Embryo Implantation Research Group

• Evdokia Dimitriadis

  Professor

  evdokia.dimitriadis@unimelb.edu.au
  +61 8345 2215

Research Overview

This group is interested in reproductive biology, specialising in infertility and pregnancy disorders associated with placental insufficiency and endometrial cancer, with a focus on endometrial receptivity, establishment of pregnancy embryo-endometrial communication and trophoblast-endometrial interactions, and cell adhesion and invasion.

Staff

• Prof Eva Dimitriadis - Professor in Reproductive Biology, Co-Director, Gynaecology Research Centre
• Dr Ellen Menkhorst - Snr Research Fellow in Reproductive Biology
• Dr Wei Zhou - Research Fellow in Reproductive Biology
• Dr Leilani Santos - Senior Research Support Officer
• Leena Spry - Research Officer
• Michaela Sacco - Graduate Research Student  UoM
• Sarvenaz Sabourirad - Graduate Research Student UoM
• Guannan Yang - Graduate Research Student UoM
• Dr Mojtaba Moradi - Graduate Research Student UoM
• Yimiao Yu - Graduate Research Student UoM
• Amy Shainfeld - Graduate Research Student UoM
• Dr Ariela Heffernan-Marks - Graduate Research Student UNSW

Collaborators

• A/Prof Kaori Koga, University of Tokyo, Japan
• A/Prof Daniel Rolnik, Monash University, Australia
• Prof Kypros Nicolaides, NHS, London, United Kingdom
• Dr Jemma Evans, Hudson Institute, Australia
• Dr Clare Whitehead, The Royal Women's Hospital, Australia
• Dr Louie Ye, The Royal Women's Hospital, Australia

Funding

RESEARCH FUNDING FOR 2014-2025:

Total grant funding: $8,142,873.60

Total NHMRC grants: $5,440,840.60

Total Industry grant funding: $994,080

Total University funding: $390,653

Total Philanthropic funding: $754,225

Including:

• ARC Discovery Projects 2025 round 1 - “microRNA 124, a key modulator of uterine receptivity to establish pregnancy” $ 756,218.00 AUD (5 years) CIA: Dimitriadis E
• NHMRC Ideas Grant_2024 Ideas Grant “A new way to see endometrial receptivity defects and implantation failure” $1,119,788.60 (3 years) CIA: Dimitriadis E
• NHMRC Ideas Grant_2023 ‘Uncovering and detecting placental dysfunction in late-onset preeclampsia’ $1,222,195 AUD (for 3 years) CIA: Menkhorst E

Research Opportunities

This research project is available to Honours students to join as part of their thesis.
Please contact the Research Group Leader to discuss your options.

