NEONATAL RESPIRATORY TRIALS IN SICK & PRETERM NEWBORN INFANTS
Professor Brett J. Manley, Consultant Neonatologist
Mercy Hospital For Women, Melbourne & Professor of Neonatal Medicine, Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health, University of Melbourne, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Melbourne, Australia | August 2025
Professor Brett J. Manley is a Consultant Neonatologist at the Mercy Hospital for Women in Melbourne, Australia, and a Professor of Neonatology in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health at The University of Melbourne. His research is supported by a fellowship from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), Australia.
He divides his work time between being a clinician in the neonatal intensive care unit (NICU), and a clinical researcher. He is passionate about caring for sick and preterm newborn infants and contributing to the evidence base for their care, to improve their shorter- and longer-term outcomes.
Prof Manley leads and collaborates on large national and international randomised clinical trials in neonatology. He previously collaborated on 4 randomised trials of nasal high-flow as non-invasive respiratory support for preterm and term infants, all of which were published in N Engl J Med. Recently he led the PLUSS trial of intratracheal budesonide for extremely preterm infants, that recruited in 21 NICUs across 4 countries, the results of which were published in JAMA. PLUSS was awarded the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance Trial of the Year in 2025. Another passion of his is mentoring and supervising early career researchers to undertake their own clinical trials.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0212-7956
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Biopsychosocial approaches to obsessive-compulsive, body image and eating disorders
Dr Nicola Acevedo is a Neuroscientist and Research Fellow with extensive expertise in developing novel therapeutics for neurological and psychiatric disorders, contributing to more than ten clinical trials. She specialises in brain stimulation and psychedelic treatments for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and related conditions, with a strong commitment to advancing personalised, evidence-based neurobiological therapies for severe psychiatric illness. Her approach integrates biopsychosocial and person-centred principles to improve treatment access and mental health outcomes.
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Novel forms of brain stimulation & psychedelic assisted psychotherapy
Professor Paul Fitzgerald is the Head of the School of Medicine and Psychology at the Australian National University. He is an academic psychiatrist with a MBBS degree, Masters of Psychological Medicine and research PhD. He has conducted an extensive range of experimental studies and clinical trials, focused on the development of novel treatment options for patients with mental health conditions such as depression, schizophrenia, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, autism and Alzheimer’s disease.
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CASE STUDY Next Generation Condom Contraception
Eudaemon Technologies, an early-stage medtech company with a focus on sexual reproductive health, is developing a hydrogel condom to address the need for a better feeling, next generation condom, with the potential to improve user experience and address issues with traditional latex condoms.
“Over 1 million STI’s being diagnosed every day and up to 120 million unplanned pregnancies every year result in a $60 billion health burden across the globe”, says Co-Founder and Executive Director of Operations, Dr Simon Cook.
Formed in 2018, the company focuses on developing tough hydrogels as an alternative to address issues with odour, colour, and taste commonly associated with latex condoms. This technology can be loaded with small molecule drugs for flavours or anti-STI compounds, and was developed in response to a grant from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to address unplanned pregnancies and STIs.
