Vicki Clifton

Professor Vicki Clifton is a National Health and Medical Research Council Senior Research Fellow who is currently a Professorial Research Fellow with the Mothers and Babies Theme at Mater Medical Research Institute leading the Pregnancy and Development team. Vicki was employed at the Robinson Research Institute, School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health at the University of Adelaide from January 2008 to April 2015 after many years at the Mothers and Babies Research Centre in Newcastle, Australia. While at the Robinson Research Institute she was Director of Clinical Research at the Lyell McEwin Hospital in Adelaide, Australia (2009-2014) and leader of the Allergy Research Priority. Prof Clifton has a background in reproductive endocrinology and her research has examined aspects of placental function which has evolved into an investigation of those factors that program fetal development and neonatal adaptation. She is internationally recognized for her research into the human placenta and is currently Editor of the Placenta Journal (2012-present).

Her current research focusses on the impact of maternal asthma and other health complications during pregnancy on placental function, fetal growth and childhood development. She has a specific interest in the sex specific differences in the fetal-placental response to a complication of pregnancy understanding the different strategies male and female fetuses institute to cope with an adverse event in pregnancy and how this ensures their survival in early life.