Aleona Swegen | Research fellow
University of Newcastle

Aleona is a veterinarian and research fellow in animal fertility. She is passionate about using cutting edge, novel techniques in reproductive biology to benefit endangered species and livestock, and developing new approaches to preserve fertility. Aleona holds a Bachelor of Veterinary Science from the University of Sydney (2010), and following several years’ work in clinical practice, obtained her PhD under Laureate Professor John Aitken at the PRC for Reproductive Science, University of Newcastle, Australia, focusing on the proteomics of stallion spermatozoa and equine embryos. As a postdoc in the same lab she continued to work on sperm metabolism and development of a novel ambient temperature sperm storage technique, as well as an endometrial organoid model for the study of embryo-maternal interactions in the horse. After stints at the Smithsonian Institute for Conservation Biology and Oxford University working on the Rhino Fertility Project, Aleona is now back at Newcastle working on several translational equine and bovine fertility projects as an ARC DECRA fellow.