Professor Brett Manley delivers keynote at the Women and Infants Research Foundation

Professor Brett Manley from the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health presented at this year’s Women and Infants Research Foundation.

Image Caption: Professor Brett Manley – Neonatologist, Professor, and Director of Newborn Research at the Mercy Hospital for Women and the University of Melbourne – presented Puggles and Premmies: The PLATIPUS perinatal adaptive platform trial.

The Women and Infants Research Foundation welcomed more than 150 health professionals, researchers, academics, consumers and supporters to its annual WIRF Scientific Dialogue titled From Eminence to Evidence – the Importance of generating and using robust data to ensure the health of women, mothers and babies on Friday 5 September 2025.

Professor Manley outlined the challenges of traditional perinatal clinical research and introduced the innovative PLATIPUS adaptive platform trial – a world-first initiative he is co-leading, which will soon begin recruiting participants in both the pregnancy and neonatal domains.

Prior to delivering his keynote at the WIRF Scientific Dialogue, Professor Manley joined Nadia Mitsopoulos on ABC Radio Perth WA Mornings to discuss the urgent challenge of preterm birth and the need to innovate in the way research is conducted.