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Hudson Institute’s medical research spans discovery, translational research and clinical trials, ensuring laboratory breakthroughs are supported every step of the way to become new drugs, devices, treatments or cures to improve patients’ lives. Our scientists work in close collaboration with Monash Health and Monash University to make this possible. As global experts in their field, Hudson Institute scientists share their specialist knowledge with clinicians and nurses by developing clinical guidelines to improve quality of care and patient outcomes.
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Dr Miranda Davies-Tuck
Reducing stillbirth
Health services across Australia will have access to new clinical guidelines to prevent stillbirth. Supported by a postdoctoral fellowship from the Centre for Research Excellence in Stillbirth, Dr Miranda Davies-Tuck will lead a project to roll out, evaluate and expand guidelines she developed in 2017, providing clinicians with new parameters to monitor babies in late pregnancy.
The project aims to reduce the disproportionately high rate of stillbirth experienced by South Asian women due to differences in their placenta. The guidelines have already been implemented at Victoria’s largest maternity service, Monash Health, halving the stillbirth rate at term for South Asian women to be in line with other women.
Helping babies born with DSD
Differences in sex development (DSD) can sometimes make it unclear whether a newborn is a boy or girl. Some cases are mild, but others can be life-threatening. There are potentially hundreds of different causes so diagnosis is difficult and can be lengthy, placing additional pressures on stressed families.
Professor Vincent Harley, Dr Nayla Leon and Dr Alejandra Reyes have written a clinical guide, published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology, to assist specialists who encounter newborn babies with ambiguous genitalia. By enabling faster diagnosis, the guide will be used worldwide to improve decision-making and future quality of life for many children and their families.
L-R: Professor Vincent Harley, Dr Nayla Leon, Dr Alejandra Reyes