Mark Hedger

Associate Professor Hedger is an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow at the MIMR-PHI Institute of Medical Research, with an adjunct appointment at Monash University. He received his PhD from Monash University in 1984 and has been a NIH Visiting Fellow (1984-1987), Australian Postdoctoral Fellow (1987-1990) and RD Wright Fellow (1990-1994). His research background is in reproductive physiology, endocrinology and immunology. He is recognised internationally for his contributions to reproductive immunology, a discipline that combines two conventionally separate research strengths. The central themes of his research are the unique interactions between the male reproductive tract and the immune system, and the reproductive biology and immunobiology of activin and its binding protein, follistatin. This research has major health implications for infertility, reproductive tract infections, testicular cancer and contraception, as well as inflammatory disease and transplantation medicine. He has been a member of the Society for Reproductive Biology since 1980 and has served on numerous committees of the Society, including terms as Secretary (1994-1996) and President (2008-2012) of the Society.