Professor Craig Pennell
Professor Craig Pennell
Professor Craig Pennell is a Senior Researcher at the Hunter Medical Research Institute’s Mothers and Babies Research Centre and Director of the NEW1000 Study. He is a leading researcher in precision medicine in pregnancy. Precision medicine involves combining clinical and genetic information to provide personalised health care.
Professor Pennell’s vision is for this approach to become the standard in pregnancy care to improve the current rates of pregnancy complications such as preterm birth, fetal growth restriction and stillbirth.
In addition to better pregnancy outcomes precision medicine has the potential to greatly improve long term health for the next generation through targeted interventions in early life to improve modifiable risk factors for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) such as obesity, diabetes and high blood pressure.
Professor Pennell currently participates in 13 multinational research consortia to identify the role of genomics in the development and outcomes of these diseases.
Professor Pennell’s experience providing pregnancy care drives his research to improve health outcomes for Australian families. He is the Scientific Director of Red Nose, one of Australia’s largest not-for-profit consumer-led organisations supporting bereaved parents, and has an ongoing collaboration with Miracle Babies, the leading support organisation for families with premature and sick newborns. Craig is actively involved in health consumer engagement and advocates for community driven research.
Throughout his career Professor Pennell has authored over 230 papers, been cited over 12,000 times and been awarded more than $29M in competitive research funding.