Dr Hayley Dickinson is a reproductive physiologist and obtained her PhD from Monash University in 2006. She is currently an NHMRC Career Development Fellow (Level 1). Her research is aimed at saving babies lives and reducing the life-long, multi-organ burden of major perinatal conditions such as birth asphyxia and intrauterine growth restriction, through targeted antenatal interventions. She uses the spiny mouse, a precocial rodent species, as her pre-clinical research tool, and has recently discovered that this species menstruates. She currently leads a series of clinical studies aimed at unravelling the role of creatine in pregnancy. Hayley is head of the Embryology and Placental Biology Research Group at The Ritchie Centre, Hudson Institute of Medical Research and leads a team of post-doctoral fellows, research nurses and PhD and honours students. Hayley is Secretary for the Australian and New Zealand DOHaD Council.