Professor Henry Burger AO, FAA MD BS FRCP FRACP FCP (SA) FRCOG FRANZCOG Hon.Doct (Liege, Belgium), LL.D (h.c. Monash), Director Emeritus

  • Distinguished Scientist, Hudson Institute
  • Consultant Endocrinologist and Patron, Jean Hailes for Women’s Health
  • Adjunct Professorial Fellow, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University
  •    henry.burger@hudson.org.au
  • Role: Distinguished Scientist, Hudson Institute

Professor Henry Burger is an eminent scientist and clinician, with a distinguished career in medical research.

Until mid-2014, he was a practicing clinical endocrinologist with a particular interest in reproductive endocrinology. Professor Burger took up the directorship of the Medical Research Centre at Prince Henry’s Hospital in 1969 and was Director of Prince Henry’s Institute (PHI, a predecessor of Hudson Institute of Medical Research) from 1990-1998. He currently holds the position of Emeritus Director, Hudson Institute, and collaborates with various researchers on projects including research on menopause.

Professor Burger has a long history working in the area of the gonadal hormone inhibin, leading to its purification and cloning and subsequent exploration of its physiology. His research and clinical interests have included the physiology of the menopause and management of the menopause transition, anovulatory infertility, hirsutism, male infertility and female sexual dysfunction.

Among the many notable achievements during Professor Burger’s career are his appointment as an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1993, his election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA) in 1994, his selection by the Society of Endocrinology, UK, to receive the 1997 Dale Medal (the highest accolade bestowed by that Society), his election to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians, London in 1998, the Distinguished Physician Award of the US Endocrine Society in 1999, and an Honorary Doctorate, University of Liege, Belgium 1999. He has also been awarded an Honorary Doctorate of Laws from Monash University. In 2015, Professor Burger was elected to Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (FAHMS).Honorary Doctorate of Laws (hc Monash)

He has published over 600 papers, edited numerous books and has been an invited speaker at over 180 national and international conferences.

Current Research:
Endocrinology of menopausal transition

Expertise:
Basic and clinical studies in the physiology of pituitary hormones and gonadal steroids; characterisation and physiology of gonadal inhibin; research on the biology of the fertile period; clinical research on human fertility and infertility, and on the menopause.

Recent Achievements:

  • 2015 – Elected to Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science (FAHMS).
  • 2006 – Awarded the NAMS/Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals Morrie M. Gelfand Leadership Award in Androgen Research; this award recognises an individual whose body of research over his/her lifetime has advanced the understanding of the role of androgens (endogenous or exogenous) in postmenopausal women.
  • 2005 – Appointed as an Honorary Member, Society for Endocrinology.
  • 2003 – Awarded the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society and science in endocrinology.
  • 2002 – Recipient of Honorary Fellowship,  the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (ad eundem).
  • 2000 – Awarded the NAMS/Wyeth Ayerst Peri-menopause Research Award; this award recognises an individual whose published works have served to increase understanding of clinical management of health issues pertaining to peri-menopausal woman.
  • 1990 – Recipient of Honorary Fellowship, Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ad eundem).

Selected publications

  • BILLINGS EL, BILLINGS JJ, BROWN JB and BURGER HG. Symptoms and hormonal changes accompanying ovulation. Lancet 1: 282-284, 1972.

  • de KRETSER DM, BURGER HG, FORTUNE D, HUDSON B, LONG AR, PAULSEN CA and TAFT HP. Hormonal, histological and chromosomal studies in adult males with testicular disorders. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 35: 392-401, 1972.

  • SCOTT RS and BURGER HG. Inhibin is absent from azoospermic semen of infertile men. Nature 285: 246-247, 1980.

  • WORLD HEALTH ORGANIZATION, TASK FORCE ON METHODS FOR THE DETERMINATION OF THE FERTILE PERIOD, SPECIAL PROGRAMME OF RESEARCH, DEVELOPMENT AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN HUMAN REPRODUCTION. A Prospective Multicentre Trial of the Ovulation Method of Natural Family Planning. II. The Effectiveness Phase. Fertil. Steril. 36: 591-598, 1981.

