Professor Graham Jenkin

Professor Graham Jenkin is the Deputy Director of Monash Immunology and Stem Cell Laboratories (MISCL). He holds a Personal Chair in Physiology at Monash University.

His current area of research is focused on foetal and neonatal well being.  He is exploring at-risk pregnancies, where there may be Intra-Uterine Growth Restriction (IUGR), infection in pregnancy, and foetal hypoxia or premature birth.  This research has generated a new approach to the clinical monitoring of foetal health during late gestation in normal and in compromised pregnancies.

The treatment of infertility, and the restoration of fertility in women, is being explored with Profession Jenkin’s work or cryopreservation and transplantation of foetal and adult ovarian tissue.  Professor Jenkin is also investigating the use of new reproductive technologies for the preservation of endangered species.

Using foetal models, Professor Jenkin is exploring stem cell engraftment and differentiation, and the interaction of bio and synthetic matrices with stem cells.  The work is focused on possible clinical treatment of Respiratory Distress Syndrome (RDS) of the newborn and adult Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), as well as spinal cord disc repair and regeneration.  The matrices act as a support for the stem cells and they develop into tissues in the body.

Investigation into embryonic stem cells is particularly controversial.  To minimise this impact, the MISCL group is researching the properties and potential of amnion derived epithelial stem cells and their derivatives for therapeutic use.  These cells have been manipulated by Professor Jenkin and his collaborators to have many of the characteristics of embryonic stem cells, but are acquired without the ethical issues linked to embryonic stem cell research.

Professor Jenkin has established important collaborations with both industry and other researchers.  He is a Director of Maccine Pty Ltd., a “spin off” company of Monash University, now operating in Singapore. He has undertaken research projects with OptiScan, global leaders in endomicroscopy, and Mesoblast, an adult stem cell technology company. He also helped established the Asia Pacific Centre for Science and Wealth Creation within Monash University.

The MISCL groups continue to collaborate with Monash colleagues on projects using the Synchrotron to develop biomedical research. There are also joint research projects with the Departments of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Physiology, Physics, Microbiology and Chemical and Biological Engineering.

Professor Jenkin is cooperating on a project with China under the auspices of the recently awarded Australia-China Centre for Excellence in Stem Cell Sciences.

Selected Publications

Jones GM, Cram DS, Song B, Magli MC, Gianaroli L, Lacham-Kaplan O, Findlay JK, Jenkin G, Trounson AO (2008) Gene expression profiling of human oocytes following in vivo or in vitro maturation.  Human Reproduction 23: 1138-1144.

Rodricks C, Gibbs M, Jenkin G and Miller S (2008) The effect of hypoxia at different embryonic ages on impairment of memory ability in chicks.  Int J Dev Neuroscience 26: 113-118.

Miller SL, Loose JM, Jenkin GM, Wallace EM (2008) The effects of sildenafil citrate (Viagra) on uterine blood flow and wellbeing in the intrauterine growth restricted fetus. Amer J Obstet & Gynae (submitted).

Lewis-Roness H, Heraud P, Milton PL , Moodley YP, Jenkin G, Trounson AO (2008) New Cystic Fibrosis (CF) mouse model demonstrates lung function characteristics and mucus chemical changes in the human CF phenotype. Amer J Respir and Critical Care Med (submitted).

Dickinson H, Griffiths T, Jenkin G (2008) Ultrasound monitoring of fetal growth and wellbeing in a small animal – a clinically relevant technique. Science (submitted).

Miller S, Chai M, Loose J, Castillo-Melendez M, Walker DW, Jenkin G & Wallace EM (2007) The effects of maternal betamethasone administration on the intrauterine growth-restricted fetus. Endocrinology. 148: 1288-95.

Rodericks CL, Miller SL, Jenkin G and Gibbs M (2006) The role of corticosterone in prenatally-induced memory deficits. Brain Research. 1123: 34-41.

Yang H, Cox S-L, Jenkin G, Findlay J, Trounson A and Shaw J (2006) Graft site and gonadotrophin stimulation influences on the number and quality of oocytes from murine ovarian tissue grafts. Reproduction 131: 851-859.

Supramaniam VG, Jenkin G, Loose J, Wallace EM and Miller SL (2006) Chronic fetal hypoxia increases activin A concentrations in the late pregnant sheep. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 113: 102-109.

McLaren WJ, Bott EM, Jenkin G & Young IR (2006) Detection of morphological changes of the ovine cervix in response to sex steroids using a fluorescence confocal endomicroscope. Obstetrics and Gynaecology 194: 105-112.

McClure LM, O’Connor AE, Hayward S, Jenkin G, Walker DW and Phillips DJ (2005) Effects of age and pregnancy on the circulatory activin response of sheep to acute inflammatory challenge by lipopolysaccharide. Journal of Endocrinology, 185: 139-149.

Miller SL, Yan E, Castillo-Melendez M, Jenkin G, Walker D. (2005) Melatonin protects against hydroxy radical induced damage in a fetal sheep model of acute asphyxia. Developmental Neuroscience 27: 200-210.

Rodricks CL, Rose I, Jenkin G, Miller SL, Gibbs ME (2004). The effect of prenatal hypoxia and malnutrition on memory consolidation in the chick. Developmental Brain Research 148: 113-119.

Supramaniam VG, Jenkin G, Wallace EM, O’Connor AE, de Kretser DM and Miller SL (2004) The effect of graded hypoxia on activin A, PGE2 and cortisol levels in the late pregnant sheep. Reproduction Fertility and Development 15: 625 – 632.

Loose J, Miller S, Supramaniam V, Ward J, O’Connor AE, de Kretser DM, Wallace EM and Jenkin G (2004) Activin A increase in response to hypoxaemia reflects metabolic status in the late gestation sheep fetus. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 111: 1-7.

Waterhouse T, Cox S-L, Snow M, Jenkin G and Shaw J (2004) Offspring produced from heterotropic ovarian allografts in male and female recipient mice. Reproduction 127: 689-94

Smith RP, Miller SL, Igosheva N, Peebles DM, Glover V, Jenkin G, Hanson MA, Fisk NM (2004) Cardiovascular and endocrine responses to cutaneous electrical stimulation after fentanyl in the ovine fetus. American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology 190(3): 836-842.

Snow M, Cox S-L, Jenkin G and Shaw J (2004)  The fertility of mice following receipt of ovaries slow cooled in dimethyl sulfoxide or ethylene glycol is largely independent of cryopreservation equilibration time and temperature. Reproduction Fertility and Development 15: 1-8.

Cleary M, Paris M, Shaw J, Jenkin G and Trounson A (2003)  Effect of ovariectomy and graft position on cryopreserved common wombat (Vombatus ursinus) ovarian tissue following xenografting to nude mice. Reproduction Fertility and Development 15: 333-342.

Wallace EM, Schneider-Kolsky ME, Edwards A, Baker L, and Jenkin G (2003)  Maternal serum activin A levels are increased in association with intrauterine fetal growth restriction. British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology 110: 306-310.

Grigsby PL, Hirst JJ, Phillips DJ, Scheerlinck J-P and Jenkin G (2003) Fetal responses to maternal and intra-amniotic endotoxin administration in pregnant sheep. Biology of Reproduction 68: 1695-1702.

Cleary M, West M, Shaw J, Jenkin G and Trounson A (2003)  In vitro maturation of oocytes from non-stimulated common wombats. Reproduction Fertility and Development 15:303-310.

Snow M, Cox S-L, Jenkin G, Trounson A and Shaw J (2002)  Generation of live young from xenografted mouse ovaries. Science 297: 2227.