Professor Claire Roberts

Professor Claire Roberts is a NHMRC Leadership Fellow and Professor and Matthew Flinders Fellow. She is Discipline Lead for Women's and Children's Health and directs research in the Pregnancy Health and Beyond Laboratory (PHaB Lab). She moved her research group to Flinders University in March 2020 after 25 years at University of Adelaide where she is an Adjunct Professor. She is an internationally recognized authority and thought leader in placenta and pregnancy research. She has a strong interest in genetic and modifiable lifestyle factors including maternal nutrition that contribute to health in pregnancy and long into the future for mother and child. She has lead research on large human pregnancy cohorts in Adelaide since 2005.

Claire's research is premised on the evidence-based concept that health in pregnancy foreshadows future health for mother and child. Therefore, it is imperative to understand the causes of pregnancy complications and to empower women and their care-givers with screening tools, information and co-designed early interventions to prevent the preventable. We cannot change our genetics but we can change our diet and lifestyle, hence our epigenetics, to reduce risks during pregnancy and into the future as women age and their children mature.