RESEARCHER PROFILE
Professor Alice Rumbold (Filmed November 2023)
Perinatal epidemiologist & Co-Theme Leader of
SAHMRI Women and Kids
South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute &
Research Leader, Robinson Research Institute
University of Adelaide
Adelaide, Australia
Professor Alice Rumbold is Theme Leader of SAHMRI Women and Kids, managing a multidisciplinary research team focussed on improving health outcomes for women, babies and families. She also holds an affiliate position as a Research Leader within the Robinson Research Institute at the University of Adelaide.
An epidemiologist and health services researcher, she is internationally renowned for her leadership of large-scale clinical trials, epidemiological studies and systematic review activities to improve perinatal and reproductive health care. She is passionate about improving health outcomes for women and babies, particularly those experiencing vulnerability. Her current research interests include preterm birth, breastfeeding, human milk banking and infertility.
She has held continuous NHMRC funding as a CI since 2007, totalling >$21.2m across 13 grants, including a NHMRC Career Development Fellowship. Her research has generated significant publications in top-ranking journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet Global Health, British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, Human Reproduction and American Journal of Epidemiology, including 11 papers with over 100 citations.
Professor Rumbold’s current research is primarily focused on improving breastfeeding outcomes in preterm babies. She runs several clinical trials that aim to improve breastfeeding outcomes in premature babies, a vulnerable group that is known to have difficulties with establishing breastfeeding. Alice’s research tests new interventions to improve breastfeeding outcomes in these babies, as breast milk is particularly crucial for their development.
Professor Rumbold finds motivation and inspiration from the families participating in her research. These families often participate while knowing that they may not receive direct benefits from the research. She is also driven by the potential to have lifelong impacts on health and opportunities by improving outcomes in the early months of life.
Apart from research, Professor Rumbold loves music. She enjoys listening to it, playing it, and attending live music events. She is a keen cellist and pianist and was previously involved with the Darwin Symphony Orchestra.
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Pregnancy in women with chronic kidney disease
Professor Shilpanjali Jesudason is an academic nephrologist and Head of Department at the Royal Adelaide Hospital’s Central Northern Adelaide Renal and Transplant Service, South Australia.
From 2017-2020, she was the Clinical Director of Kidney Health Australia, the peak body for patients with kidney disease. In this role she developed a passion for advancing kidney disease education in primary care.
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Therapies for chronic myeloid leukaemia
Professor Tim Hughes is an international expert in the biology and treatment of leukaemia. He led the establishment of the molecular response criteria that are used world-wide to measure response in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML) and has led many of the key Global and National trials. His group has successfully developed predictive bioassays and molecular targets that influence the way CML patients are managed world-wide. He has published over 350 papers that have been cited over 65,000 times.
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Health and economic burden of interstitial lung diseases
Dr Cox’s main research interests focus on respiratory diseases and primarily on the economic burden and economic evaluation of interventions and treatments for their management. She earned her PhD from the University of Tasmania where her doctoral research examined the health and economic burden of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) in Australia, one component of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence for Pulmonary Fibrosis, a national project implemented alongside the Australian IPF Registry and the Lung Foundation Australia. This research provided the first epidemiological profile and first costing estimates of the economic burden of the disease in Australia, providing essential evidence for health service reimbursement policies.
