Professor John Bertram

Head, Department of Anatomy and Developmental Biology

John Bertram obtained his BSc (Honours) at the University of Western Australia and his PhD at Flinders University. Then followed postdoctoral positions at the University of Western Australia and the University of Washington in Seattle. In 1986, he was appointed Lecturer in the Department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at the University of Melbourne, and was subsequently promoted to Senior Lecturer, Associate Professor and Reader. In 1998, John was appointed Professor and Head of Anatomy and Developmental Biology in the School of Biomedical Sciences at Monash University.

John's research focuses on kidney and ureter development, and in particular the regulation of nephron number during embryonic development. This interest in kidney developmental biology informs his research on kidney disease and regeneration in adulthood. The group also researches the consequences of low nephron number in adulthood for kidney and cardiovascular health. In the latter case, research is focused on hypertension and kidney disease in Australian Aborigines, African Americans and Africans.

John is currently the Chair of the Healthy Start to Life Research research initiative of the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. This Consortium supports and enhances research at Monash focused on embryonic, fetal and postnatal development, and the consequences of suboptimal development for adult health. John is also the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Renal Regeneration Consortium.This Consortium, founded in 2001, is comprised of approximately 50 researchers based at Monash University and the University of Queensland who are developing new cell-based and factor-based therapies for patients with end stage renal disease. A major tool used throughout John's research has been stereology. John is a former President of the International Society for Stereology (www.stereologysociety.org).