Dr Vanessa McDonald

Biography

Doctor Vanessa McDonald is a senior lecturer in the School of Nursing and Midwifery and holds a Conjoint Senior Lecturer appointment in the School of Medicine and Public Health. She is a practicing clinician as a respiratory clinical nurse consultant in the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital. Vanessa is a post doctoral researcher in the HMRI’s VIVA programme and the Priority Research Centre for Asthma and Respiratory Disease.

Biography - Vanessa was awarded her PhD in February 2011. During her candidature she advanced a new project area of immense importance to patients and clinicians alike. She developed a novel multidimensional assessment to comprehensively describe the symptoms, pathology, psychological status, educational and self-management needs of older people with obstructive airway diseases (OAD) and designed a treatment approach that significantly improved health status and biological outcomes. During her PhD Vanessa was supported with an NHMRC Centre for Respiratory and Sleep Medicine PhD Scholarship. She also received several other competitive PhD scholarships to support her work, these included the Cooperative Research Centre (CRC) for asthma and airways PhD scholarship, the University of Newcastle’s Barker PhD award and the HMRI PhD support grant. Vanessa is now continuing to build a research programme in respiratory medicine. Her ongoing work investigates the management of obstructive airway diseases including asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cystic fibrosis (CF). Vanessa has also sought training in evidence based medicine as a Cochrane systematic review author.

Outputs - Despite having only very recently been awarded her PhD, Vanessa has already established a track record as an early career researcher. She has published over 20 peer reviewed articles, one book chapter, several national reports and multimedia resources and over 50 peer reviewed abstracts from national and international meetings. She has published in high impact journals including the Lancet [Impact Factor 33.63].

Leadership – Vanessa has successfully developed a national reputation as a leader in respiratory nursing research and education. She is a representative on several peak bodies including The Australian Lung Foundations (ALF) National COPD Coordinating Committee. She is Deputy Convenor of the TSANZ COPD special interest group and a member of the TSANZ Research Subcommittee. Vanessa is a consultant and working party member to redevelop the 2012 Australian Asthma Management Handbook and was a representative on the working party which developed the national guidelines for the management of COPD [COPD-X]. She is regularly invited to speak at national and state meetings. Vanessa regularly acts as a reviewer for several international journals including the European Respiratory Journal, Thorax, Respiratory Medicine and Cochrane.

Qualifications

• PhD (Medicine), University of Newcastle, 2011
• Bachelor of Nursing, University of Newcastle, 1998
• Diploma in Health Science (Nursing), University of Newcastle, 1992

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Research

Research keywords

• Asthma
• COPD
• Chronic Disease Management
• Clinical Management
• Cystic Fibrosis
• Nursing
• Older People
• Severe Asthma

Research expertise

Dr Vanessa McDonald is a post doctoral researcher in the Priority Research Centre for Asthma and Respiratory Disease. Her research expertise are in chronic disease and chronic disease management with particular interest in obstructive airway diseases (OAD) such as asthma, COPD and Cystic Fibrosis. Vanessa is a clinical researcher, and her research focus is on treatment interventions both pharmacological and non pharmacological, including self management education, behavioural change, exercise and diet. Her doctoral studies focused on the characterisation of older people with asthma and COPD from a biological, clinical, functional, self management and person centred perspective. She developed novel treatment algorithms and models of care to improve outcomes for older people with OAD. Vanessa continue to develop this area of research in other populations. She has training in evidence based medicine as an author and reviewer in the Cochrane Collaboration.

Vanessa is Co-lead of the Hunter Medical Research Institute's Nursing and Midwifery Research Network and is deputy convenor of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand's COPD Special Interest Group.

Languages

• English

Fields of Research

Code	Description	Percentage
111099	Nursing Not Elsewhere Classified	80
111799	Public Health And Health Services Not Elsewhere Classified	20

Centres and Groups

Centre

• Hunter Medical Research Institute
• PRC - Priority Research Centre for Asthma & Respiratory Diseases

Group

• Hunter Medical Research Institute - VIVA

Memberships

Body relevant to professional practice.

• Member - European Respiratory Society

Appointments

Deputy Convenor - COPD SIG Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Australia)	01/03/2011
Committee Member - National COPD Coordinating Committee The Australian Lung Foundation (Australia)	01/04/2007

Awards

Distinction.

1998	Hunter Valley Chapter Prize Royal College of Nursing (Australia) Highest Grade Point Average - B. Nurs

Research Award.

2012	The Dr Janet Elder International Travel Award Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Australia) International Travel Grant
2012	Best COPD Oral Presentation Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Australia) Awarded for Best COPD Presentation
2011	Pulse Early Career Research Prize HMRI (Australia) Pulse Early Career Research Prize
2011	Best Oral Presentation - TSANZ COPD Award Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Australia) Recieved the award for the best COPD Presention at the TSANZ for the paper "Multidimensional Assessment and Individualised Management of Obstructive Airway Diseases (OAD) in Older Adult"
2008	Best Oral Presentation - Nrurses Award Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Australia) Received the award for the best oral presentation - nursing for the paper "The Use of Qualitative Interviews to Gain Insight into Older People with COPD and Asthma".
2003	Best Conference Poster National Asthma Council (Australia) Received the prize for best poster for the paper - Evaluation of a 2 day practice nurse workshop aimed at supporting the implementation of the asthma 3+ visit plan
2002	Best Oral Presentation - Nurses Award Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Australia) Received the award for best oral presentation for the paper - The Role of Asthma Education in Severe Persistent Asthma
2002	Best Conference Poster National Asthma Council (Australia) Received the prize for best poster for the paper - Inhaler device polypharmacy use among patients with asthma.
2000	Best Poster Presentation - Nurses Award Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (Australia) Received the best poster award for -An Evaluation of an Outpatient Pulmonary Rehabilitation Programme

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Teaching

Teaching keywords

• Asthma
• COPD
• Nursing
• Obstructive Airways Disease
• Self Management