Rate My Professor Angelina Fong

Associate Professor Angelina Fong is a cardiorespiratory neurophysiologist and Associate Professor in Physiology in the Department of Anatomy and Physiology, School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. She serves as Physiology Discipline Coordinator and Deputy Director of Teaching and Learning. Fong earned her PhD in Pharmacology from Monash University (1997-2002) and a BSc Honours from the same institution. Following her PhD, she conducted postdoctoral research in the United States and Canada, focusing on brainstem control of cardiovascular and respiratory systems in response to environmental changes. From April 2010 to December 2012, she investigated adaptations in neurochemical control of central cardiorespiratory function at Macquarie University's Australian School of Advanced Medicine. She joined the University of Melbourne as a Lecturer around 2013, progressing to Senior Lecturer and then Associate Professor.

Fong's research expertise encompasses neurophysiology, neuroscience, neurobiology and brain physiology, blood pressure regulation, neuropharmacology, ventilation, electrophysiology, and technology-enhanced learning. Her investigations include mechanisms of sympathetic activation and blood pressure elevation following acute intermittent hypoxia (2014), neural plasticity in respiratory motor control induced by acute intermittent hypoxia (2013), serotonin-mediated long-term facilitation in recurrent laryngeal nerve activity (2012), postnatal changes in cardiorespiratory responses to hypoxia (2010), and the conditional nature of central rhythm generators in episodic breathing (2009). Additional notable works are Catecholaminergic C3 Neurons Are Sympathoexcitatory (Journal of Neuroscience, 2014) and Virtual reality in higher education (International Journal of Innovation in Science and Mathematics Education, 2019). With 63 publications and over 880 citations, her contributions advance understanding of respiratory neurobiology and physiological education. In 2019, she received the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences Award for Learning and Teaching Achievement, recognizing sustained excellence in innovative teaching practices including virtual reality use, student teamwork promotion, outstanding feedback, and redesign of the Physiology Honours program, which included a $5000 prize.