Researcher biography

Lisa Akison is a Lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences (SBMS) at the University of Queensland. She has previously conducted research using rodent models for over 25 years and has been a reproductive biologist since 2005. She completed her PhD (2013) and early Post-doctoral training at the Robinson Institute, University of Adelaide, where she examined the role of the nuclear progesterone receptor in ovarian and oviductal function during the periovulatory period. Her current research focus is on the developmental origins of health and disease, where she has examined developmental programming of ovarian function, glucose homeostasis, body composition, and kidney and adrenal gland function. In particular, she is interested in the impact of maternal periconceptional and prenatal alcohol exposure, examining impacts on the embryo, fetus and adult offspring. She is also interested in the role that the placenta plays in mediating these effects.

Lisa received training in systematic review and meta-analysis methodology in 2016 and has since published 8 systematic reviews, most in the area of prenatal alcohol exposure. She is currently involved in a large review for the evidence underlying the diagnostic criteria for Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD) with collaborators at the Child Health Research Centre, UQ. She now teaches critical appraisal of clinical studies and systematic review methodology to 3rd year biomedical science students, as well as endocrinology, physiology and histology. She has research interests in the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, and is a current member of the BIomedical Education Research Group at SBMS.