Rate My Professor Hayley Scott

Dr. Hayley Scott is a Senior Lecturer in Nutritional Biochemistry in the School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy within the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle, Australia. She holds a PhD in Medicine and a Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics (Honours) from the University of Newcastle and is an Accredited Practising Dietitian with nine years of post-PhD experience. Her primary research specializations center on the impact of obesity, nutrition, physical activity, sex hormones, and metabolic dysregulation on respiratory disease outcomes, particularly asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including the mechanisms driving inflammation and lung health impairment. As Nutrition and Exercise Theme Leader in her school and a senior member of the Nutrition and Immunometabolism Research Group at the Hunter Medical Research Institute, Scott examines nutritional biochemistry aspects of human health and disease through clinical trials and mechanistic studies.

Scott's career trajectory at the University of Newcastle spans from PhD Scholar and Research Assistant in 2007 to her current senior lecturing position since August 2020, with interim roles as TSANZ/Astra-Zeneca Mid-Career Research Fellow, Postdoctoral Research Fellow, and Lecturer in Human Nutrition in the School of Environmental and Life Sciences. She previously held a TSANZ/Astra-Zeneca Postdoctoral Research Fellowship at The University of Queensland. Her accolades include the University of Newcastle Women in Research Fellowship (2017), Vice-Chancellor’s Award for Collaboration Excellence (2018), Outstanding Scholar Award from the Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs (2018), Healthy Lungs Career Development Award (2017), and Nestle/Nutrition Society of Australia Emerging Researcher of the Year Award (2011). Securing over $9 million in research funding, including Medical Research Future Fund grants for personalised obesity management in asthma, she has authored 34 peer-reviewed publications, 11 as lead author. Key works include 'Effect of obesity on airway and systemic inflammation in adults with asthma: a systematic review and meta-analysis' (Thorax, 2023), 'Managing obesity as a treatable trait of obstructive airway diseases' (Respiratory Medicine, 2026), 'Female sex hormones and the oral contraceptive pill modulate asthma severity through GLUT-1' (Mucosal Immunology, 2025), and 'Personalising the management of obesity-related asthma using medical nutrition therapy and physical activity prescription: The IDEAL study protocol' (Contemporary Clinical Trials, 2026). Scott developed the first obesity management guidelines for adults with severe asthma, integrated into the global Severe Asthma Toolkit (2018), profoundly influencing clinical management of obesity-related respiratory diseases.