UQCCR Seminar Series with Thiago Lopes Silva and Dr Chenxi Zhou

Examining the Impact of the I-DECIDED Tool on Recording Decision-Making in Pediatrics: A Comprehensive Multi-Method Study - by Thiago Lopes Silva

Bio: My name is Thiago Lopes Silva, I’m PhD candidate at the Nursing Post Graduate Program of the Federal University of Santa Catarina (PEN/UFSC), based on Florianopolis city, an island in the south of Brazil. My research area is patient safety and vascular access, so my PhD study is "Effect of the I-DECIDEDⓇ tool on the decision-making record for peripheral intravenous catheters in pediatrics: a multi-method study," where I performed the transcultural adaptation of the I-DECIDEDⓇ tool into Brazilian Portuguese and applied the tool in a pediatric unit. Therefore, I came to Brisbane for 6 months to analyze the data under the supervision of Professor Amanda Ullman and Dr. Gillian Ray-Baruel. 

Somatic cells prevent oocyte aneuploidy by Dr Chenxi Zhou

Dr Chenxi Zhou is a post-doctoral scientist in Professor Homer’s Oocyte and Embryology Research group at UQCCR. Chenxi was awarded his PhD in reproductive physiology by the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He then continued his postdoctoral research at the University of Virginia and the University of Ottawa, prior to relocating to Queensland.  

Chenxi’s research focuses on oocyte maturation and preimplantation embryo development. He has a longstanding interest in understanding the cellular basis of infertility by unravelling how healthy oocytes (eggs) and embryos are made, specialising in high-resolution live-cell imaging and cell biology approaches.  

Aneuploidy in oocytes not only results in infertility due to embryonic lethality but is also the major cause of birth defects such as Down syndrome. It has long been recognized that the majority of human aneuploidy is the consequence of problems in oocytes, which intensify with ageing. Highly significantly, oocyte development occurs in close conjunction with surrounding somatic cells within ovarian follicles. Whilst the importance of somatic cells in supporting oocyte growth and development is well-established, there is limited understanding of their contribution to preventing oocyte aneuploidy. 

Chenxi will present his recent research highlighting the critical role of somatic cells in regulating the fidelity of oocyte meiotic chromosome segregation. His findings uncover a novel extracellular mechanism mediated by somatic follicular cells, which plays a crucial role in preventing the occurrence of oocyte aneuploidy.