Bulletin

Issue: April 2006

News

Collaboration on reproductive science research

La Trobe University is involved in collaborative research with leading British reproductive scientist, Professor Martin Johnson.

Professor of Reproductive Sciences at the University of Cambridge and Fellow of Christ’s College, Professor Johnson is currently a Distinguished Fellow at La Trobe’s Institute for Advanced Study (IAS).

Dr Kerry Petersen, an Associate Professor in La Trobe University’s School of Law, is collaborating with Professor Johnson on a number of inter-disciplinary projects as a result of his IAS Fellowship.

Together they are writing an article on public interest issues in the regulation of assisted reproductive technologies.

Professor Johnson was the first graduate student of Bob Edwards, ‘father’ of IVF who achieved the first in vitro fertilization.

During his visit to La Trobe, Professor Johhnson gave a presentation at a public seminar organised by La Trobe’s Law School, La Trobe’s Australian Research Centre in Sex, Health and Society ARCSHS) and the Victorian Infertility Treatment Authority, at the John Scott Meeting House in early March.

As well, he gave a seminar in mid-March at the IAS in which he explored the genetic and other biological influences on the development of individuals.

Dr Petersen specialises in the area of human reproduction law, particularly in assisted reproductive technologies (ART).

Over the last few years she has worked on projects with ARCSHS Director, Professor Marian Pitts, and Professor Gordon Baker, an infertility specialist in the Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Royal Women’s Hospital.

They have conducted a survey comparing the impact of legal and professional regulation on ART clinics in NSW and Victoria and found considerable differences in practice between the two states. This survey was published in the Journal of Law and Medicine. They are planning further projects.

Dr Petersen was awarded an Australian Bicentennial Fellowship by the Menzies Centre King’s College London in 2004 to visit the Centre for Family Research (CFR) at the University of Cambridge in 2005. She spent three months at the CFR examining recent ART regulatory developments in the UK.

Some of this research is included in the chapter ‘Genetic Technologies and ART: legal regulation, self-regulation and ethical values’ in the book Disputes and Dilemmas in Health Law which Dr Petersen co-edited with La Trobe Adjunct Professor in the School of Law, Dr Ian Freckelton.

Federation Press will publish Disputes and Dilemmas in Health Law in July 2006.