  • HURLEY DM, BRIAN RHONDA, OUTCH K, STOCKDALE JAN, FRY, ANNETTE, HACKMAN C, CLARKE I. and BURGER HG. Induction of ovulation and fertility in amenorrheic women by pulsatile low dose gonadotropin releasing hormone. New Eng. J. Med. 310: 1069-1074, 1984.

  • ROBERTSON DM. FOULDS LM, LEVERSHA L, MORGAN FJ, HEARN MTW, BURGER HG, WETTENHALL REH and de KRETSER DM. Isolation of inhibin from bovine follicular fluid. Biochem. Biophy. Res. Commun. 126: 220-226, 1985.

  • LAPPOHN RE, BURGER H, BOUMA J, BANGAH M, KRANS M and de BRUIJN H. Inhibin as a marker for granulosa-cell tumors. N. Engl. J. Med. 321: 790-793, 1989.

  • BURGER HG, DUDLEY EC, HOPPER JL, SHELLEY JM, GREEN A, SMITH A, DENNERSTEIN L and MORSE C. The endocrinology of the menopausal transition: a cross-sectional study of a population-based sample. J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab. 80:3537-3545,

  • BURGER HG, CAHIR N, ROBERTSON DM, GROOME NP, DUDLEY E, GREEN A, HOPPER J and DENNERSTEIN L. Serum Inhibins A and B fall differentially as FSH rises in perimenopausal women. Clin Endocrinol 48:6 809-813, 1998.

  • BURGER HG, DUDLEY EC, HOPPER JL, GROOME N, GUTHRIE JR, GREEN A, DENNERSTEIN L. Prospectively measured levels of serum follicle-stimulating hormone, estradiol, and the dimeric inhibins during the menopausal transition in a population-based cohort of women. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 84(11): 4025-30, 1999.

  • BURGER HG, DUDLEY EC, CUI J, DENNERSTEIN L, HOPPER JL. A prospective longitudinal study of serum testosterone dehydroepiandrosterone sulphate and sex hormone binding globulin levels through the menopause transition. J. Clin. Endo & Metab. 85: 2832-2938, 2000.

  • BACHMANN G, BANCROFT J, BRAUNSTEIN G, BURGER H, DAVIS S, DENNERSTEIN L. GOLDSTEIN I, GUAY A, LEIBLUM S, LOBOR, NOTELOVITZ M, ROSEN R, SARREL P, SHERWIN B, SIMON J, SIMPSON E, SHIFREN J, SPARK R, TRAISH A. Female androgen insufficiency: the Princeton Consensus statement on definition, classification and assessment. Fertil. Steril. 77(4): 660-665, 2002.

  • BURGER HG, ROBERTSON D, BAKSHEEV L., COLLINS A, CZEMICZKY G, LANDGREN BM. The relationship between the endocrine characteristics and the regularity of menstrual cycles in the approach to menopause. Menopause 12(3):267-274, 2005.

  • BURGER HG. WHI Risks: Any relevance to menopause management? Maturitas 57: 6-10,

  • Burger HG, Hale GE, Robertson DM and Dennerstein L. A review of hormonal changes during the menopausal transition – focus on findings from the Melbourne Women’s Midlife Health Study.   Human Reproduction Update 13(6):559-65, 2007.

  • ROBERTSON DM, HALE, GE, FRASER IS, HUGHES CL, BURGER HG. A proposed classification system for menstrual cycles in the menopausal transition based on changes in serum hormone profiles. Menopause 15(6):1139-44, 2008.

  • BURGER HG, HALE GE, DENNERSTEIN L, ROBERTSON DM. Cycle and hormone changes during the perimenopause: The key role of ovarian function. 15: Menopause 605-615, 2008.

  • ROBERTSON DM, HALE GE, JOLLEY D, FRASER IS, HUGHES CL, BURGER HG. Inter-relationships between ovarian and pituitary hormones in ovulatory menstrual cycles across reproductive age. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 94: 138-144, 2009.