Dr Megan Penno
Grant-Funded Researcher (C)
Adelaide Medical School
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
- My Research
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Dr Megan Penno (BSc Hons PhD, University of Melbourne) is the National Project Manager for the Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) study and Grant-Funded Research at the University of Adelaide, Australia. ENDIA is the first study in the world to explore how environmental exposures from pregnancy through early life may contribute to, or protect against, the development of childhood type 1 diabetes. Dr Penno was appointed to manage ENDIA at the project’s inception in 2012 and has played an integral role in establishing and expanding the cohort, which completed recruitment of 1500 mother-infant dyads in late 2019. Drawing on her skills in ‘omics research, Dr Penno was the first author of the published ENDIA protocol and developed the sample and data collection strategies that will underpin all future investigations involving ENDIA participants. She has contributed to numerous successful national and international funding applications relating to ENDIA with a total value exceeding AU$30m over the past 5 years. Her research interests include biomarker discovery for disease risk stratification.
For more information about the ENDIA study please visit our website at http://www.endia.org.au
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Appointments
Date Position Institution name 2019 - ongoing Grant Funded Researcher University of Adelaide 2015 - 2018 Academic Research Clinical Coordinator University of Adelaide 2012 - 2014 Senior Clinical Research Coordinator University of Adelaide 2007 - 2012 Post-doctoral fellow University of Adelaide 2006 - 2006 Grant Funded Scientist Hanson Institute -
Awards and Achievements
Date Type Title Institution Name Country Amount 2022 Research Award Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences Executive Dean's Award for Research Excellence (mid-career) The University of Adelaide Australia - 2020 Award IDS 17th Congress High-Scoring Abstracts Award Immunology of Diabetes Society China - 2018 Award CUDOS 2018 Conference poster prize Sidra Medicine Qatar - 2018 Nomination JDRF Australia & Macquarie Group Foundation Future Leader Program JDRF Australia Australia - 2014 Award Robinson Research Institute Travel Award University of Adelaide, Robinson Research Institute Australia $1,100 2011 Award Research Career Development Network (RCDN) Workshop Award University of Adelaide, School of Molecular and Biomedical Sciences Australia $2,000 2008 Award Overseas Conference Scheme Travel Award University of Adelaide, Faculty of Science Australia $2,000 2004 Award American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Graduate Travel Award The American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology United States US$1,000 2004 Award Dawson Bursary The University of Melbourne Australia $6,000 2004 Award School of Botany Travel Scholarship The University of Melbourne, School of Botany Australia - 2003 Scholarship Sir John and Lady Higgins Research Scholarship The University of Melbourne Australia $70,000 -
Language Competencies
Language Competency English Can read, write, speak, understand spoken and peer review -
Education
Date Institution name Country Title 2003 - 2007 University of Melbourne Australia PhD 1999 - 2002 University of Melbourne Australia BSc (Honours) -
Research Interests
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Journals
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Book Chapters
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Conference Papers
Year Citation 2022 Haynes, A., Tully, A., Smith, G. J., Penno, M. A. S., Craig, M. E., Wentworth, J. M., . . . Davis, E. A. (2022). Continuous glucose monitoring identifies early dysglycaemia in very young children at risk of type 1 diabetes being followed in the Australian ENDIA pregnancy cohort study. In DIABETOLOGIA Vol. 65 (pp. S173-S174). SWEDEN, Stockholm: SPRINGER. 2019 Haynes, A., Giles, L., Penno, M., Thomson, R., McGorm, K., Colman, P., . . . ENDIA Study Group. (2019). Cohort profile: the Australia-wide environmental determinants of islet autoimmunity (ENDIA) study. In Diabetologia Vol. 62 (pp. S139-S140). Barcelona, Spain: Springer. 2019 Begum, M., Pilkington, R. M., Chittleborough, C. R., Lynch, J. W., Penno, M., & Smithers, L. G. (2019). MATERNAL SMOKING DURING PREGNANCY AND RISK OF TYPE 1 DIABETES: WHOLE-OF-POPULATION STUDY. In JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH Vol. 73 (pp. A36-A37). BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP.
2019 Begum, M., Chittleborough, C. R., Pilkington, R. M., Mittinty, M., Lynch, J. W., Penno, M., & Smithers, L. G. (2019). EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES AMONG CHILDREN WITH TYPE 1 DIABETES: WHOLE-OF-POPULATION STUDY. In JOURNAL OF EPIDEMIOLOGY AND COMMUNITY HEALTH Vol. 73 (pp. A55-A56). BMJ PUBLISHING GROUP.
2017 Thomson, R., Penno, M. A., Battersby, R., & Couper, J. (2017). Are pregnant women meeting the Australian dietary guidelines? A comparison of women with and without Type 1 diabetes. In Journal of Nutrition and Intermediary Metabolism Vol. 8 (pp. 76-77). Melbourne: Elsevier.
