1000 Happy Birthdays

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Made Possible by Melbourne Campaign builds on the success of the now-familiar Collisions, launched in 2015 to celebrate the collaboration between disciplines that so informs our work at Melbourne. One of the campaign’s most powerful stories is called “1000 happy birthdays”. Told by the remarkable Professor Susan Walker – holder of the Sheila Handbury Chair of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Head of Department, Obstetrics and Gynaecology – and her colleagues Professor Stephen Tong and Professor Laura Parry, “1000 happy birthdays” highlights the heartbreaking challenge of preeclampsia , a principal cause of stillbirth. This research targets the causes of preeclampsia in the hope of establishing a timely identification test for mothers at risk. The team's research could eventually save many babies’ lives throughout the world. Says Professor Walker: “The answer to bringing mothers and babies home is not found in the silos of hospital departments or university laboratories. But it is found where clinical curiosity and scientific discovery are given the opportunity to collide.”