Elvie Marelyn Wintour-Coghlan is an Australian physiologist who has focused her career on the

endocrinology Endocrinology (from '' endocrine'' + '' -ology'') is a branch of biology and medicine dealing with the endocrine system, its diseases, and its specific secretions known as hormones. It is also concerned with the integration of developmental event ...

of the pregnant mother and

foetus A fetus or foetus (; plural fetuses, feti, foetuses, or foeti) is the unborn offspring that develops from an animal embryo. Following embryonic development the fetal stage of development takes place. In human prenatal development, fetal develo ...

. She has developed techniques enabling her to follow development of foetal organs, showing that concentration of foetal urine can be used as an indicator of stress in the foetus. The important focus of her work was the discovery that foetal stressful conditions can be translated into adult health.

Education and career

Professor Wintour-Coghlan was born in

Queensland ) , nickname = Sunshine State , image_map = Queensland in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of Queensland in Australia , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , established_ ...

as one of six children and grew up in Brisbane where she attended All Hallows Catholic Girls School. She studied

physiology Physiology (; ) is the scientific study of functions and mechanisms in a living system. As a sub-discipline of biology, physiology focuses on how organisms, organ systems, individual organs, cells, and biomolecules carry out the chemical ...

and

biochemistry Biochemistry or biological chemistry is the study of chemical processes within and relating to living organisms. A sub-discipline of both chemistry and biology, biochemistry may be divided into three fields: structural biology, enzymology and ...

at the

University of Queensland , mottoeng = By means of knowledge and hard work , established = , endowment = A$224.3 million , budget = A$2.1 billion , type = Public research university , chancellor = Peter Varghese , vice_chancellor = Deborah Terry , city = B ...

, after which she moved to

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

in 1960, taking up a position in the Department of Physiology where she obtained her MsC in 1964 and PhD in 1972. She has also received her DSc in 1988 at the same institution. In 1990 she became an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at the

Howard Florey Institute The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, more commonly known as the Florey Institute, is an Australian medical research institute that undertakes clinical and applied research into treatments for brain and mind disorders and the ...

. She moved to

Monash University Monash University () is a public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria, Australia. Named for prominent World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the state. The university has a ...

, Department in Physiology in 2003, where she became an honorary Professor until 2007, when she moved to the Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology as an honorary professor. She has published more than 230 scientific publications and supervised 40 PhD students in her career.

Awards and recognitions

In 2002 she was elected to Life Membership of the Endocrine Society of Australia. In 2004 she was elected to the

Australian Academy of Science The Australian Academy of Science was founded in 1954 by a group of distinguished Australians, including Australian Fellows of the Royal Society of London. The first president was Sir Mark Oliphant. The academy is modelled after the Royal Soci ...

, being one of only 2 women to receive such an honour in the first 50 years of the Academy. In 2014 she was inducted in the

Victorian Honour Roll of Women The Victorian Honour Roll of Women was established in 2001 to recognise the achievements of women from the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victoria (Australia), Victoria. The Honour Roll was established as part of the cele ...

. She is a member of ARC/HMRC Research network in genes and environment in Development. She has also served on the Council of the

International Union of Physiological Sciences The International Union of Physiological Sciences, abbreviated IUPS, is the global umbrella organization for physiology. IUPS aims to facilitate initiatives that strengthen the discipline of physiology. IUPS is a scientific union member of the I ...

. She was particularly influential in promoting physiological sciences in Africa and South America. with particular focus on Chile, which she adopted as her second home country, where she also did some work on

llamas The llama (; ) (''Lama glama'') is a domesticated South American camelid, widely used as a meat and pack animal by Andean cultures since the Pre-Columbian era. Llamas are social animals and live with others as a herd. Their wool is s ...

. In 2007, as part of the 5th World Congress of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease (DOHaD), a satellite meeting was held in honour of her career, called "Healthy start for a healthy life: The Wintour's Tale", recognizing her contribution in being one of the first scientists to establish a link between adult health with early development. For that occasion, Tim Thwaites has written an excellent article, presenting this scientist in a different light

Personal life

She has raised four children, and her passion for work and science was evident in the fact that all children were born during her holidays so she did not have to take time off work. Together with her husband, an esteemed scientist John Coghlan, she was instrumental in establishing a childcare centre at University of Melbourne. Her other passions in life are her family, swimming and history.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wintour-Coghlan, Marelyn Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian women scientists Academic staff of the University of Melbourne Academic staff of Monash University Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Science