Research Publications

1. Nunez-Nescolarde A.B., Santos L.L., Kong L, Ekinci E, Moore P, Dimitriadis E, Nikolic-Paterson D.J., Combes A.N. Comparative analysis of human kidney organoid and tubuloid models. bioRxiv 2024.11.24.625103; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.11.24.625103. Scopus Citations -. Field Weighted Citation Impact -. Citations in Google Scholar: 1. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
2. Zhou, W., Van Sinderen, M.L., Rainczuk, K., Menkhorst, E., Sorby, K., Osianlis, T., Pangestu, M., Santos L., Rombauts, L., Rosello-Diez, A., and Dimitriadis, E*. Dysregulated miR-124-3p in endometrial epithelial cells reduces endometrial receptivity by altering polarity and adhesion. PNAS. (2024). October 4, 2024. 121 (41) e2401071121. 10.1073/pnas.2401071121. Scopus Citations 4. Field Weighted Citation Impact 1.37. Google Scholar Citations 6. Altmetric Attention Score 45. (Metrics 15.07.2025). At 15.07.2025 – top 5% of all outputs scored by altmetrics, 5 news articles national and international and 1 blog.
3. Yang G., Menkhorst, E., Dimitriadis, E. and Lê Cao, K.A. PLSKO: a robust knockoff generator to control false discovery rate in omics variable selection. bioRxiv 2024.08.06. 606935; doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2024.08.06.606935 (Preprint) Scopus Citations 0. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0. Google Scholar Citations 2. Altmetric Attention Score 4. (Metrics 20.07.2025)
4. Sabourirad, S., Dimitriadis, E. & Mantamadiotis, T. Viruses exploit growth factor mechanisms to achieve augmented pathogenicity and promote tumorigenesis. Arch Microbiol 206, 193 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00203-024-03855-2. Scopus Citations 2. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.34. Google Scholar Citations 2. Altmetric Attention Score 1 (Metrics 15.07.2025)
5. Downing P, Howe M, Sacco M, Santos LL, Menkhorst E, Teh WT, Lucky T, Zhou W, Dimitriadis E. WD-repeat containing protein-61 regulates endometrial epithelial cell adhesion indicating an important role in receptivity. Mol Hum Reprod. 2024 Nov 14;30(11):gaae039. doi: 10.1093/molehr/gaae039. Scopus Citations -. Field Weighted Citation Impact -. Citations in Google Scholar -. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
6. Menkhorst, E., Santos, L., Zhou, W., Winship, A., Rainczuk, K., Nguyen, P., Zhang, J.G., Williams, M., Mansell, A. and Dimitriadis, E*. 2023. Placental inflammasomes: friend or foe? Placenta, 140, p.e71. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.placenta.2023.07.225. Scopus Citations 1. Field Weighted Citation Impact 1. Google Scholar Citations 1. (Metrics 25.10.2024)
7. Menkhorst E, Santos LL, Zhou W, Yang G, Winship AL, Rainczuk KE, Nguyen P, Zhang JG, Moore P, Williams M, Lê Cao KA, Mansell A, Dimitriadis E*. IL11 activates the placental inflammasome to drive preeclampsia. Front Immunol. 2023 May 24;14:1175926. doi: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1175926. PMID: 37292200; PMCID: PMC10244672. Scopus Citations 5. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.56. Google Scholar Citations 9. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
8. Menkhorst E, So T, Rainczuk K, Barton S, Zhou W, Edgell T, Dimitriadis E*. Endometrial stromal cell miR-19b-3p release is reduced during decidualization implying a role in decidual-trophoblast cross-talk. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2023 Mar 14:1149786. doi: 10.3389/fendo.2023.1149786. Scopus Citations 5. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.91. Google Scholar Citations 8. Altmetric Attention Score 4. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
9. Griffiths MJ, Marshall SA, Cousins FL, Alesi LR, Higgins J, Giridharan S, Sarma UC, Menkhorst E, Zhou W, Care AS, Donoghue JF, Holdsworth-Carson SJ, Rogers PA, Dimitriadis E, Gargett CE, Robertson SA, Winship AL, Hutt KJ. Radiotherapy exposure directly damages the uterus and causes pregnancy loss. JCI Insight. 2023 Mar 22;8(6):e163704. doi: 10.1172/jci.insight.163704. Scopus Citations 5. Field Weighted Citation Impact 1.31. Google Scholar Citations 11. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
10. Barton S, Zhou W, Santos LL, Menkhorst E, Yang G, Tinn Teh W, Ang C, Lucky T, Dimitriadis E*. miR-23b-3p regulates human endometrial epithelial cell adhesion implying a role in implantation. Reproduction. 2023 Mar 8;165(4):407-416. https://doi.org/10.1530/REP-22-0338. Scopus Citations 7. Field Weighted Citation Impact 1.75. Google Scholar Citations 7. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
