Prof. Clare Collins

Work Phone	(02) 4921 5646
Fax	(02) 4921 7053
Email	Clare.Collins@newcastle.edu.au
Office	HC22, Hunter Building

Biography

I am currently a full-time, research only academic and hold an NHMRC research fellowship (Career Development Award, Level 2). I obtained my PhD in September 1999. My achievements in research are commendable as the research culture for Accredited Practicing Dietitians (APDs) is relatively recent across Australia.

Significant achievements include:

Over $5 million from >65 grants since 2000, including an NHMRC Career Devlopment Fellow award (Level 2, 2010-2013) and an NHMRC Project Grant examining efficacy of a diet and physical activity intervention in overweight children (2005-07, ID354101 $424K)
Lead investigator on an ARC Industry Linkage grant (2009-2012) examining long-term effectiveness of an online weight loss program with an industry partner ($335K)

Co-Investigator on NHMRC Project grant (2012-2016) Understanding the Origins of Diabetes and Kidney Disease in Aboriginal Children and Their Mothers ($1.7m)

>70 publications in last 5 years (ERA 2A*, 11A, 23B, 8 first author, 4 invited)
Career publications include 6 popular press books, 1 book chapter, >60 papers with impact factors from 0.9 -7.851, >125 conference abstracts (40 International)
>55 invited conference and seminar presentations (2 International, 18 National) and >35 invited lectures
Supervised 4 PhD & 2MSc candidates to completion. I currently supervise 10 PhD (8 as Principal) and 3 MPhil candidates

My appointment as Fellow of the Dietitians Association of Australia (FDAA) in 2008 places me in an elite group of only 6 Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) fellows to date from a membership of over 4500 APDs. This was awarded based on a career portfolio in 4 domains of Leadership and Influence; Research and Evaluation; Professional Competence; and Education, Supervision and Mentoring. I am recognised as a leader in the development and implementation of clinical best practice guidelines and have contributed to working parties for the development of evidence-based guidelines for obesity management of adults and Cystic Fibrosis.

I have received 9 awards in the last 5 years including:-

2009 University of Newcastle, Career Enhancement Fellowship for Women (Research)

2009 DAA, National Service Award for ongoing contribution to the Profession

2008 DAA, Fellow

2007 11th John M Kinney Award for General Nutrition, by the journal NUTRITION. Judged by the International Nutrition Research Community

2006 Uni. of Newcastle Vice-Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence, Faculty of Health

2006 DAA, Outstanding National Contribution Award for leadership in obesity management, clinical guidelines development and leadership on the Practice Advisory Committee.

2005 DAA, Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian (H50 members recognised to date).

2005 University of Newcastle Postgraduate Supervisor of the year.

I was a council member of the Australian and New Zealand Obesity Society (ANZOS) for 6 years and was elected as Vice President for 2 years, until February 2009. This gave me the opportunity to influence the obesity research and policy agenda for Australasias leading obesity research organisation and to keep abreast of international trends. From 2003 I have also been co-chair of the Food and Nutrition group of the Australian Child & Adolescent Obesity Research Network (ACAORN), and led a project that developed an online decision tree assisting researchers to select the most relevant dietary intake assessment method for their research study.

As a spokesperson for DAA, my work in the media means I work with major television, print and radio networks to deliver practical nutrition messages that translate current scientific evion diet and nutrition to information that tells people simply what to eat, for a range of health conditions and for health gain. This voluntary media works reaches millions of Australians regularly. It has also dramatically enhanced my media profile along with that of the University and AP

Qualifications

PhD, University of Newcastle, 1999
Bachelor of Science, Griffith University
Diploma in Clinical Epidemiology, University of Newcastle
Diploma of Nutrition and Dietetics, University of Sydney

Research

Research keywords

Diet
Diet Quality
Dietary Methodology
Nutrition
Obesity
Paediatrics
Systematic Review

Research expertise

My research expertise is in the field of research of nutrition and dietetics and focusses on developing, delivering and evaluating nutrition interventions for those currently overweight or at risk of weight related chronic disease. In order to achive this, a number of research arms need to run in parallel. Therefore my research goals are to:-

1. Develop tools to measure and validate dietary intake in specific populations

2. Examine associations between patterns of dietary intake and body weight, both cross-sectional and longitudinal

3. Review the best available evidence on effective dietary approaches to managing weight related outcomes, identify evidence gaps, ways to optimise study design and address limitations of previous studies

4. Develop and deliver targeted dietary interventions for populations who are obese or ‘at risk” using feasibility and pilot studies

5. Evaluate the process, impact and outcomes arising from efficacy trials

6. Translate results into effectiveness studies using “real world” sustainable settings

7. Contribute to development and implementation of Best Practice Guidelines, including education of professional groups.

Collaboration

My research focuses on developing, delivering and evaluating nutrition interventions for those currently owt/ obese or at risk of weight related chronic disease. The research goals are to:-

1 Develop tools to measure and validate dietary intake in specific populations

2 Examine associations between patterns of dietary intake and body weight, both cross-sectional and longitudinal

3 Review the best available evidence on effective dietary approaches to managing weight related outcomes, identify evidence gaps, ways to optimise study design and address limitations of previous studies

4 Develop and deliver targeted dietary interventions for populations who are obese or at risk using feasibility and pilot studies

5 Evaluate the process, impact and outcomes arising from efficacy RCTs

6 Translate RCT results into effectiveness studies using real world sustainable settings

7 Contribute to development and implementation of Best Practice Guidelines, including education of professional groups

My research outcomes will impact on development of new clinical and pubic health nutrition knowledge which will contribute to the development of evidence based health policy. This will increase opportunities for future collaborations with other researchers wishing to incorporate dietary intake or physical activity in their studies.

