Teaching Staff

A/Prof Kiri Beilby

Associate Professor Kiri Beilby

Program Director

A/Prof Kiri Beilby completed her PhD in reproductive biology and genetics at The University of Sydney, a Graduate Diploma in Science Communication at ANU, and a Masters in Counselling at Monash University. She has previously held leadership roles in the ART industry, including Global Head of Medical Marketing for Cooper Surgical and as International Product Manager for embryo culture media at ORIGIO in Denmark.

A/Prof Beilby is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (HEA) and has received multiple teaching awards, including the Vice Chancellor's Award for Teaching Excellence. Her pedagogical research explores student motivation, assessment innovation in the age of AI, and using play to promote learning in teams. A/Prof Beilby’s disciplin research has examined the health outcomes of children born through ART, the experiences of surrogates and intended parents, the fertility counselling landscape, and the quality of the information received by patients regarding prospective reproductive interventions.

In her governance roles, A/Prof Beilby serves as a Board Member of the Fertility Society of Australia and New Zealand (FSANZ) and Co-chairs the Donor Conception Advisory Group (DCAG) for the Victorian Department of Health. She previously served as Treasurer on the Executive Committee of the Scientists in Reproductive Technology (SIRT) and as Executive Director for the Australian Society of Medical Researchers (ASMR).

Find out more about A/Prof Kiri Beilby.

Dr Mulyoto Pangestu

Dr Mulyoto Pangestu

Lecturer, MCE Practical Coordinator and Laboratory Manager

Dr Mulyoto Pangestu is a reproductive scientist and academic with extensive expertise in human and animal reproductive biology. He completed his undergraduate degree in Animal Husbandry at Jenderal Soedirman University, Indonesia, before receiving the prestigious Australian Government AIDAB Scholarship to pursue postgraduate studies in Australia. Dr Pangestu completed a Graduate Diploma in Agricultural Science at the University of Melbourne, followed by a Master of Reproductive Sciences and a PhD at Monash University. His doctoral studies, sponsored by the Asian Development Bank, focused on the dry storage of biological material.

Following his PhD, Dr Pangestu joined the Monash Institute of Reproduction and Development as a research fellow. His early contributions to reproductive biotechnology include work in bovine embryo production, embryo cryopreservation, and human oocyte vitrification. Dr Pangestu's innovative research on sperm dry storage earned him the Asia Pacific Young Inventors Gold Award in 2000.

Dr Pangestu is currently a Lecturer in the Education Program in Reproduction and Development (EPRD) at Monash University. He also holds long‑standing academic roles in Indonesia and has played a key role in developing IVF laboratory capacity across multiple Indonesian fertility clinics. Dr Pangestu's research interests lie at the intersection of reproductive biology, infertility, and assisted reproductive technologies (ART) in both humans and animals. His expertise spans human and animal IVF, gamete and embryo biology, cryobiology and cryopreservation, male fertility and sperm function, comparative reproduction, and reproductive health in Southeast Asia.

Find out more about Dr Mulyoto Pangestu.

Dr Penny Chen

Dr Penny Chen

Lecturer, Practical Coordinator and EPRD Administrator

Dr Penny Chen completed her MBBS Degree from the Shanghai Second Medical University and practised medicine in China before she moved to Australia. In 2005 Penny also completed her Master of Clinical Embryology at Monash University and joined the EPRD in 2008.

Dr Chen strives in collaboration with other staff to constantly improve teaching and learning experience. As an education focused academic, she has supervised many research student projects, and subsequently supported researchers in the Hudson Institute of Medical Research and School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health, as well as participating in external research.

Dr Chen skilfully manages the EPRD administrations including admissions and enrolments for our courses, course planning and timetabling. She is the first contact for all students’ administrative matters in department. Dr Chen has twice received the Quiet Achiever Award from the School of Clinical Sciences at Monash Health in 2009 and 2013, and most recently was the recipient of the Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine Citation for Outstanding Contribution (team) Award in 2026.

Find out more about Dr Penny Chen.

Ms Nicola Rivers

Dr Nicola Rivers

Senior Lecturer & Course Director

Dr Nicola Rivers completed her Bachelor of Biomedical Science at the University of Western Australia in 2015 before she earned her PhD at Monash University in reproductive biology in 202. Her research interests focus on the application of assisted reproductive technologies in conservation and species management, particularly in native fish species.

Dr Rivers aims to equip future reproductive scientists with a deep understanding of reproductive processes across diverse species. She believes scientists must be prepared not only to anticipate complex and emerging challenges but also to work collaboratively and communicate effectively to develop and implement solutions. Dr Rivers's education research has explored student motivation, early attitudes toward artificial intelligence, and the use of innovative assessment formats such as escape rooms and social media campaigns to develop critical thinking and communication skills in postgraduate scientists. She has received teaching awards at the Sub-Faculty, Faculty, and Vice- Chancellor’s levels and is a Fellow of the Higher Education Academy.

