Rate My Professor Jenny Couper

Professor Jennifer Couper is the McGregor Reid Professor of Paediatrics and Head of the Discipline of Paediatrics at the University of Adelaide. She earned her MBChB from the University of Otago in 1978, FRACP from the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 1985, and MD from the University of Melbourne in 1990. Her early career included postgraduate fellowships such as the Hospital for Sick Children Research Foundation Fellowship in Canada (1987-1989) and the NZ Medical Research Council Overseas Research Fellowship (1984-1986). Since 1991, she has been a paediatric endocrinologist at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital in Adelaide, serving as Head of the Diabetes and Endocrinology Department from 2001 to 2021. At the University of Adelaide, she has held key leadership positions including Deputy Executive Dean (2015-2017), Chair of the Faculty of Health Sciences Board (2016-2017), Deputy Head of the School of Paediatrics and Reproductive Health (2007-2015), and Member of the Executive (2013-ongoing).

Professor Couper’s research focuses on the prevention of type 1 diabetes and cardiovascular complications in children with the disease. She leads the ENDIA study on the prenatal and early origins of childhood type 1 diabetes, serves as an Australian lead in trials to preserve insulin production, and has developed early biomarkers and strategies to reduce cardiovascular risk. She is an elected member of the Advisory Council of the International Society of Pediatric and Adolescent Diabetes (ISPAD), a lead author of national and international type 1 diabetes management guidelines, co-chair of the ISPAD international working group for early type 1 diabetes, and since 2024, leads the Breakthrough T1D national monitoring program for early type 1 diabetes in children. Her achievements include election as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2022, the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation Luminary Award in 2023, Adelaide Medical School Research Award in 2019, Robinson Research Institute Director’s Award in 2018, and Ray Williams Memorial Award for Clinical Excellence in 2010. Notable publications include Haller et al., 'ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines 2024: Screening, Staging, and Strategies to Preserve Beta-Cell Function' (Hormone Research in Paediatrics, 2024); Waibel et al., 'Baricitinib and β-Cell Function in Patients with New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes' (New England Journal of Medicine, 2023); and Craig et al., 'Early-life factors contributing to type 1 diabetes' (Diabetologia, 2019). Her scholarship is evidenced by over 13,000 citations and an h-index of 57.