Janna Morrison
Janna Morrison, PhD
Regular SRI Member
Professor
UniSA Clinical & Health Sciences
University of South Australia
https://www.kcl.ac.uk/research/shangaris-group
Career Journey
Janna obtained her Masters in Physiology from the University of Western Ontario in 1998 and her PhD in Reproductive and Developmental Sciences from the University of British Columbia in 2001. She completed a post doc at the University of Toronto in respiratory physiology and then moved to Adelaide. She completed a postdoc at the University of Adelaide where she held Heart and Stroke Foundation of Canada and then National Heart Foundation Postdoctoral fellowships. She moved to University of South Australia in 2006 with the award of another NHF PDF. Since then, she has held 3 NHMRC/NHF Career Development Fellowships and an ARC Future Fellowship. She is an internationally recognised physiologist, with adjunct positions at Sick Kids Hospital and University of Toronto. In the last 5 years she has been awarded over >$7M of funding as lead investigator and published over 210 peer-reviewed articles in her career.
Janna is Director of Health and Biomedical Innovation at the University of South Australia and Head of the Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group. She is a Fellow of the Cardiovascular Section of the American Physiological Society. She was awarded the Australian Physiological Society Medal Lecture in 2022. She is Reviewing Editor for the Journal of Physiology and Editor of Themed Issues for the Journal of the Developmental Origins of Adult Health.
Her research focuses on how the fetal cardiovascular system responds to changes in nutrient supply during pregnancy, using MRI to study blood flow and oxygenation in preclinical models of fetal growth restriction. Her work in the field of fetal physiology, where she is pioneering the use of MRI to detect the cardiovascular effects of fetal growth restriction with the goal of improving heart health across the lifespan.
Questions
1. What inspired you to choose reproductive sciences?
I was interested in studying the brain but was awed when I saw a placenta in a 4th year fetal physiology course. I started a masters studying the development of sleep states in the fetus.
2. Favorite part of your job?
Talking about science with like-minded people. Learning new things and coming up with ways to answer questions.
3. How did you hear about SRI?
I started coming to SRI in 2001. I was doing a postdoc in the city that SRI was held that year. I attended so that I could catch up with colleagues and meet with my next post doc supervisor.
4. Favorite benefit of SRI?
Meeting other scientists.