2012 Sciacca, B., François, A., Penno, M., Brazzatti, J., Klingler-Hoffmann, M., Hoffmann, P., & Monro, T. (2012). Radiative-SPR platform for the detection of apolipoprotein E for use in medical diagnostics. In Progress in Biomedical Optics and Imaging - Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 8234 (pp. 8 pages). San Francisco, USA: SPIE.
Scopus12011 François, A., Courtney, J., Penno, M., Hoffmann, P., & Monro, T. (2011). A novel optical-fiber based surface plasmon resonance sensing architecture and its application to gastric cancer diagnostics. In W. Bock, J. Albert, & X. Bao (Eds.), Proceedings of SPIE Vol. 7753 (pp. 1-4). Ottawa, Canada: SPIE.
Scopus32008 Kopetz, V., Penno, M., Hoffmann, P., & Beltrame, J. (2008). Plasma Proteomic Investigations in the Coronary Slow Flow Phenomenon: Exploring Mechanisms for the Acute Coronary Syndrome Presentation. In Heart, Lung and Circulation Vol. 17 (pp. S235). Elsevier BV.
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Conference Items
Year Citation 2023 Thomson, R. L., Brown, J. D., Oakey, H., Penno, M. A. S., Battersby, R., Ashwood, P., . . . Couper, J. J. (2023). A comparison of lifestyle during pregnancy against Australian recommendations of women with and without type 1 diabetes from the Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity study. Poster session presented at the meeting of PROCEEDINGS OF THE NUTRITION SOCIETY. CAMBRIDGE UNIV PRESS.
2018 Harbison, J. E., Roth-Schulze, A. J., Barry, S. C., Tran, C. D., Ngui, K., Penno, M. A., . . . Couper, J. (2018). Gut Microbiome Dysbiosis and Increased Intestinal Permeability in Australian Children with Islet Autoimmunity and Type 1 Diabetes. Poster session presented at the meeting of DIABETES. Orlando, FL: AMER DIABETES ASSOC.
WoS12017 Kim, K. W., Allen, D. W., Briese, T., Pang, C. N., Jain, K., Horton, J. L., . . . Craig, M. E. (2017). Gut Virome Dynamics during Pregnancy in Mothers with Type 1 Diabetes. Poster session presented at the meeting of Abstracts of the 77th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, as published in Diabetes. San Diego, CA: American Diabetes Association. -
Patents
Year Citation 2015 Hoffmann, P., Penno, M., & Ernst, M. R. W. (2015). BIOMARKERS FOR GASTRIC CANCER AND USES THEREOF. -
Figures
Year Citation - Penno, M. (n.d.). Operational framework for the conduct of the ENDIA study visits during the COVID-19 pandemic.
I have significantly contributed to numerous successful funding applications totalling >AU$31 million in the past 5 years:
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2023 Croatian Science Foundation (Hrvatske zaklade za znanost), Research projects (Istraživački projekti) ‘Glycosylation of complement component C3 in development of type 1 diabetes and autoimmunity’ (Gornik O, Keser T, Rudman N, Kifer D, Pape-Medvidovic E, Vucic Lovrencic M, Penno M, Morahan G). AU$309,284.51
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2023 NHMRC EU Collaborative Research Grant ‘Characterising viruses that promote the development of type 1 diabetes’ (Kim KW, Craig M, Foster C, Walker G, Harrison L, Rawlinson W, Couper J, Penno M, Mallitt K, Oakey H). AU$499,999.45
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2023 JDRFA T1DCRN and Helmsley Charitable Trust Partnership Establishing immune, endocrine, and exocrine signatures of type 1 diabetes progression in longitudinally sampled peripheral blood from the ENDIA nested case control study (Wasserfall C, Couper J, Penno M). AU$226,897.31
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2023 JDRFA T1DCRN and Helmsley Charitable Trust Partnership Deep milk: comprehensive multi-omics to resolve the role of human breastmilk in type 1 diabetes risk (Burugupalli S, Hamilton-Williams E, Harrison L, Oakey H, Penno M, Thomson R, Wentworth J, Huynh D, Meikle P, Packer N, Paul S, George A). AU$795,973.96
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2023 JDRFA T1DCRN and Helmsley Charitable Trust Partnership ‘The effect of metabolism in pregnancy upon islet autoimmunity and pancreatic beta cell function in offspring’ (Meek C, Couper J, Penno M, Hamilton-Williams E, Wentworth J). AU$792,694.17
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2023 JDRFA T1DCRN and Helmsley Charitable Trust Partnership ‘Familial Sharing of Gut Microbes and Mobile Genetic Elements in the ENDIA Study’ (Vatanen T, Harrison L, Penno M). AU$401,065.74
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2023 JDRFA T1DCRN and Helmsley Charitable Trust Partnership Epigenomic ‘Mechanisms of the Maternal Protection in Type 1 Diabetes’ (Johnson R, Penno M, Norris J, Kechris K, Barry S, Couper J, Wong Y). AU$799,998.64
