Graeme Polglase BSc, PhD

Associate Professor Graeme Polglase is the Deputy Director of The Ritchie Centre, Monash University and Hudson Institute, and heads the Fetal and Neonatal Health Cardiorespiratory Theme. He is an NHMRC/National Heart Foundation of Australia Career Development Fellow. Graeme is an internationally renowned physiologist whose research focuses on improving the respiratory, cardiovascular and neurological outcomes of infants. Specifically, he focuses on (1) the pulmonary, cardiovascular and cerebral circulatory transition at birth; (2) how factors prior to, during, and immediately after birth can alter the normal circulatory transition at birth; and (3) how current therapies impact upon this transition thus improving/worsening immediate and long-term outcomes.

A/Prof Polglase’s recent research has focused on understanding the physiological transition at birth during delayed cord clamping and the importance of the timing of cord clamping relative to breathing onset. He is also investigating how obstetric interventions, including oxytocin administration, and position of the fetus relative to the placenta during delayed cord clamping can affect the cardiovascular transition at birth, and the applicability of initiating resuscitation of the neonate prior to cord clamping. The physiological insights continue to shape clinical trials on improving the transition at birth of infants worldwide.