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
111100	Nutrition And Dietetics	50
110399	Clinical Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified	35
111799	Public Health And Health Services Not Elsewhere Classified	15

Centres and Groups

Centre

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

Vice President since 2007; member since 1997; Council member since 2003 - Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity

Other

Chair Clinical Guidelines for Best Practice Managemetn of Obesity in Adults - Dietitians Association of Australia
Chair - Dietary Intake methods group - ACAORN - Australian Child and Adolescent Obesity Research Network
member Diabetes Australia NSW Advisory Group - Daibetes Australia
member - past committee member of Newcastle branch - Nutrition Society of Australia

Appointments

Vice President, Chair 2007 Conference Organising Committee, Chair Paediatric Committee Australasian Society for the Study of Obesity (Australia)	01/01/2007 - 01/01/2009
Overweight & Obesity Services Advisory Group NSW Health (Australia)	01/03/2004 - 01/02/2005
Co-director Australian Centre for Evidence Based Nutrition and Dietetics (ACEBAND), a collaborating centre with the Joanna Briggs Institute (Australia)	01/01/2002 - 01/03/2008
Fellowship National Health & Medical Research Council (Australia)	01/01/2010

Awards

Career Enhancement Fellowship for Women

2009	Career Enhancement Fellowship for Women University of Newcastle (Australia) for Leadership in Research

Distinction.

2008	Fellow of the Dietitians Association of Australia Dietitians Association of Australia (Australia) Exceptional achievements

Professional Leadership

2006	Outstanding National Contribution Award Dietitians Association of Australia (Australia) Outstanding National Contribution Award For leadership in the area of obesity management, clinical guidelines development and leadership on the Practice Advisory Committee

Recognition.

2009	National Service Award Dietitians Association of Australia (Australia) For ongoing contribution to the Profession
2006	Vice Chancellors Award for Teaching Excellence The University of Newcastle (Australia) Awarded the 2006 Faculty of Health VCATE award for teaching excellence
2006	Inaugural Medical Media Award (Nutrition & Diet) Media Indurtry (Australia) Inaugural Medical Media Award (Nutrition & Diet) for ongoing contribution to nutrition journalism though translation of complex messages into simple terms, responding to tight deadlines and reporting cutting edge health research
2005	Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian (AdvAPD). Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) (Australia) Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian (AdvAPD). In 2005 , less than 1% of the members of the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) have received this
2004	Postgraduate Student Association, Supervisor of the Year The University of Newcastle, Post Graduate Student Association (Australia) voted best Postgraduate Student Supervisor of the Year
2002	GRID Award, Greatness in Dietetics Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA ) - NSW Branch (Australia) GRID Award, Greatness in Dietetics; for professional service, leadership amd mentoring with the NSW branch of the profession
2001	Nutrition Media Award, Best New Talent (Print) Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA) (Australia) Nutrition Media Award, Best New Talent (Print) for being judged as having made the best contribution to print media as a member of DAA and media spokesperson for DAA

Research Award.

2010	Career Development Award (Level II) NHMRC (Australia) Optimising dietary intake and nutrition and weight related health outcomes across the life stages
2007	11th John M Kinney Award for General Nutrition for the Best published manuscript in previous year. Nutrition; the Journal of Basic and Applied Nutrition Sciences (Australia) International Research Award, judged by internation academic panel. Awarded as part of clinical nutrition week in the USA ($US3000 and an invited pulication in Nutrition, March 2007)
2002	Quality Award (Sept quarter) Hunter New England Health (Australia) Quality Award (Sept quarter) for the project. Collins, etal. Impact of a nutrition supplement on malnutrition & wound healing in clients referred for community home nursing.

Invitations

28th European CF Conference. Crete, Greece, 22nd June 2005 European CF Association, Australia (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2005
Collins CE. The Dietary Management of Dyslipidaemia in Diabetes. Diabetes Management Journal, 2006 17 (Nov):14-5. Diabetes Australia, Australia (write a paper for publication in a Diabetes Australia Journal for GPs)	2006
Acting on Obesity in Australia - An Evidence Based Response by the Dietitians Association of Australia 9th World Conference on Clinical Nutrition, Australia (Conference Presentation - non published.)	2002

Administrative

Administrative expertise

1. Co-Director, University of Newcastle Priority Research Centre in Physical Activity and Nutrition

2. Chair, School of Health Science Research Committee

3. Member, Faculty of Health Research Committee

The University of Newcastle, Australia