Centre for Trophoblast Research named in honour of Professor Charlie Y.W. Loke
Amanda Louise Kwai-Lin Loke and Charlie Yung Wai Loke (King’s, 1953)
The Loke Family are longstanding supporters of placental research at the University of Cambridge. In recognition of the invaluable support from the Loke Family and in honour of Professor Charlie Yung Wai Loke’s vision and lifelong contribution to placental biology, the Centre for Trophoblast Research has been renamed the Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research (Loke CTR).
Thanks to the founding support of Professor Charlie Y.W. Loke in 2007, the Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research has emerged as an international leader in the study of the placenta and maternal-fetal interactions during pregnancy. Now, a transformational donation by Amanda Louise Kwai-Lin Loke in honour of her father will support all core research and training activities of the Loke Centre, ensuring its operation in perpetuity.
Spanning the School of Biological Sciences and School of Clinical Medicine, the Loke Centre has embedded a collaborative and multidisciplinary approach that has led to several distinguished contributions to the field of trophoblast biology. These include discovering the transcriptional and epigenetic networks that underpin trophoblast cell differentiation and the formation of a functional placenta, recognition of the importance of the placenta for lifelong health of mother and child, derivation of three-dimensional organoid models of the endometrium and the trophoblast, andproving the absence of a significant placental microbiome.
At the heart of the Loke Centre’s success is a focus on nurturing early career researchers in placental sciences. By providing support at a critical stage, the Loke CTR is cultivating the next generation of trophoblast researchers and attracting the best international minds from across research disciplines to tackle challenging questions in trophoblast biology. To date, the Centre has supported 17 Next Generation Fellows (NGF), 85% of whom have progressed to independent group leader positions. Through competitive PhD studentship funding, the Loke Centre has enabled 25 PhD students to pursue graduate training at Cambridge, and the development of an international Placental Biology Course has attracted over 500 students from over 40 countries to date. These training initiatives have established the Loke Centre as the global hub for an international network of highly trained early-career trophoblast scientists.
Courtney Hanna (Next Generation Fellow 2018)
Professor Loke’s commitment to research and teaching at Cambridge is deep rooted. He holds an MA from the University of Cambridge, and doctorates in both medicine (MD) and Science (ScD). He is an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (FRCOG) and is a Professor Emeritus of Reproductive Immunology at the University of Cambridge, where he taught in the Department of Pathology for 35 years. He is a fellow of King’s College, Cambridge.
Professor Loke’s pioneering study of the placenta recognises the central importance of this often-overlooked organ. Most of the major disorders of pregnancy — pre-eclampsia, still birth, growth restriction, for example — stem from failings in the way the placenta develops in the first few weeks. To address this, the CTR was founded in 2007, bringing together the basic and clinical sciences with the ultimate goal of improving pregnancy outcomes.
Members of the Board of Managers, SAB and others at the launch in 2008: Chris Redman, Graham Burton (inaugural director), Robert Pijnenborg, Martin Johnson, Charlie Loke, Wolf Reik, Abigail Fowden, Ashley Moffett, Jay Cross, Marilyn Renfree, Doug Antczak, Azim Surani, and Myriam Hemberger
Professor Loke has made major contributions to the field, including establishing some of the first methods to isolate and culture cells from the placenta in the lab to uncover their function, and making major advancements in our understanding of the immunology of pregnancy. His collaboration with Professor Ashley Moffett revealed that natural killer (NK) cells in the maternal immune system of the uterus play a critical role in the regulation of early pregnancy. These discoveries, along with other research conducted in the Centre, have shed light on the origins of pregnancy disorders, though more work is needed to predict and treat these conditions.
The Vice-Chancellor, Professor Deborah Prentice remarked:
“I am deeply grateful for the Loke family’s landmark support of the Centre for Trophoblast Research and their inspirational commitment to improving pregnancy outcomes globally.The international importance of the Centre’s groundbreaking work cannot be overstated. With its interdisciplinary approach and multi-dimensional view of maternal and fetal health, it reframes what it means to have a healthy start in life and dramatically advances a vision for the long-term health and wellbeing of both mother and child. The Centre is a global hub of excellence in research and innovation and truly embodies the best that the University of Cambridge has to offer as a resource for all of society.”
Director, Loke Centre for Trophoblast Research, Kathy Niakan, said:
"We are extremely thankful to the Loke Family for their visionary support for trophoblast research at Cambridge. Their gifts will benefit generations of students and researchers and ensures placental research at Cambridge continues to thrive.”