Rate My Professor Jonathan Paul

Associate Professor Jonathan Paul, NHMRC Investigator Fellow at the University of Newcastle's School of Medicine and Public Health, serves as Co-Director of the Mothers and Babies Research Program within the Hunter Medical Research Institute. He holds a PhD in Biological Science, a Bachelor of Biotechnology (Honours), and a Bachelor of Biotechnology, all from the University of Newcastle. As leader of the Myometrial Research Group and the Reproductive Nanomedicine Program, his work centers on reproductive medicine, investigating mechanisms that trigger spontaneous premature uterine contractions leading to preterm birth. Paul develops nanoparticle-based strategies for uterine-targeted delivery of therapeutics, including contraction-blocking drugs, regulators of inflammatory signalling, and nucleic acid therapeutics, to ensure babies are born at the ideal time and weight.

Throughout his career as a Senior Research Fellow in the Mothers and Babies Research Program, Paul has secured over $7 million in funding, yielding significant scientific advances and international patents for preterm birth prevention therapies. He earned the President’s New Investigator Award from the Society for Reproductive Investigation in 2015 and the Don Angus Memorial Award from the University of Newcastle Faculty of Science and IT in 2001. Key publications include 'Preventing Preterm Birth: The Search for Tocolytic Synergism' (2025, Hossain et al.), '20α-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Expression in the Human Myometrium at Term and Preterm Birth: Relationships to Fetal Sex and Maternal Body Mass Index' (2023), 'Regulation of 20α-Hydroxysteroid Dehydrogenase Expression in Term Pregnant Human Myometrium Ex Vivo' (2024), and book chapters such as 'Maintenance of Pregnancy and Parturition' (2026, 2025, 2020). Paul has delivered invited talks at conferences including the Society for Reproductive Investigation (2021, 2020), Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand (2023), and Society of Maternal-Fetal Medicine (2019). His innovations in targeting therapeutic nanoparticles to uterine muscle cells have gained international recognition for advancing maternal and fetal health outcomes.