Deborah Sloboda

Senior Research Fellow
Deputy Director, National Research Centre for Growth and Development
BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD

Contact details

Phone: +64 9 923 3016
Email: d.sloboda@auckland.ac.nz

Key research interests

• Developmental programming
• fetal physiology
• reproductive health
• hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis
• fetal pancreatic development.

Dr Sloboda is a fetal physiologist who did her PhD at the University of Toronto focusing on the fetal hypothalamic-pituitary adrenal axis and the effects of stress hormones during pregnancy on fetal pancreatic development. In 2001 she received a fellowship from the Women's and Infants' Research Foundation, where she became the Forrest Fetal Fellow at The University of Western Australia.

Here, Dr Sloboda continued her investigations on fetal endocrine development and established a new research platform involving a prospective cohort study (The Raine Study Cohort) investigating the prenatal origins of reproductive disorders and the onset of puberty in adolescent girls. In 2006 Dr Sloboda was recruited to the Liggins Institute where she has combined her interest in fetal programming and reproduction and collaborates with Dr Mark Vickers and Prof Peter Gluckman investigating the effects of early life nutrition on reproductive health.

She maintains her interest in fetal physiology, investigating fetal pancreatic development in collaboration with Associate Professor Frank Bloomfield and Professor Jane Harding.

Dr Sloboda's research is featured in The University of Auckland's Research Works Wonders video series.
Watch video

Member of the following scientific societies:
American Endocrine Society
Endocrine Society of Australia
American Physiological Society
Developmental Origins of Health and Disease
Fetal and Neonatal Physiological Society
Perinatal Society of Australia and New Zealand

1. Hickey M, Doherty DA, Hart R, Norman R, Newnham JP, Mattes E, Atkinson H, Sloboda DM. Maternal and umbilical cord androgen concentrations do not predict digit ratio (2D:4D) in girls: a prospective cohort study (2010) (accepted) Psychoneurendocrinology. IF: 4.442

2. Whitehouse A, Maybery M, Mattes E, Hart R, Sloboda DM, Stanley FJ, Newnham JP, and Hickey M (2010). Fetal androgen exposure and pragmatic language ability of girls in middle childhood: Implications for the extreme male-brain theory of autism Psychoneurendocrinology (accepted).

3. Hart R, Sloboda DM, Doherty D, Norman R, Atkinson H, Dickinson J, Hickey M (2010) Circulating maternal testosterone concentrations at 18 weeks gestation predict circulating AMH

4. in adolescence: a prospective cohort study Fertility and Sterility (accepted).

5. Hart R, Hickey M, Doherty D, Norman R, Atkinson H, Dickinson J, Sloboda DM (2010). Serum Anti-Mullerian Hormone (AMH) levels are elevated in adolescent girls with polycystic ovaries and the Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). Fertility and Sterility doi:10.1016/j.fertnstert.2009.11.002.

6. Braun T, , Li S, Sloboda DM, Li W, Moss TJM, Matthews SG, Newnham JP, Challis JRG. (2009) Effects of maternal dexamethasone treatment in early pregnancy on pituitary-adrenal axis in sheep. Endocrinology Dec;150(12):5466-77. Epub 2009 Oct 21.

7. Hart R, Sloboda DM, Doherty D, Norman R, Atkinson H, Newnham JP, Dickinson J, Hickey M (2009) Prenatal determinants of uterine volume and ovarian reserve in adolescence Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.Dec;94(12):4931-7. Epub 2009 Oct 21. Impact Factor: 5.799

8. Whitehouse A, Maybery M, Hart R, Sloboda DM, Stanley FJ, Newnham JP, and Hickey M (2009) Umbilical cord free testosterone levels predict infant head circumference in girls Developmental Medicine and Child Neurology [Epub ahead of print].

9. Sloboda DM, Howie G., Gluckman PD., Vickers M.H. (2009) Pre- and postnatal nutritional histories influence reproductive maturation and ovarian function in the rat. PLoS One. Aug 25;4(8):e6744.

10. Sloboda DM, Beedle A, Cupido C, Gluckman PD, Vickers MH. (2009) Impaired perinatal growth and longevity: a life history perspective. Current Gerentology and Geriatrics Research 2009:608740. Epub 2009 Sep 6

11. Hickey M, Sloboda DM, Atkinson, H, Doherty D, Franks S, Norman, R, Newnham, JP, Hart R. (2009) The relationship between maternal and umbilical cord androgen levels and Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome in adolescence: A prospective cohort study. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism Oct;94 (10):3714-20. Impact Factor: 5.799 [accompanied by an editorial report]

12. Howie G, Sloboda DM, Kamal T, Vickers MH. (2009) A maternal high fat diet either preconceptionally and/or throughout pregnancy and lactation leads to obesity in offspring independent of postnatal diet Journal of Physiology 587 (4): 905-915. Impact Factor: 4.658

13. Gatford K.L., Owen J.A., Li S., Moss TJM, Newnham JP, Challis JRG, Sloboda D.M. (2008) Repeated betamethasone treatment of pregnant sheep programs persistent reductions in circulating IGF-I and IGF-binding proteins in progeny. American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism (under revision)

14. Pedrana G, Sloboda DM, Perez W., Newnham JP, Martin G.B. (2008) Effects of prenatal glucocorticoids on testicular development in sheep. (accepted) Anatomia Histologia Embriologia

15. Sloboda D.M., Moss T.J.M., Matthews S.G., Challis J.R.G and Newnham J.P. (2008) Effects of prenatal betamethasone on hippocampal corticosteroid receptor and 11ß-hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase expression in the fetal, neonatal and adult sheep. Journal of Endocrinology (in press)

16. Sloboda DM., Moss T.J.M., Li S, Doherty D.A., Nitsos I., Challis J.R.G., Newnham J.P.(2007) Prenatal betamethasone exposure results in pituitary-adrenal hypo-responsiveness in adult sheep. American Journal of Physiology, Endocrinology and Metabolism; 292(1):E61-70

17. Sloboda DM, Hart R, Doherty DA, Pennell C, Hickey M. (2007) Age at menarche: Influences of Prenatal and Postnatal Growth. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism; 92(1); 46-50. **article was sited by Reuters Health and many other online health references**

“I am always ready to meet with prospective students regarding current and future projects. Ours is an exciting and cohesive group of established investigators, postdoctoral fellows, technicians and students at various levels of training, that enjoy science and what life in research has to offer.”