Jeff A Keelan

Professor Jeff Keelan gained his PhD from the University of Auckland in 1994 and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research in the Dept. Pharmacology and Clinical Pharmacology (University of Auckland) from 1995-2001. In 2001 he was a founding member of the Liggins Institute with a joint teaching appointment as Senior Lecturer. In 2007 he was recruited to his present position as Professor and Head of Research Laboratories at the School of Women’s and Infants’ Health, University of Western Australia. In 2009 he was appointed Director of the Women and Newborn Health Research Network, which is a part time position as head of clinical research governance at King Edward Memorial Hospital, Perth. He was appointed a Deputy Director of Women and Infants Research Foundation (WIRF) in 2013, Scientific Director of the WA Preterm Birth Prevention Initiative in 2014, and is also Head of the WA Biobank for High Risk Pregnancies.
Current research interests
• Intrauterine infection, inflammation and the causes of preterm labour
• Anti-inflammatory and anti-microbial therapeutic strategies for prevention of preterm birth
• Placental drug transport and drug transporters
• Pro- and anti-inflammatory lipid mediators from oxidised cholesterol and PUFAs
• Nanoparticle targeting and drug delivery to the placenta
• Maternal and fetal microbiome: origins, significance and therapeutic modulation