The Monash researchers that pioneered IVF in Australia

A new case study shows how Monash researchers pioneered IVF in Australia.

Until the 1970s, people experiencing infertility had limited options. Researchers  began creating in vitro fertilisation (IVF) technologies at Monash University and other research centres in Melbourne in the late 1960s with the help of NHMRC-funding. This research developed into robust medical procedures that are now used worldwide.

Over three decades, researchers who were predominantly based at Monash University worked on the development of human IVF technologies and were supported through a succession of grants from the NHMRC.

These researchers were:

  • Carl Wood (funded 1966-74)
  • John Leeton (1967-72)
  • Alan Trounson (1977-2000) – also supported by a grant from the Ford Foundation and US National Institutes of Health (NIH) grants.
  • Henry Sathananthan (1986-94)
  • Ismail Kola (1986-98)
  • Dougal Macfarlane (1987-91)
  • Jillian Shaw (1991-2000).

Other recipients included Alex Lopata (1971-95), based at the University of Melbourne (UoM), Royal Women’s Hospital (RWH) and Queen Victoria Hospital (QVH).

Wood, Leeton and Lopata formed a collaborative IVF research program known as the ‘Melbourne Egg Project’ (MEP), they were later joined by Ian Johnston and Trounson. The breakthroughs from this program included the birth of Australia’s first IVF baby (and third in the world), Candice Reed, at the Royal Women’s Hospital.

The team developed ways to have precise control over the timing of recovery of the immature ova (egg cells) rather than waiting for natural cycles, enabling IVF to be conducted at practical times within clinical environments.

Sathananthan’s research and electron microscopic observations of the ultrastructure of human eggs and embryos later informed the development of techniques for freezing of eggs and embryos.

These technologies have significantly expanded the options available for those wishing to have a baby and IVF is responsible for about 1 in 20 births in Australia today.

Read more about the research in the case study here.