ABOUT EVE-M

A bold and innovative collaborative research project aiming to transform the sexual and reproductive health of women globally.

OUR VISION

Transforming Women’s Sexual and Reproductive Health

The Enhancing the Vaginal Environment and Microbiome (EVE-M) initiative will provide major insights on how the microbiome can impact on sexual and reproductive health, and provide practical solutions to reduce the spread of sexually transmissible infections, bacterial vaginosis and HIV.

Led by Principal Investigator, Burnet Institute’s Professor Gilda Tachedjian, the EVE-M initiative aims to fast track the development of a number of novel technologies, including an intravaginal ring loaded with active pharmaceutical ingredients designed to address bacterial vaginosis (BV), and

• Regulate a woman’s vaginal microbiota over her lifetime
• Prevent the transmission of STIs and HIV
• Provide contraception to reduce the incidence of unplanned pregnancies.

“Contraception for women hasn’t really improved in 50 years and women’s health is often not prioritised.” - EVE-M Principal Investigator Professor Gilda Tachedjian.

WHO WE ARE

The EVE-M initiative is a multinational, multidisciplinary team from Burnet Institute, Swinburne University of Technology, Melbourne Sexual Health Centre (The Alfred and Monash University), Deakin University, Family Planning NSW, Institute for Genome Sciences and the University of Maryland (Baltimore) USA. EVE-M expects to add additional partners and commercial companies to the initiative in Stage 2.

The ambitious EVE-M initiative has attracted Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) Frontier Health and Medical Research Program Stage One funding. It’s one of only 10 projects awarded MRFF Frontier Stage One funding, and the only one of these projects led by a female Principal Investigator and focused on women’s health.

Read more in IMPACT magazine or download a copy of our brochure (right).