Rate My Professor Margaret Murray

Dr. Margaret Murray serves as an Adjunct Senior Lecturer in the Department of Nutrition, Dietetics and Food at Monash University, within the Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences. She earned her PhD from Monash University between 2015 and 2019, along with a Bachelor of Nutrition (Honours), Bachelor of Nutrition and Dietetics, and a Certificate in Leadership and Management. Her academic career at Monash includes roles as a Research Fellow, Teaching Associate, and Research Assistant in the School of Chemistry in 2018. She developed and coordinates postgraduate units such as FSC5040: Food, nutrition and health, and FSC5041: Advanced food, nutrition and human health, offered in the Master of Food Science and Agribusiness program.

Dr. Murray's research specializations encompass human nutrition, with a particular emphasis on functional foods and bioactive compounds like polyphenols derived from marine algae and nuts. Her work investigates their impacts on carbohydrate digestion, postprandial glycaemic control, gut microbiota composition, metabolic pathways, and risk factors for chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. She has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including the highly cited 'An emerging trend in functional foods for the prevention of cardiovascular disease and diabetes: Marine algal polyphenols' (Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2018), 'The impact of a single dose of a polyphenol-rich seaweed extract on postprandial glycaemic control in healthy adults: A randomised cross-over trial' (Nutrients, 2018), 'Do marine algal polyphenols have antidiabetic, antihyperlipidemic or anti-inflammatory effects in humans? A systematic review' (Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition, 2018), 'Twelve weeks’ treatment with a polyphenol-rich seaweed extract increased HDL cholesterol with no change in other biomarkers of chronic disease risk in overweight adults' (The Journal of Nutritional Biochemistry, 2021), and 'A systematic review of the inhibitory effect of extracts from edible parts of nuts on α-glucosidase activity' (Food & Function, 2023). Additionally, she achieved third place in the 2017 Monash University Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Three Minute Thesis competition. Currently, she holds the position of Senior Lecturer in Nutrition at Swinburne University of Technology.