Prince Henry’s Institute

 

Henry Burger

 

Appointments

• Consultant Endocrinologist, The Jean Hailes Foundation for Women's Health

• Academic Associate, Menstrual/Menopause Clinic, Monash Medical Centre

• Honorary Professorial Fellow, Faculty of Medicine, Monash University

Profile & Research Interests

Professor Henry Burger is an eminent scientist and clinician, with a distinguished career in medical research.

He is a practicing clinical endocrinologist with a particular interest in basic and clinical research and practice in reproductive endocrinology.

Professor Burger took up the directorship of the Medical Research Centre at Prince Henry's Hospital in 1969 and was Director of Prince Henry's Institute (PHI) from 1990-1998.

He currently holds the position of Emeritus Director of PHI, and collaborates with various PHI researchers on projects including research on the menopause.

Professor Burger has a long history working in the area of the gonadal hormone inhibin, leading to its purification and cloning and subsequent exploration of its physiology.

His research and clinical interests have included the physiology of the menopause and management of the menopause transition, anovulatory infertility, hirsutism, male infertility and female sexual dysfunction.

Among the many notable achievements during Professor Burger's career are his appointment as an Officer in the General Division of the Order of Australia (AO) in 1993, his election to the Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Science (FAA) in 1994, his selection by the Society of Endocrinology, UK, to receive the 1997 Dale Medal (the highest accolade bestowed by that Society), his election to the Fellowship of the Royal College of Physicians, London in 1998, the Distinguished Physician Award of the US Endocrine Society in 1999, and an Honorary Doctorate, University of Liege, Belgium 1999 .

He has published over 575 papers, edited numerous books and has been an invited speaker at over 180 national and international conferences.

 

Current Research

• Endocrinology of menopausal transition

 

Expertise

Basic and clinical studies in the physiology of pituitary hormones and gonadal steroids; characterisation and physiology of gonadal inhibin; research on the biology of the fertile period; clinical research on human fertility and infertility, and on the menopause.

 

Recent Achievements

• 2006 - Awarded the NAMS/Procter and Gamble Pharmaceuticals Morrie M. Gelfand Leadership Award in Androgen Research; this award recognises an individual whose body of research over his/her lifetime has advanced the understanding of the role of androgens (endogenous or exogenous) in postmenopausal women.

• 2005 - Appointed as an Honorary Member, Society for Endocrinology.

• 2003 - Awarded the Centenary Medal for service to Australian society and science in endocrinology.

• 2002 - Recipient of Honorary Fellowship,  the Royal College of Obstetricians & Gynaecologists (ad eundem).

• 2000 - Awarded the NAMS/Wyeth Ayerst Peri-menopause Research Award; this award recognises an individual whose published works have served to increase understanding of clinical management of health issues pertaining to peri-menopausal woman.

• 1990 - Recipient of Honorary Fellowship, Royal Australian College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (ad eundem).

 

Selected Publications

Hale GE, Hughes CL, Burger HG, Robertson DM, Fraser IS. Atypical estradiol secretion and ovulation patterns caused by luteal out-of-phase (LOOP) events underlying irregular ovulatory menstrual cycles in the menopausal transition. Menopause. 2009 Jan-Feb;16(1):50-9.

Burger HG, Hale GE, Dennerstein L, Robertson DM. Cycle and hormone changes during perimenopause: the key role of ovarian function. Menopause. 15(4 Pt 1):603-12.2008.

Robertson DM, Hale GE, Fraser IS, Hughes CL, Burger HG. A proposed classification system for menstrual cycles in the menopause transition based on changes in serum hormone profiles. Menopause. 2008 Nov-Dec;15(6):1139-44.

Burger HG. Hormone therapy in the WHI era. Aust NZ J Obgyn 46: 84-91, 2006.

Burger HG, Robertson D, Baksheev L., Collins A, Czemiczky G, Landgren BM. The relationship between the endocrine characteristics and the regularity of menstrual cycles in the approach to menopause. Menopause 12: May/June;12(3):267-274, 2005. 

Dennerstein L, Lehert P, Burger H. The relative effects of hormones and relationship factors on sexual function of women through the natural menopausal transition. Fertil Steril. 84: 174-80, 2005. 

Guthrie JR, Lehert P, Dennerstein L, Burger HG, Ebeling PR, Wark JD. The relative effect of endogenous estradiol and androgens on menopausal bone loss: a longitudinal study. Osteoporos Int. 15: 881-886, 2004. 

Landgren BM, Collins A, Csemiczky, G. Burger HG, Baksheev L, Robertson DM. Menopause Transition: Annual Changes in Serum Hormonal Patterns over the Menstrual Cycle in Women during a Nine-Year Period Prior to Menopause. J Clin Endocrinol Metab 89: 2763-2769, 2004.

Robertson DM, Burger HG, Fuller PJ, Inhibin/activin and ovarian cancer. Endocr Relat Cancer. 11: 35-49, 2004.

Rivera-Woll LM, Papalia M, Davis SR, Burger HG. Androgen insufficiency in women: Diagnostic and therapeutic implications. Human Reproduction Update 10(5): 421-432,2004. 2004.

Dennerstein L, Guthrie JR, Taffe JR, Lehert P, Burger HG. Major findings of the Melbourne Women's Midlife Health Project. Climacteric Medicine - where do we go? 4: 27-35, 2004.

Robertson DM, Pruysers E, Burger HG, Jobling T, McNeilage J, Healy D. Inhibins and ovarian cancer. Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology 225: 65-71, 2004.

Birkhäuser MH, Panay N, Archer DF, Barlow D, Burger H, Gambacciani M, Goldstein S, Pinkerton JA, Sturdee DW.  Updated practical recommendations for hormone replacement therapy in the peri- and postmenopause.  Climacteric 11: 108-123, 2008.

Van Die, MD, Burger, HG, Bone, KM, Cohen, MM & Teede, HJ. Hypericum perforatum with Vitex agnus-castus in Menopausal Symptoms. Menopause 16(1):156-63, 2009.

Tong S, Wallace EM, Burger HG. Inhibins and activins: clinical advances in reproductive medicine. Clinical Endocrinology 58: 115-127, 2003.

Robertson DM, Hale GE, Jolley D, Fraser IS, Hughes CL, Burger HG. Interrelationships between ovarian and pituitary hormones in ovulatory menstrual cycles across reproductive age. J Clin Endocrinol Metab. 2009 Jan;94(1):138-44.

Dennerstein L, Lehert P, Guthrie JR, Burger HG. Modeling women's health during the menopausal transition: a longitudinal analysis. Menopause 14: 53-62, 2007.

Hale GE, Burger HG. Hormonal changes and biomarkers in late reproductive age, menopausal transition and menopause.  Best Practice Research Clinical Obst & Gynecol. 2008.

Kulkarni J, de Castella A, Fitzgerald PB, Gurvich CT, Bailey M, Burger H.  Oestrogen – a potential new treatment approach for severe mental illness.  Arch of Gen Psych 2008, 65: 955-960, 2008.

Ryan J, Burger HG, Szoeke C, Lehert P, Ancelin M-L, Dennerstein L.  A prospective study of the association between endogenous hormones and depressive symptoms in postmenopausal women".  Menopause 16, 2009 (in press)