the Robinson Research Institute award at the University of Adelaide’s Florey Postgraduate Research Conference.

The award for 'best poster' is given to a student in reproductive, pregnancy, child or adolescent health research.

Congratulations to A/Prof Kylie Dunning who has been accepted into the highly competitive AAHMS Mentorship Program. Mentees in this program are recognised for their high potential as emerging leaders in health and medical research.

Read more: aahms.org/news/17-emer...

Professor Michael Stark

Professor Jozef Gecz

Professor Paul Thomas

⭐ We are proud to celebrate our members who were successful in the Women's & Children's Hospital Foundation's 2025 Bloom Research Program Grant. Congratulations go to Professors Michael Stark, Jozef Gecz and Paul Thomas. More 👉 wchfoundation.org.au/2025-bloom-r...

Thank you to everyone who attended 'Tick Tock in the Womb: How biological ageing before birth drives life-long health'! This event was co-hosted by RRI and Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA).
Missed the event but interested in the topic? Watch the recording here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=igL4...

The placenta could be the key to solving stillbirth. Why? @dranyaarthurs.bsky.social explains at our free event, co-hosted by Healthy Development Adelaide (HDA).

Register now 👉 events.humanitix.com/tick-tock-in...

We’re thrilled for IMAGENDO® to be a finalist in the SA Science Excellence and Innovations Awards!

IMAGENDO® is revolutionising endometriosis care by using artificial intelligence to combine the diagnostic power of transvaginal ultrasound and MRI. More 👉 www.scienceawards.sa.gov.au/excellence-i...

An invitation to all to join us for this fantastic event showcasing exciting new research from @robsinstitute.bsky.social

Identification and characterisation of vaginal bacteria-glycan interactions implicated in reproductive tract health and pregnancy outcomes - Nature Communications A study by Tajadura-Ortega et al. uses glycan microarrays to reveal how vaginal microbiota interacts with host glycans, offering insights into how glycan interactions influence bacterial colonization ...

Excellent #glycotime study Nat Comm maps vaginal bacteria interactions with epithelial surface glycans

Lactobacillus crispatus, associated with healthy pregnancy, binds key glycans more effectively than pathogens like GBS

Microbiome-or glycan-based therapies to prevent infection and preterm birth?

Identification and characterisation of vaginal bacteria-glycan interactions implicated in reproductive tract health and pregnancy outcomes - Nature Communications A study by Tajadura-Ortega et al. uses glycan microarrays to reveal how vaginal microbiota interacts with host glycans, offering insights into how glycan interactions influence bacterial colonization ...

Our new study describing use of customised #glycan #microarrays to identify glycan interaction profiles of #vaginal #bacteria implicated in various aspects of #reproductive health. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Lactobacillus crispatus S-layer proteins modulate innate immune response and inflammation in the lower female reproductive tract - Nature Communications Here, the authors show that vaginal lactobacilli associated with optimal health interact selectively with a restricted subset of anti-inflammatory receptors through their Surface Layer Proteins, both ...

London study finds L. crispatus in the vaginal microbiome reduces inflammation by blocking harmful signals and activating anti-inflammatory pathways.

May protect against infections and preterm birth.

www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Another important and impactful paper from @robsinstitute.bsky.social researchers. Congrats to Dr David Bersten and co-authors! #livecellreporting #cellscreening #signalling

Great overview of Antonia's recent publication on uterine ILC3s. Great to see this out!

We are very proud and excited to launch the 2025-2030 RRI Strategic Plan. We look forward to working with key partners and stakeholders to drive innovation and translation in reproductive, maternal and child health.

We celebrate with Professor Jozef Gecz who was recently awarded the 2025 Julian Wells medal at the Lorne Genome Conference. The award is presented annually to a scientist who has made an outstanding contribution to the understanding of genome expressions as well as to the this field of research.

Congratulations to Prof Helen Marshall AM on being awarded the NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Grant Award - Public Health (Leadership) for her research ‘Novel strategies for global control of meningococcal disease and gonorrhoea’.
Read more 👉 www.nhmrc.gov.au/about-us/nhm...

New research shows that the earliest days of embryo development have a measurable impact on a person’s future health and ageing, including susceptibility versus resilience to ageing-associated diseases in later life. For more detail 👉 shorturl.at/B3LEu

There has been a WIN for endometriosis patients, with the drug Relugolix / Ryeqo® recently added to the PBS. Professor Louise Hull and Rachel Hosking have spoken on ABC Afternoons, explaining how Ryeqo® works on what it can do for patients.

Listen in from 1:05:00h shorturl.at/194wp

IMAGENDO goes global! An AEA Ignite Grant of $500K allows the team to collect data from diverse international populations through clinics in the US, UK, and Canada with the aim to advance the current prototype to a regulatory ready diagnostic tool to diagnose endometriosis non-invasively.

Pure passion for the topic, fuelled by the experience of knowing what living with endometriosis feels like. Meet our endo research team – first up: Rachel Hosking, PhD candidate at IMAGENDO. #EndometriosisAwarenessMonth