Dr Irving Aye is a Group Leader at the Department of Obstetrics & Gynaecology and holds the position of Principal Investigator Affiliate at both the Centre for Trophoblast Research and the Stem Cell Institute, all affiliated with the University of Cambridge. Irving completed his undergraduate and master’s degrees in pharmacology at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, before obtaining a PhD in Obstetrics at the University of Western Australia. He then completed post-doctoral fellowships in the United States, at the University of Texas Health Science Center San Antonio and the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus. He joined the Dept of Obstetrics & Gynaecology, at the University of Cambridge initially as a Research Associate and was later awarded the Next Generation Fellowship from the Centre for Trophoblast Research (CTR). During this period he also completed an EMBO short term fellowship in Osaka Japan. In 2022, he received the Medical Research Council’s (MRC) career development award to establish his laboratory.

 

Irving has a long-standing interest in placental biology. His master’s thesis focused on characterising drug transporter proteins in human extraembryonic membranes, while his PhD research examined cholesterol transport mechanisms in placental trophoblasts. His post-doctoral fellowship in the USA investigated the mechanisms by which maternal obesity alters fetal growth via effects on the placenta. His work in Cambridge (funded by the CTR) has established X chromosome inactivation escape as a key determinant of sex differences in placental function and susceptibility to preeclampsia. His current research (funded by the MRC) examines the epigenetic and metabolic networks that govern early placental development.