Hudson News Winter 2025: Director’s message

Tackling the big issues in women’s health from every angle.

One in four women in Australia suffers from pelvic organ prolapse (POP). That’s unacceptable.

Sally Maconochie used to run marathons. Now, since her injury from giving birth, and after major surgery, she is in pain if she stands or walks too long. She can no longer run. She had never heard of POP until it struck her, just like her mother and grandmother before her. She calls it a hidden pandemic for women because it is rarely spoken of, even in families where generations of women have suffered from it.

In this edition of Hudson News, you will read about researchers working on pelvic organ prolapse (POP), ovarian cancer and endometriosis. As well as searching for cures, they are developing better and faster methods of detecting these debilitating diseases.

Associate Professor Shayanti Mukherjee combines engineering and 3D printing expertise with Hudson’s own stem cell technologies to create safer transvaginal meshes that work with a woman’s body, not against it. Building on our world-first stem cell research, she is also targeting ways to identify and treat birth injuries early, rather than wait until POP develops later.

As with many women’s health issues, this research is under-funded but vitally important.

Leading the fight for new and better treatments for ovarian cancer, the silent killer.

Dr Maree Bilandzic was the first in the world to identify leader cells in ovarian cancer, the cells responsible for the two biggest challenges in this disease – spread (metastasis) and resistance to treatment.

She and her team have now developed an antibody that targets leader cells, with clinical trials planned, bringing new hope to women with this deadly cancer.

Dr Nicole Campbell’s research is taking a different route to help the immune system tackle the spread of cancer cells from the ovaries to other parts of the body. Her research builds on 20 years of Hudson Institute discoveries.

Associate Professor Simon Chu is using cutting-edge techniques like cryo-electron microscopy to identify drugs that can specifically target granulosa cell tumours (GCT), a rare and under researched subset of ovarian cancer.

A simpler, faster endometriosis diagnosis is much closer.

Nearly 1 million Australians (1 in 7 people assigned female at birth) are living with endometriosis – making it just as common as asthma or diabetes.

Endometriosis can cause excruciating pain and massive disruption to everyday activities. Sadly, this situation has not changed in decades. Diagnosis is still primarily done through surgery, treatments largely remain focused on hormonal options (such as oral contraceptive pill and progestogens), or more surgery, and none of these options is permanent or universal.

Professor Caroline Gargett and Dr Shanti Gurung are working to address the diagnosis challenge without the need for invasive surgery. They are building on their team’s discovery that menstrual fluid could be used as a non-invasive diagnostic, no more complicated than a blood test, to detect endometriosis earlier, without pain.

I ask you to please give generously this end of financial year. With your commitment, together we can support the innovative research that may help a woman close to you live a better, more fulfilling life. Every dollar you gift to research helps our researchers move closer to cures and better treatments.

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Thank you for your support.

Professor Elizabeth Hartland AM

Director and CEO