Professor McDonald is a research leader in HMRI's VIVA Program, co-leader of the NHMRC Centre for Research Excellence in Severe Asthma, and a practicing academic clinician in the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital.
Her current research is focused on developing a new management program for severe respiratory conditions known as Treatable Traits.
This new treatment paradigm aims to personalise medicine to individuals to achieve improved patient outcomes.

Associate Professor Tracy Burrows is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian (AdvAPD) and Senior Lecturer in the School of Health Sciences, Faculty Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle. She completed her PhD in 2008 and was appointed Lecturer at UON in the same year. Prior to this, she worked in private practice as a dietitian, having obtained an undergraduate degree BHSc (Nutrition & Dietetics). 

As a member of the Hunter New England Population Health group, Associate Professor Wolfenden has attracted more than $22 million in grant income from highly competitive national and international schemes while authoring more than 300 journal manuscripts – 40 in this year alone.

He has forged an international reputation in implementation science, with his work including the Lancet Commission Report on Obesity, Undernutrition and Climate Change and three large and highly cited global reports in tobacco control published by the World Health Organization.

Professor Lisa Wood has a research focus on nutritional modulation of inflammatory airways diseases, such asthma. There is great consumer interest in dietary approaches to asthma management, however, there has been a paucity of good quality scientific evidence to formulate definitive advice. Professor Wood’s research addresses this need, and has identified a role for antioxidants, fatty acids, fibre and obesity in modifying inflammation in asthma.

Professor Jodie Simpson has carved an international research niche by focusing on airway inflammation caused by neutrophils, which are white blood cells that fight infection. In some respiratory patients, neutrophils persist in the airways and cause poor lung function. Her fundamental and paradigm-shifting observations have helped change the way asthma is clinically defined and treated.

Phil’s research is focussed on addressing obesity and the associated health consequences and crippling health care costs. All of his major programs have been delivered with unprecedented success in the Hunter and are being translated nationally and internationally. They are low-cost, easily scaled and of broad appeal. Phil's research has been rigorously evaluated and found to have a profound impact on participants’ physical and mental health.