The Australian Early Origins of Hypertension Workshop: A celebration of the scientific contributions made by Emeritus Scientia Professor Eugenie R Lumbers AM and Professor Caroline McMillen

The concept of fetal programming was introduced by Professor David Barker in the late 1980s based on his studies of birth weight and its correlation with death from cardiovascular diseases in adult life. Although this hypothesis was initially met with criticism, it has grown to be well accepted since the mid-1990s. However, the mechanisms underlying the link between a suboptimal intrauterine environment, the early postnatal period and health in adult life have been difficult to determine. Two outstanding fetal physiologists have made significant contributions to our understanding of the mechanistic links between alterations in the intrauterine environment and health in adult life: Professors Eugenie Lumbers and Caroline McMillen. Their remarkable contributions were celebrated recently at the Australian Early Origins of Hypertension Workshop, a satellite to the International Society for Hypertension meeting in September 2012. Forty national and international experts gathered to share their work, particularly as it relates to aspects of the contributions made by Caroline and Eugenie. Some of the studies discussed at the meeting are presented in this themed issue. Eugenie Lumbers graduated with an MBBS from University of Adelaide and was subsequently awarded a Doctorate in Medicine from that university. In 1971, she became the first female recipient of the NHRMC CJ Martin Fellowship that led her to the Nuffield Institute for Medical Research in Oxford (1972–1973). On her return to Australia and appointment as a Senior Lecturer in 1974, she established her own laboratory at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) and has been consistently funded by the Australian Research Council, the National Health and Medical Research Council, Australian Kidney Foundation and the National Heart Foundation. In 1992, Eugenie was awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Teaching Excellence. In 1993, she served on the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee for Women in Science Engineering and Technology. In 1999, Eugenie became a Scientia Professor, the first female Scientia Professor at UNSW. In 2002, she was elected to the Australian Academy of Science and received the Centenary Medal of Federation. In 2002, she was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW. In 2012, she was awarded an Order of Australia. Professor Lumbers’ research has been broad-based: she has studied both cardiovascular and fluid and electrolyte physiology in the adult, the fetus and the newborn. She has been particularly interested in the role and actions of the renin–angiotensin system (RAS), in both animal models and humans. She discovered inactive renin (prorenin) and, with Brian Morris, demonstrated that it was activated by proteases. Most of her work in some way relates to the development of the cardiovascular system and kidney, including development of neural control of the circulation and programming. Eugenie has also made contributions to fetal gene therapy. Her current interests are related to the roles of the renin–angiotensin system in human placentation and in pregnancy-associated hypertension, as well as programming of renal diseases. She also has interests in the role of cardiac function in preterm neonatal hypotension. Eugenie is also studying the repositioning of drugs that block the renin–angiotensin system as potential anticancer drugs. Caroline McMillen graduated with a BA (Hons) and Doctor of Philosophy at Oxford University before completing her medical degree at the University of Cambridge. She moved to Australia to take up a Lectureship at Monash University, and was appointed as Chair and Head of Physiology at the University of Adelaide in 1992. She served as Dean of the Faculty of Science and as Director of the Research Centre for the Early Origins of Adult Disease at the University of Adelaide and was appointed as Pro/Deputy Vice Chancellor Research and Innovation at the University of South Australia (UniSA) in 2005. Caroline’s most recent appointment in 2011 is as Vice Chancellor at the University of Newcastle (New South Wales). Her research has been supported by the Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council for over 20 years. She was ranked in the top 1% of all Web of Science authors for the last decade in the subject area of Biology and Biochemistry. Caroline has published seminal papers on the development of neuroendocrine control of cortisol in the developing fetus, dissecting the impact of fetal growth restriction on the developmental capacity of the cells in the pituitary, which are responsible for the stimulation of cortisol synthesis and secretion. Caroline’s early work on the effects of placental insufficiency on the sympathoadrenal system, and on fetal growth, draw together the key components that link intrauterine growth retardation because of placental insufficiency (the major cause of IUGR in Western nations) as a key link in the DOHAD concept. Carolines’s group made the observation *Address for correspondence: Janna L. Morrison, Heart Foundation South Australian Cardiovascular Network Research Fellow Head, Early Origins of Adult Health Research Group, School of Pharmacy and Medical Sciences, Sansom Institute for Health Research, University of South Australia, GPO Box 2471, Adelaide, SA 5001, Australia. (Email Janna.Morrison@unisa.edu.au)