Rate My Professor Amanda Sferruzzi-Perri

Professor Amanda N. Sferruzzi-Perri is University Professor of Fetal and Placental Physiology in the Department of Physiology, Development and Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge. Holding a BSc and PhD, she completed her doctoral training at the University of Adelaide in 2007. She serves as a Fellow, College Lecturer in Physiology and Reproductive Biology, and Tutor at St John's College, Cambridge. Her distinguished career trajectory includes Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Research Fellowship (2014-2019), Lister Institute of Preventive Medicine Research Fellowship (2018-2023), and Hans Sigrist Research Prize Fellowship (2020). As Theme Lead for Reproduction, Development and Lifelong Health in the School of the Biological Sciences, she directs a research laboratory exploring the environmental and genetic regulation of placental morphogenesis and function.

Sferruzzi-Perri's investigations focus on how placental development influences fetal growth, maternal metabolic and cardiovascular adaptations, and long-term offspring health, with implications for pregnancy complications such as gestational diabetes, preeclampsia, and abnormal birth weight. Utilizing mouse genetic models, environmental paradigms, in vivo functional assays, stereology, high-resolution respirometry, and RNA-sequencing, alongside human clinical data, her work elucidates molecular mechanisms in trophoblast differentiation and placental nutrient sensing. Key publications include 'Fetal manipulation of maternal metabolism is a critical function of Igf2 imprinting' (Lopez-Tello et al., Cell Metabolism, 2023), 'Obesity and gestational diabetes independently and collectively induce specific impacts on placental structure, inflammation, and endocrine function' (Musa et al., Journal of Physiology, 2023), 'Unbiased placental secretome characterization identifies candidates for pregnancy complications' (Napso et al., Communications Biology, 2021), and 'Pregnancy-induced changes in β-cell function: who are the key players?' (Salazar Petres and Sferruzzi-Perri, Journal of Physiology, in press). She leads multimillion-pound projects, including a £1.8 million study on extreme heat impacts during pregnancy and a £2 million effort to prevent malaria-related maternal and fetal deaths. Her contributions extend to identifying probiotics' potential in preventing miscarriage and preeclampsia through placental modulation.