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2023 Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust - Research Grant ‘Pancreatic exocrine function and the progression to type 1 diabetes in young children in ENDIA’ (Couper J, Penno M, Linke R, Gent R, Rankin W, Oakey H, Wentworth J, Haynes A). AU$316,027
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2023 JDRF Australia 'Australian Type 1 Diabetes Clinical Research Network & The Helmsley Charitable Trust – ENDIA Follow Up 2023 - 2025' (Couper J, Penno M, Craig M, Wentworth J, Colman P, Harrison L, Davis E, Haynes A, Harris M, Soldatos G, Oakey H, Sinnott R, Thomson R, McGorm K, Vuillermin P). AU$8,977,646
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2022 NHMRC 'A microRNA NanoChip Technology for Predicting Childhood Type 1 Diabetes Risk' (Hardikar A, Couper J, Dubey A, Penno M, Joglekar M). AU$390,167
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2021 JDRF Australia 'Using 3D genomics to functionally connect genetic risk of Type 1 diabetes to the genes that drive loss of immune tolerance' (Barry S, Wong Y, Penno M, Sadlon T, Couper J, Breen J, Oakey H). AU$505,085
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2021 The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust 'CGM Assessments of ENDIA Children' (Haynes A, Davis E, Couper J, Penno M). US$230,319
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2021 The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust 'ENDIA Expanded Support' (Penno M, Couper J, Oakey H, Thomson R, Ashwood P, Brown J, Sinnott R, Harrison L, Colman P, Wentworth J, Soldatos G, Vuillermin P, Craig M, Rawlinson W, Harris M, Davis E, Haynes A). US$1,428,543
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2021 The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust 'ENDIA Science Continuation' (Couper J, Penno M, Harrison L, Craig M, Oakey H, Kim K, Rawlinson W, Morahan G). US$2,067,727
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2020 Diabetes SA Research Grant "Deep profiling for early biomarkers of progression to islet autoimmunity and type 1 diabetes in mother-infant dyads participating in the ENDIA study" (CIA Penno, CIB Couper, CIC Harrison, CID Wentworth, CIE Knight). AU$100,000
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2020 JDRF, T1DCRN and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Request for Application "Australian Type 1 Diabetes Clinical research Network – ENDIA 2020/2022" (3-SRA-2020-966-M-N: CIA Couper, CIB Harrison, CIC Craig, CID Penno, et al). AU$8,253,170
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2019 JDRF, T1DCRN and The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust Request for Application "ENDIA 2019" (CIA Couper, CIB Harrison, CIC Craig, CID Penno, et al). AU$4,064,074
Lecturer, Biology of Childhood Health Course: 2018, 2019, 2020
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Mentoring
Date Topic Location Name 2015 - ongoing Specimen collection for pancreatic volume study Women's and Children's Hospital Priya Augustine 2013 - ongoing Microbiome studies involving the TIGS cohort University of Adelaide Jessica Harbison
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Committee Memberships
Date Role Committee Institution Country 2021 - ongoing Member South Australian Biobanking Technical Reference Group The University of Adelaide Australia 2019 - ongoing Member Research Freezer Management Policy Working Group The University of Adelaide Australia 2016 - ongoing Member Health Consumer Engagement Executive Subcommittee University of Adelaide, Robinson Research Institute Australia 2016 - 2016 Member RRI 2016 Symposium Organising Committee University of Adelaide, Robinson Research Institute Australia 2016 - ongoing Founder RRI Early/Mid Career Researcher Committee University of Adelaide, Robinson Research Institute Australia 2016 - ongoing Chair ENDIA Steering Committee ENDIA Study Group Australia 2016 - ongoing Member ENDIA Steering Committee Executive The ENDIA Study Australia 2015 - ongoing Member The High Performance Researcher Group ThinkWell Australia 2014 - 2015 Member Adelaide Family Health Study Protocol Development Working Group The University of Adelaide, Robinson Research Institute Australia 2014 - ongoing Founder Robinson Research Institute Study Coordinator Network Advisory Committee The University of Adelaide, Robinson Research Institute Australia 2013 - ongoing Member Robinson Research Institute CIS Facility Steering Group University of Adelaide, Robinson Research Institute Australia 2013 - ongoing Member JDRF International Microbiome Consortium JDRF International Australia 2007 - 2009 Member Adelaide Protein Group Australian Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Australia
Connect With Me
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