Dr Rivers is part of the management team for the Australian Frozen Zoo, a Monash-based biobanking initiative that collects and stores living cells from some of Australia’s most unique wildlife species. Through public engagement, media contributions, and advocacy, she works to highlight the importance of reproductive science in supporting biodiversity and healthy ecosystems, and to encourage greater investment in conservation-focused reproductive technologies. Her media engagement includes ABC’s Catalyst, What the Duck?! and The Conversation.

Find out more about Ms Nicola Rivers.

Dr Nadine Richings

Dr Nadine Richings

Senior Lecturer

Dr Nadine Richings has a BSc with honours in Embryology and a PhD in Reproductive Biology and Zoology. She has worked as a Reproductive Biologist and Embryologist since 1991, with 15 years’ experience as a Clinical Embryologist, 10 years as a Scientific Researcher, and has taught in the EPRD courses since 2010.

In Clinical Embryology Dr Richings has worked as a Laboratory Manager, was one of the first people in Australia to be trained in intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI) and has co-authored three publications on ICSI in a clinical setting. She has contributed to national and international guidelines and policies for ART and Clinical Embryology, established two ART clinics in India and delivered various education programs in India. Nadine served as a SIRT Committee member for 9 years, as Chair, Vice Chair, Treasurer and Education Coordinator.

During her PhD, Dr Richings used the tammar wallaby as a model species for marsupial conservation, and she produced the first in vitro embryos of an Australian marsupial. Her research interests are reproductive solutions for threatened species, fertility solutions to control introduced species, planetary health education and literacy, and planetary health policy and advocacy.

Dr Richings recognises that policy and legislation are powerful instruments to guide society and to improve and protect the health, safety and well-being of people, other species, and our planet. She is a fellow of the prestigious Pathways to Politics for Women Program run by The University of Melbourne, has run as a candidate in Victorian and Federal Elections, and has worked as an Advisor to a Victorian Member of Parliament.

Find out more about Dr Nadine Richings.

Dr Duc Huynh

Dr Duc Huynh

Lecturer and Practical Coordinator

Dr Duc Huynh oversees the organisation and delivery of practical laboratory training, as well as the coordination of short courses and professional development workshops for practitioners working in the IVF industry. He is invested in contributing to the integration of emerging technologies and the development of innovative teaching and training methods, examples of this include the incorporation of pre-class instructional videos, structured post-class feedback, and online formative assessments.

Since 2020, Dr Huynh has served as a Senior Clinical Embryologist and Embryo Biopsy Specialist at City Fertility Centre (CFC) across their Melbourne clinics, and maintains active international collaborations with IVF clinics in Vietnam, Indonesia, Thailand, Hong Kong, and India, supporting the placement of students in ART facilities across these regions. He has also collaborated in the delivery of specialised training workshops for leading commercial organisations in the IVF sector, including CooperSurgical, ESCO Medical, Nexpring Health, Vitrolife, serving both Australian and international embryologists.

Dr Huynh has also played an important role in redesigning the MCE training and procedures manual in micromanipulation training. His teaching methodology—characterised by clarity, structure, and a strong emphasis on competency-based learning—has been consistently commended by MCE students and professional workshop participants. In 2026, he was part of a team selected as the recipient of the Sub-Faculty of Clinical and Molecular Medicine Citation for Outstanding Contribution (team) Award.

Find out more about Dr Duc Huynh.

Ms Emma Lingham

Ms Emma Lingham

Lecturer and Course Director

Ms Emma Lingham completed a Bachelor of Biomedicine at Melbourne University before completing a Master of Clinical Embryology in 2012 and graduating as Dux of the course. She worked as a clinical embryologist in Melbourne for 5 years where she took on many leadership roles within the clinic and became a senior embryologist. In 2014, Ms Lingham won a joint tender to create an Embryology Training manual and logbook for embryologists and andrologists in Australia and New Zealand commissioned by Scientists in Reproductive Technology (SIRT), a sub-group representing the scientific membership of The Fertility Society of Australia. This was published nationally in 2016. Emma became a SIRT committee member in 2017 and has initiated and coordinated many educational meetings and conferences within the Australian embryology community.

In 2018, Ms Lingham had a career change to lecturing, where she coordinated both practical and theoretical units, with the aim of using her experience to enhance the transition for students from post-graduate study into IVF clinics. She was involved in the course restructure for 2019 and coordinates 8 units across 2 courses. In 2023, Ms Lingham was awarded the SCS Teaching Award for Teaching Excellence and is a nominated Education Leader for the Faculty. She joined A/Prof Sally Catt in 2023 as a joint MCE Course Director.

Find out more about Ms Emma Lingham.

Ms Amy Clements

Ms Amy Clements

Lecturer

Ms Amy Clements started as a research assistant with the Eastern Clinical Group at Monash University, but it was when she moved into the IVF laboratory that she found her true passion. She completed her Master of Clinical Embryology in 2013 alongside her clinical embryology training.
Amy's career as an Embryologist spans 12 years across leading fertility clinics in Melbourne and New Zealand, working directly with eggs, sperm, and embryos to help patients achieve their dream of parenthood. She has held senior leadership positions overseeing laboratory operations, maintaining quality standards, mentoring junior staff, and ensuring best practices in embryology—work that requires expertise in cutting-edge reproductive technologies and the ability to make critical decisions that directly impact patient outcomes.