11. Zhou W, Barton S, Cui J, Santos LL, Yang G, Stern C, Kieu V, Teh WT, Ang C, Lucky T, Sgroi J, Ye L, Dimitriadis E.* Infertile human endometrial organoid apical protein secretions are dysregulated and impair trophoblast progenitor cell adhesion. Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 2022 Dec 14;13:1067648. 10.3389/fendo.2022.1067648. Scopus Citations 12. Field Weighted Citation Impact 1.3. Google Scholar Citations 16. Altmetric Attention Score 7. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
12. Piroozmanesh H, Jannatifar R, Meisam Ebrahimi S, Fazaeli H, Naserpoor L, Dimitriadis E, Nejatbakhsh R. Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) analog and phosphodiesterase inhibitor (IBMX) ameliorate human sperm capacitation and motility. Revista Internacional de Andrología, 2022, Volume 20, Supplement 1, October 2022, Pages S24-S30. ISSN 1698-031X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.androl.2021.02.003. Google Scholar Citations 0, Field Weighted Citation Impact 0. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
13. Martin JH, Mohammed R, Delforce SJ, Skerrett-Byrne DA, de Meaultsart CC, Almazi JG, Stephens AN, Verrills NM, Dimitriadis E, Wang Y, Lumbers ER, Pringle KG. Role of the prorenin receptor in endometrial cancer cell growth. Oncotarget. 2022 Apr 1;13:587-599. 10.18632/ONCOTARGET.28224. Scopus Citations 8. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.78. Google Scholar Citations 11. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
14. Zhou W, Dimitriadis E*. Tripeptidyl Peptidase 1 Regulates Human Trophoblast Cell Proliferation Implying a Role in Placentation. Biomed Res Int. 2022 Sep 12;2022:6856768. doi: 10.1155/2022/6856768. Scopus Citations 1. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.1. Google Scholar Citations 1. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
15. Alfian I, Chakraborty A, Yong HEJ, Saini S, Lau RWK, Kalionis B, Dimitriadis E, Alfaidy N, Ricardo S, Samuel C, Murthi P. The placental NLRP3 inflammasome and its downstream targets caspase-1 and interleukin-6 are increased in human fetal growth restriction: Implications for aberrant inflammation-induced trophoblast dysfunction. 2022. Cell Signaling. 2022 Apr 21;11(9):1413.  https://doi.org/10.3390/cells11091413. Scopus Citations 19. Field Weighted Citation Impact 1.21. Google Scholar Citations 26. Altmetric Attention Score 2. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
16. Menkhorst E, Zhou W, Santos L, Zhang JG, St-Pierre Y, Young MJ, Dimitriadis E*. Galectin-7 dysregulates renin-angiotensin-aldosterone and NADPH oxide synthase pathways in preeclampsia. Pregnancy Hypertens. 2022 Dec;30:130-136. doi: 10.1016/j.preghy.2022.09.008. Epub 2022 Sep 26. PMID: 36183583. Scopus Citations 7. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.97. Google Scholar Citations 7. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
17. Zhou W, Menkhorst E, Dimitriadis E*. Characterization of the role for Chloride intracellular channel 4 in the regulation of human trophoblast function. Placenta. Volume 119, 4 March 2022, Pages 24-30. 10.1016/j.placenta.2022.01.012 Scopus Citations 1. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.15. Google Scholar Citations 1. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
18. Ansari, N., Isojima, T., Crimeen-Irwin, B., Poulton, I.J., McGregor, N.E., Ho, P.W.M., Forwood, M.R., Kovacs, C.S., Dimitriadis, E., Gooi, J.H., Martin, T.J. and Sims, N.A. (2021), Dmp1Cre-directed knockdown of parathyroid hormone–related protein (PTHrP) in murine decidua is associated with a life-long increase in bone mass, width, and strength in male progeny. J Bone Miner Res, 36: 1999-2016. https://doi.org/10.1002/jbmr.4388. Scopus Citations 6. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.45. Google Scholar Citations 5. (Metrics 20.06.2025)
19. Zhou, Wei, and Menkhorst, Ellen, Dimitriadis, E.* "Jagged1 regulates endometrial receptivity in both humans and mice.". FASEB J, vol.35,no.8, 2021, pp. e21784-. 12 July 2021. doi:10.1096/fj.202100590R. Scopus Citations 15. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.96. Google Scholar Citations 18. Web of Science Citations 16. Altmetric Attention Score 4 (Metrics 20.06.2025)
20. Grbac E, So T, Varshney S, Williamson N, Dimitriadis E, Menkhorst E. Prednisolone alters decidualization and affects decidual-trophoblast interactions. Frontiers in cell and developmental biology. 2021 09 April. https://doi.org/10.3389/fcell.2021.647496. Scopus Citations 5. Field Weighted Citation Impact 0.40. Google Scholar Citations 9. Web of Science Citations 5. Altmetric Attention Score 7 (Metrics 20.06.2025).