Prof. Mary Wlodek
Professor Mary Wlodek, PhD
Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences,
The University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia.
Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, The University of Melbourne.
Mary Wlodek is a Professor in the Department of Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, The University of Melbourne. She graduated with a BSc(Hons), and MSc from the University of Western Ontario, London, Canada and subsequently was awarded her PhD in Physiology from Monash University in Australia. Mary is a global leader in developmental origins physiological research and Head of the Fetal, Postnatal & Adult Physiology & Disease Laboratory. She is renowned for her successful experimental model that mimics human growth profiles, organ deficits and phenotypes observed in babies born small who are susceptible to adult diseases. Her laboratory is recognised as one of the few in the world performing complex whole animal physiological studies exploring the adult, pregnancy and transgenerational consequences of being born small. Critical to translational outcomes, Prof. Wlodek experimentally incorporates of various innovative treatments and interventions including nutritional (cross-fostering, diet), exercise, pregnancy (gestational diabetes, obesity, stress and alcohol) and transgenerational impacts. Her studies have substantially advanced the understanding of the consequences of pregnancy complications, early postnatal growth and lactation, and adolescent life on health and disease risk. Her research has transitioned to human cohorts in Australia and Singapore, where she is exploring breastfeeding and breastmilk composition and production after pregnancy complications and implications for child growth and disease risk. Prof. Wlodek has appointments as Visiting Scientist, Singapore Institute of Clinical Sciences (SICS), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A-STAR), Singapore and as Adjunct Professor, University of Western Australia, Mary has recently secured US Allen Foundation funding to support these research efforts. Research efforts have led to an ongoing and accelerating series of highly cited publications in top journals in the field, including Nature, supported by international and national research funding.
Abstract: Impact of pregnancy complications on lactation and infant outcomes: Milk origins
Infants born from complicated pregnancies (GDM, hypertension, anxiety/depression, altered fetal growth) often show altered growth during infancy and are at increased risk of non-communicable diseases (NCD) including diabetes, cardiovascular and renal disease and obesity. As the placenta (pregnancy) and breast (pregnancy and lactation) are mediators of nutrient and non-nutritive bioactive factors to the fetus and infant, respectively, they have been implicated in pathways programming growth and NCD risk in infants of complicated pregnancies. These concepts are the foundation of the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD) field. Breast milk is well-recognised as the ‘first food’ and best nutrition for the baby in the first 6 months of life. Emerging evidence from our pre-clinical models and limited human studies suggest that breast milk health and/or quantity and breastfeeding duration may be altered in women with pregnancy complications, especially when she is also overweight/obese. These may contribute to adverse outcomes in their infants, but the extent and impact of these changes are not understood. We have a unique opportunity to address these knowledge gaps, by leveraging existing breast milk collections and breastfeeding data from Singaporean (GUSTO and S-PRESTO) cohorts and Australian studies that also include breast milk production measurements. Data will be presented to support our hypothesis that pregnancy complications, and associated placental and maternal physiological, endocrine and metabolic disturbances, impairs breast secretory development across late pregnancy leading to alterations in breastmilk quality and quantity after birth. Together, we expect that these changes may reduce breastfeeding duration, adversely affecting infant growth. Breastfeeding offers a unique and feasible intervention window to improve the health of the baby’s ‘first food’ for the increasing number of infants born to mothers with pregnancy complications. Our evidence-based goal is to provide an optimal start to life and a longer healthy lifespan ultimately to suppress the rising incidence of NCDs.