After guest lecturing for the MCE course for several years, Ms Clements transitioned to academia in 2024 as a lecturer for both MCE and GRS at Monash University. Her teaching philosophy centres on elevating embryology beyond technical skill—she is committed to instilling in students that embryology is fundamentally about compassionate patient care, not just laboratory technique. This patient-centred approach has been the common thread throughout her career.

Find out more about Ms Amy Clements.

Ms Clare Ussher

Ms Clare Ussher

Lecturer

Ms Clare Ussher completed her Bachelor of Science at Monash University before undertaking the Graduate Diploma in Reproductive Studies. She went on to complete her Master of Clinical Embryology in 2014, graduating as Dux and receiving the Academic Medal of Excellence.

With over a decade of experience as a clinical embryologist across Australia, Ms Ussher played a pivotal role in establishing Genea's first Victorian clinic. Throughout her clinical career, she maintained an active research profile and presented at numerous national and international conferences, gaining particular recognition for her pioneering clinical work with 1PN embryos.

In 2025, Ms Ussher transitioned to academic teaching, bringing her extensive practical expertise and research experience to both the theoretical and laboratory components of the program.

Find out more about Ms Clare Ussher.

Dr Sally Catt

Associate Professor Sally Catt

EPRD Advisor

For the past 20 years, Dr Sally Catt has been training and guiding Master and PhD students in all aspects of IVF, including cloning, transgenesis, ICSI, cryopreservation and embryo transfer and since 2006 has taken on a full-time education role as Coordinator of the Master of Clinical Embryology Course.

Dr Catt completed her first degree at Edinburgh University in 1983 and after working as a reproductive toxicologist, she took her first job as an embryologist at Bourn Hall, Cambridge UK, training under Mr. Patrick Steptoe and Professor Bob Edwards, and after that specialising in the commercialisation of cattle IVF.

Dr Catt’s work in domestic species l IVF has seen her move Cambridge to New Zealand and then to to the University of Sydney, where she initially set up a domestic and laboratory species IVF facility; and then took on a Meat Research Corporation Junior Fellowship allowing her to complete a PhD evaluating the feasibility and commercial practicality of producing lambs following X and Y sperm separation by flow cytometry using in vivo and in vitro methodologies.

Dr Catt returned to the clinical IVF field working as an embryologist at Fertility First, Sydney and later as a Research embryologist at Sydney IVF (now Genea). In 2004, she joined Dr Helen Picton in Leeds University, UK as a Research Fellow studying the growth of ovine pre-antral follicles and the subsequent maturation and fertilisation of their oocytes.

In 2009 Dr Catt became the Education Co-ordinator within SIRT and is also a member of the “Victorian Assisted Reproductive Treatment Authority Public Education Reference Group”. She also consults for clinics in Australia and Asia.

Find out more about Dr Sally Catt.

Prof Peter Temple-Smith

Professor Peter Temple-Smith

Adjunct

Prof Peter Temple-Smith is a zoologist by training and a reproductive biologist by discipline and research experience. He graduated in science, with a major in Zoology, from the University of Tasmania (BSc Hons) and completed a PhD in Zoology at the Australian National University, Canberra and was a Ford Foundation Postdoctoral Fellow at The Weill Cornell University Medical Center. From the early 1980s to the mid-1990s, Prof Temple-Smith collaborated with Monash IVF to develop various techniques relating to severe forms of male infertility. He achieved international success for newly developed techniques, and in 1984 (China) and 1991 (Peru) he worked as a consultant for the World Health Organisation.

In 1988, Prof Temple-Smith co-founded and became Director of what would become the Education Program in Reproductive Biology (EPRD), and in 1997 he was appointed Director of Conservation and Research at Zoos holding this position until 2004. During this time Prof Temple-Smith was appointed as a Professorial Fellow (Honorary) in the Department of Zoology at the University of Melbourne. He has a continuing interest in the use of ART for improving the conservation of endangered species.

In 2005 Prof Temple-Smith returned to Monash University as Director of EPRD and retired in 2024. He has published over 170 papers in peer-reviewed journals and was co-investigator in the sequencing of the platypus genome. He retains a strong interest in animal reproduction and current research interests include sperm structure and function and manipulation of mammalian gametes, structure and function of the epididymis, the use of induced pluripotent stem cells in developing new tools for assisted reproduction of endangered species. Prof Temple-Smith is currently an Adjunct Professor in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Acting Director of the Australian Frozen Zoo and Research Associate at Museums Victoria.

Find out more about Prof Peter Temple-Smith.

Will Leong

Will Leong

Teaching associate

Will graduated from Master of Clinical Embryology in 2018. He has worked in various research and commercial laboratories across different disciplines including stem cells, immunoproteomics, and wine chemistry. Apart from teaching MCE practicals, Will is involved in teaching EPRD workshops and GRS practicals. He is also working as an embryologist at City Fertility.