Professor Claire Roberts

Professor Claire Roberts is an inaugural NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Professor and Matthew Flinders Fellow. She leads the Pregnancy Health and Beyond Laboratory (PHaB Lab). She moved her research group to Flinders University in March 2020 after 25 years at University of Adelaide where she is an Adjunct Professor. She was Deputy Director of the Robinson Research Institute at University of Adelaide, its Pregnancy and Birth Theme Leader and lead the Cohort and Intergenerational Studies Facility. She was also formerly a NHMRC Senior Research Fellow and Lloyd Cox Professorial Fellow at University of Adelaide. She is an internationally recognized authority and thought leader in placenta research. She has >200 refereed publications and has won more than $25million in grant funding.

Qualifications:

BA Philosophy and Politics Flinders University

BSc (Hons) University of Adelaide

PhD University of Adelaide

Fellow of the Society for Reproductive Biology

Leadership Positions:

President of the International Federation of Placenta Associations

Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Placenta Research Association

Co-Convenor Healthy Development Adelaide

Channel 7 Children’s Research Foundation Board Member

Scientific Director Adelaide Screening for Pregnancy Endpoints (SCOPE) Study

Director Screening Tests to predict poor Outcomes of Pregnancy (STOP) Study

Claire has developed patented algorithms for use as screening tools to predict which women are at risk of developing a major pregnancy complication including preeclampsia, gestational diabetes mellitus, small for gestational age and spontaneous preterm birth. These were developed in SCOPE and validated in STOP.

PI on a NIH NICHD Human Placenta Project funded study to profile placenta and maternal blood across gestation using next generation sequencing technologies. 

Modifiable risk factors, including maternal diet and micronutrient status, metabolic health and other lifestyle factors, for poor health in pregnancy funded by NHMRC Project Grant. 

Follow up of women and children from pregnancy cohorts (SCOPE age 10 and STOP age 3) for their cardiovascular and metabolic health and for child neurodevelopment.

Genetic factors including fetal sex that contribute to placental function and pregnancy outcomes at the population, cohort and placental transcriptome levels funded by NHMRC Investigator Grant.