Dr Rebecca Lim - Researcher Profile

Biography

Rebecca works in the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing & Health Sciences at Monash University as a Research Fellow. She runs a research group at The Ritchie Centre located at the Monash Institute of Medical Research. Her keys areas of research encompass placental stem cells, oxidative stress and preeclampsia.

Bec obtained her PhD from the University of Western Australia in 2007. She is currently serving time as a research fellow at The Ritchie Centre, where she indulges in two of her key research interests – stem cell biology and oxidative stress. Since joining Professor Euan Wallace’s team in 2009, she has made headway into understanding the mechanisms by which human amnion epithelial cells (hAEC) mediate repair following lung, liver and brain injury as well as the interactions between hAEC and the immune system. Her other major research interest is in identifying the role of activin A in the pathophysiology of preeclampsia and the mechanism by which activin A induces oxidative stress in the maternal endothelium.

Qualifications

DOCTORATE OF PHILOSOPHY

Institution: University of Western Australia

Year awarded: 2007

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Institution: University of Western Australia

Year awarded: 2007

BIOMEDICAL SCIENCE & MOLECULAR BIOLOGY

Institution: Murdoch University

Year awarded: 2003

DIPLOMA IN BIOTECHNOLOGY

Institution: Temasek Polytechnic; Singapore

Year awarded: 2000

Publications

Book Chapters

Murphy, S., Rosli, S., Acharya, R., Mathias, L., Lim, R., Wallace, E., Jenkin, G., 2010, Amnion epithelial cell isolation and characterization for clinical use, in Current Protocols in Stem Cell Biology, eds Andrew Elfanty, Richard Gregory, Roger Patient, Thorsten Schlager, Evan Y. Snyder, Yukiko Yamashita, John Wiley & Sons, United States, pp. 1-25.

Chidgey, A., Seach, N., Lim, R., Boyd, R., 2010, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine - The Evolving Story, in Stem Cell Technologies - Basics and Applications, eds S Totey & K Deb, Tata McGraw-Hill Education Private Limited, USA, pp. 1-18.

Journal Articles

Hodges, R., Lim, R., Jenkin, G., Wallace, E., 2012, Amnion epithelial cells as a candidate therapy for acute and chronic lung injury, Stem Cells International [E], vol 2012, issue Art Id 709763, Hindawi Publishing Corporation, United States, pp. 1-7.

Milton, P., Dickinson, H., Jenkin, G., Lim, R., 2012, Assessment of Respiratory Physiology of C57BL/6 Mice following Bleomycin Administration Using Barometric Plethysmography, Respiration [P], vol 83, issue 3, Karger, Switzerland, pp. 1-14.

Vosdoganes, P., Lim, R.S.W., Moss, T.J.M., Wallace, E.M., 2012, Cell therapy: a novel treatment approach for bronchopulmonary dysplasia, Pediatrics [P], vol 130, issue 4, American Academy of Pediatrics, United States, pp. 727-737.

Murphy, S., Shiyun, S.C., Tan, J., Chan, S.T., Jenkin, G., Wallace, E.M., Lim, R.S.W., 2012, Human amnion epithelial cells do not abrogate pulmonary fibrosis in mice with impaired macrophage function, Cell Transplantation [P], vol 21, issue 7, Cognizant Communication Corporation, United States, pp. 1477-1492.

Murphy, S., Lim, R.S.W., Heraud, P.R., Cholewa, M., Le Gros, M.A., de Jong, M.D., Howard, D., Paterson, D.J., McDonald, C., Atala, A., Jenkin, G., Wallace, E.M., 2012, Human amnion epithelial cells induced to express functional cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, PLoS ONE [P], vol 7, issue 9 (Art. ID: e46533), Public Library Of Science, United States, pp. 1-8.

Hodges, R., Jenkin, G., Hooper, S., Allison, B., Lim, R., Dickinson, H., Miller, S., Vosdoganes, P., Wallace, E., 2012, Human amnion epithelial cells reduce ventilation-induced preterm lung injury in fetal sheep , American Journal Of Obstetrics And Gynecology [P], vol 206, issue 5 (Art. No.: 448), Mosby Inc., United States, pp. 8-15.

Vosdoganes, P., Hodges, R., Lim, R., Westover, A., Acharya, R., Wallace, E., Moss, T., 2011, Human amnion epithelial cells as a treatment for inflammation-induced fetal lung injury in sheep, American Journal Of Obstetrics And Gynecology [P], vol 205, issue 2 (Art. No: 156), Mosby, Inc., United States, pp. e26-e33.

Murphy, S., Lim, R., Dickinson, H., Acharya, R., Rosli, S., Jenkin, G., Wallace, E., 2011, Human amnion epithelial cells prevent bleomycin-induced lung injury and preserve lung function, Cell Transplantation [P], vol 20, issue 6, Cognizant Communication Corp., United States, pp. 909-923.

Lim, R., Sobey, C., 2011, Maternal nicotine exposure and fetal programming of vascular oxidative stress in adult offspring, British Journal of Pharmacology [P], vol 164, issue 5, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, United Kingdom, pp. 1397-1399.

Knight, B., Lim, R., Yeoh, G., Olynyk, J., 2007, Interferon-gamma exacerbates liver damage, the hepatic progenitor cell response and fibrosis in a mouse model of chronic liver injury, Journal Of Hepatology [P], vol 47, issue 6, Elsevier BV, Netherlands, Denmark, pp. 826-833.

Lim, R., Knight, B., Patel, K., McHutchison, J., Yeoh, G., Olynyk, J., 2006, Antiproliferative effects of interferon alpha on hepatic progenitor cells in vitro and in vivo, Hepatology [P], vol 43, issue 5, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., United States, pp. 1074-1083.

Postgraduate Research Supervisions

Current Supervision

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

A Double-Blind, Randomised PlaceboControlled Trial of Pravastatin to Ameliorate Preeclampsia (PAP).

Supervisors:

Wallace, E (Main), Lim, R (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Determining dose effects of hAECs in the experimental treatment of BPD.

Supervisors:

Lim, R (Main), Wallace, E (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Identifying potential therapeutics for pre-eclapsia.

Supervisors:

Lim, R (Main), Armitage, J (Associate), Wallace, E (Associate).

Program of Study:

(DOCTORATE BY RESEARCH).

Thesis Title:

Identifying the role of macrophages in human amnion epithelial cell mediated lung repair.

Supervisors:

Lim, R (Main), Wallace, E (Associate).

Completed Supervision

Student:

Milton, P.

Program of Study:

Mesenchymal stem cells as a therapeutic agent in models of pulmonary inflammation and fibrosis. (PHD) 2009.

Supervisors:

Jenkin, G (Main), Dickinson, H (Associate), Lim, R (Associate).

Student:

Murphy, S.

Program of Study:

Placental stem cells as a treatment for lung disease. (PHD) 2011.

Supervisors:

Jenkin, G (Main), Lim, R (Associate), Wallace, E (Associate).

Student:

Pilapil, M.

Program of Study:

Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia. 2011.

Supervisors:

Lim, R (Joint), Wallace, E (Joint-Co).

Student:

Tan, J.

Program of Study:

TBD. 2011.

Supervisors:

Lim, R (Joint), Wallace, E (Joint-Co).