David Le Couteur

David Le Couteur is Professor of Geriatric Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney, where he also serves as a member of the Charles Perkins Centre. He earned his MBBS with First Class Honours from the University of Sydney in 1981 and a PhD in Medicine from the University of Queensland in 1993. A Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences (FAHMS since 2015), he was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2016 for service to medicine as a geriatrician and clinical pharmacologist. Currently, he is Senior Staff Specialist Physician in Geriatric Medicine at Concord Repatriation General Hospital within the Sydney Local Health District, Director of the Centre for Education and Research on Ageing (CERA) since 2001—a collaborative centre of the International Association of Gerontology and Geriatrics—and Director of the Biogerontology Laboratory at the ANZAC Research Institute. His career includes leadership as President of the Australasian Society of Clinical and Experimental Pharmacologists and Toxicologists (ASCEPT) from 2011 to 2013, Secretary of the Clinical Division of the International Union of Basic and Clinical Pharmacology, and membership on key Australian federal medicines committees such as the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee, Australian Drug Evaluation Committee, and Advisory Committee on the Safety of Medicines. He is also a board member of the Australian Medicines Handbook and has contributed to education committees of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Professor Le Couteur's research specializations encompass translational gerontology, including biogerontology with emphases on nutrition and ageing, liver pharmacology and physiology, liver endothelium and ageing, geriatric pharmacology, pharmacoepidemiology, and the application of evidence-based medicine to older people. He has produced over 450 peer-reviewed publications, accumulating more than 42,000 citations and an h-index of 83. Key contributions include co-authoring the chapter on the Biology of Aging in Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine (19th and 21st editions), and influential papers such as 'The Ratio of Macronutrients, Not Caloric Intake, Dictates Cardiometabolic Health, Aging, and Longevity in Wild-Type Mice and Protects Against Obesity and Metabolic Effects of Aging' (Cell Metabolism, 2014), 'Dietary protein, aging and nutritional geometry' (Ageing Research Reviews, 2017), and 'New Horizons: Dietary protein, ageing and the Okinawan ratio' (Age and Ageing, 2016). His awards include the ASCEPT Michael Rand Medal (2015), William B. Abrams Award in Geriatric Clinical Pharmacology (2013), ASCEPT Fellowship (2023), and recognition among global elite researchers for citation impact. Professor Le Couteur advocates for ageing research and improved medication use in the elderly, significantly influencing the field through high-impact work on dietary interventions for healthy ageing.

Professional Email: david.lecouteur@sydney.edu.au