Rate My Professor Elizabeth Bromfield

Dr. Elizabeth Bromfield is an Honorary Senior Lecturer in the School of Science and an ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow in the Priority Research Centre for Reproductive Science at the University of Newcastle, part of the College of Engineering, Science and Environment. She obtained her Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Biotechnology (Honours), and Bachelor of Biotechnology from the University of Newcastle. Bromfield's academic interests center on reproductive biology, including cell biology, fertility, lipids, molecular chaperones, oxidative stress, protein homeostasis, and redox biology. Her research examines how human sperm recognize and interact with the egg to improve in vitro fertilization outcomes and ensure the health of new individuals. Additional focuses include the role of molecular chaperones in protein complex assembly in gametes, links between in vitro ageing, protein aggregation, and molecular chaperone activity in the oocyte, the effect of lipid aldehydes on protein quality control in germ cells, and strategies to intervene in reactive oxygen species production in response to germ cell oxidative stress.

Bromfield has led major research funding efforts, securing an ARC DECRA Fellowship (2021-2023, $263,098) to fortify animal and plant germ cells against proteotoxic stress, an NHMRC Project Grant (2019-2021, $588,988) for targeted disruption of lipoxygenase enzymes preventing oxidative stress-mediated pathologies in the male germline, and an NHMRC Early Career Fellowship (2018-2021, $423,938). She has supervised the completion of five PhD theses and currently supervises one, covering topics such as male germ cell development and oxidative stress footprints, sperm function as conduits of systemic ill health, biological and environmental factors in oocyte quality, novel roles for seminal fluid extracellular vesicles, regulation of sperm function by lipoxygenase enzymes, and quality control in the female germline. Her publication portfolio comprises 68 journal articles, seven book chapters, conference papers, and preprints, including 'Advancing Understanding of the Protein Composition of Human Seminal Extracellular Vesicles' (Proteomics, 2026), 'Sperm Capacitation' (2025), 'Novel characterization of the HSPA2-stabilizing protein BAG6' (2015), and 'The impact of oxidative stress on chaperone-mediated human sperm–egg interaction' (Human Reproduction, 2015). These contributions advance knowledge in reproductive health and infertility treatments.