Emily Whalen receives PRS-PSANZ Mont Liggins Early Career Award
Emily Whalen (right), PRS-PSANZ Mont Liggins Early Career Award recipient
Emily Whalen, a final-year MD-PhD student in the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology within the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, was recently honoured with the prestigious PRS-PSANZ Mont Liggins Early Career Award at the 2025 Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (PSANZ) Congress.
Emily received the award for her outstanding oral presentation, ‘Investigating the Maternal-Fetal Transfer of Sulforaphane’. This award recognised her excellence in scientific expertise, in-depth subject knowledge and oral presentation. As part of the award, Emily has received an invitation to present at the Perinatal Research Society (PRS) conference in the U.S. later this year. She will be supported financially by PSANZ and PRS to attend the event in Colorado, where she will share her research on an international platform.
Emily's research focuses on preeclampsia, a severe disease of pregnancy with significant global implications. Despite its severity, however, treatment options remain limited. Emily’s PhD is exploring a potential therapeutic for preeclampsia called sulforaphane. Sulforaphane is naturally-derived compound found within young broccoli sprouts and has been shown to have protective effects for both mother and baby.
This award acknowledges Emily's dedication to women’s health, particularly through her research on sulforaphane as a novel therapeutic for preeclampsia. Her research is driven by a passion to address critical challenges in women's healthcare, with the goal of improving outcomes for women globally. The PSANZ-PRS Mont Liggins Early Career Award provides Emily with the unique opportunity to share her findings with an international audience and will allow Emily to network with leading experts in the field.
"I am deeply honoured to receive this award and am very excited to share my research at the PRS meeting later this year. Improving women’s healthcare is one of my passions - it is therefore a privilege to have the opportunity to engage with leading experts from around the world at such a prestigious international meeting. I am so excited to be investigating this novel treatment and hope that this work may contribute towards improving perinatal outcomes worldwide. I am grateful for the invaluable support and guidance from my wonderful supervisors, Dr Sarah Marshall, A/Prof Kirsten Palmer and A/Prof Daniel Rolnik", said Emily.
About Monash University
Monash University is Australia’s largest university with more than 80,000 students. In the 60 years since its foundation, it has developed a reputation for world-leading high-impact research, quality teaching, and inspiring innovation.
With four campuses in Australia and a presence in Malaysia, China, India, Indonesia and Italy, it is one of the most internationalised Australian universities.
As a leading international medical research university with the largest medical faculty in Australia and integration with leading Australian teaching hospitals, we consistently rank in the top 50 universities worldwide for clinical, pre-clinical and health sciences.
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