Research Fellow, Department of Perinatal Medicine Pregnancy Research Centre
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Dr Maria Irene Kokkinos
BSc (Honours), PhD
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Dr Maria Irene Kokkinos is a post-doctorate fellow in the Department of Perinatal Medicine at the Women's. Her research interests are in cell migration and growth and invasion.
Specifically, Maria is investigating the behaviour of placental cells in normal, and in two very significant pregnancy disorders, Fetal growth Restriction (FGR) and pre-eclampsia. The study addresses determining factors involved in regulating placental cells in the maternal environment and how these lead to the development of a healthy pregnancy.
As an undergraduate, Maria majored in genetics and microbiology, and received Australian Society for Microbiology awards in both second and third years.
Maria undertook her PhD at the Univeristy of Melbourne's Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology located at the Women's. Her thesis was entitled “The Aetiology of uterine leiomyomas and leiomyosarcomas”. Here, she investigated how benign and malignant tumours invade and develop in the uterus.
Following her PhD, she worked at the University of Surrey, UK in the Cancer Studies Group investigating CDK signalling in uterine tumours. Then she undertook a position in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Melbourne, and then proceeded to work as a post-doctorate in the Department of Surgery, University Melbourne, studying cancer cell migration and invasion.
Maria has supervised several undergraduate and AMS students and trained Honours candidates at the University of Melbourne. She is a member of Australian and New Zealand Placental Research Association. She has recently received a grant award from the Harold & Cora Brennen Trust.
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Key Publications:
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Kokkinos MI (2009).
A novel role for ac-FOX-01 in fetal membrane rupture.
Reproductive Sciences, 16:625.
Cain S, Martinez G, Kokkinos MI, Turner K, Richardson RJ, Abud HE, Huelsken J, Robinson ML, de Iongh RU. (2008)
Differential requirement for beta-catenin in epithelial and fiber cells during lens development.
Developmental Biology. 321(2):420-33.
Kokkinos MI, Wafai R, Wong MK, Newgreen DF, Thompson EW, and Waltham M. (2007)
Vimentin and Epithelial-to-Mesenchymal Transition in Human Breast Cancer – Observations In Vitro and In Vivo.
Cells Tissues Organs. 185(1-3):191-203. Review.
Kokkinos MI, Brown HJ, McAvoy JW, de Iongh RU. (2007)
Focal adhesion kinase expression in the lens.
Molecular Vision. 13:418-30.
Coley HM, Shotton CF, Kokkinos MI, Thomas H. (2007)
The effects of the CDK inhibitor seliciclib alone or in combination with cisplatin in human uterine sarcoma cell lines.
Gynecological Oncology. 102 (2):162-469.
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