Rate My Professor Caroline McMillen

Professor Caroline McMillen is an internationally recognised biomedical researcher specialising in physiology, particularly the impact of the prenatal nutritional environment on the risk of cardiovascular disease and obesity in adult life. She holds a Bachelor of Arts (Honours), Master of Arts, and Doctor of Philosophy from the University of Oxford, as well as a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery from the University of Cambridge. Her academic career commenced in 1983 as a lecturer at Monash University. In 1992, she was appointed Professor, Chair, and Head of the Department of Physiology at the University of Adelaide, where she built a prominent research program continuously funded for two decades by the Australian Research Council and the National Health and Medical Research Council. From 2005 to 2011, she served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor and Vice-President for Research and Innovation at the University of South Australia. In October 2011, Professor McMillen joined the University of Newcastle as Vice-Chancellor and President, the institution's first female in the role, serving until 2018. During her tenure, she advanced equity in higher education, oversaw innovative infrastructure developments like NeW Space, and fostered partnerships between universities, government, industry, and communities.

Professor McMillen has authored more than 200 publications and delivered over 70 invited presentations at international and national meetings. Notable works include 'Improving pregnancy outcomes in humans through studies in sheep' (American Journal of Physiology-Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology, 2018) and 'Maternal undernutrition in late gestation increases IGF2 signalling molecules and collagen deposition in the right ventricle of the fetal sheep heart' (The Journal of Physiology, 2018). She supervised over 50 Honours and PhD students who secured national honours and fellowships across research, industry, medicine, and education. Her leadership extends to chairing the Endocrinology, Reproduction and Development Commission of the International Union of Physiological Sciences—the only Australian in that position—and serving on Australian Research Council and National Health and Medical Research Council grant panels, as well as the Prime Minister's Science, Engineering and Innovation Council working group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander maternal and perinatal health. Major honours include Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (2015), Officer of the Order of Australia (2020) for distinguished service to medical science and tertiary education, Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales, and Bragg Member of the Royal Institution of Australia. Following her time at Newcastle, she served as Chief Scientist for South Australia from 2018 to 2023.