Prof Tu’uhevaha Kaitu’u-Lino

Tu'uhevaha leads the Diagnostics Discovery and Reverse Translation Group within the research arm of Mercy Perinatal.  

Tu’uhevaha works closely with Prof Stephen Tong, Prof Sue Walker and Dr Teresa MacDonald where she leads the laboratory studies to identify new factors that are deranged within the bloodstream of women preceding their diagnosis of fetal growth restriction, preeclampsia or macrosomia. She hopes that identifying novel factors will contribute to the greater research theme of developing blood tests that could be used clinically to identify women at risk.  

She is also using the information she gains from her diagnostics work to research how and why these diseases may be occurring. Her vision is that a better understanding of these mechanisms will help us find new targets that therapeutics could be directed towards.  

She has published widely in many areas including ectopic pregnancy, preeclampsia and fetal growth restriction and has attracted over $10 million dollars in grant funding that has supported her research efforts, including numerous prestigious NHMRC fellowships. Prof Kaitu’u-Lino is also part of the consortium that obtained a prestigious NHMRC Synergy Grant in 2020. 

Tu’uhevaha is a generous contributor to her discipline.  She is a council member for the Society for Reproductive Biology and has previously served on the Board of the Australian Society for Medical Research. She regularly reviews for national and international funding bodies, scientific societies and medical and scientific journals. She takes pride in mentoring the next generation of scientists and clinician scientists through undergraduate and HDR supervision.  She is also a passionate scientific communicator, regularly presenting to the wider public. In recognition of this, she was awarded Victorian Tall Poppy of the Year in 2012. A mother of four, Prof Kaitu’u-Lino is also an advocate for women in STEMM.