Laureate Professor Clare Collins AO is a Laureate Professor NHMRC Investigator Fellow in the School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Health and Medicine at the University of Newcastle, and Co-Director of the Food and Nutrition Research Program at the Hunter Medical Research Institute. She earned her PhD from the University of Newcastle in 1999, a Diploma in Clinical Epidemiology from the University of Newcastle, a Bachelor of Science from Griffith University, and a Diploma of Nutrition and Dietetics from the University of Sydney. Her professional career commenced as a Paediatric Dietitian at the Hunter New England Area Health Service and John Hunter Children's Hospital from 1991 to 2008. She joined the University of Newcastle in 2000, progressing through roles including a 50% teaching and academic appointment until 2009, NHMRC Career Development Research Fellow from 2010 to 2013, Strategic Research Fellow from 2014 to 2015, and Laureate Professor in Nutrition and Dietetics since February 2021.
Professor Collins specializes in nutrition technologies and interventions to deliver personalised nutrition therapies across life stages and for conditions such as heart disease, type 2 diabetes, obesity, pre-diabetes, pregnancy, and cystic fibrosis. Her research encompasses metabolic and dietary biomarkers, precision nutrition using genomic and metabolome data, cost-effective medical nutrition therapy models, dietary intake assessment methods, eating behaviours, and interventions for chronic wounds, cardiovascular disease prevention, and telehealth applications. She has pioneered eHealth tools including the Australian Eating Survey, Healthy Eating Quiz, and No Money No Time website, which promote improved diet quality and wellbeing. With over 550 peer-reviewed publications, she ranks in the top 1% of cited scientists globally in her field, has attracted more than $37 million in research funding, and supervised over 50 research higher degree candidates. Her influence extends to guideline development for obesity management and cystic fibrosis care, leadership in professional societies such as the Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity, and committee roles including Chair of the Dietary Intake Methods Group for the Australian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network. Notable awards include Officer of the Order of Australia in 2023 for distinguished service to nutritional health and dietetic research, Life Member of Dietitians Australia in 2023, NHMRC Elizabeth Blackburn Investigator Grant Award in 2021, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2019, Fellow of the Nutrition Society of Australia in 2019, and HMRI Researcher of the Year in 2017.