ProfessorRachel Huxley

Professor Rachel Huxley was appointed to the role of Executive Dean for the
Faculty of Health at Deakin University in October 2019. Prior to this, she was
the Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research) for the College of Science,
Health and Engineering at La Trobe University, Australia where she was also
the Co-Director of the Research Centre for Cardiovascular Biology and Disease.
Professor Huxley completed her undergraduate studies at St John's College,
Oxford and obtained her doctorate in epidemiology and public health from the
Department of Public Health and Primary Care, Oxford University and completed
her post-doctoral training also in Oxford before relocating to the George
Institute for Global Health, University of New South Wales in 2002, where she
continues to hold an honorary professorial appointment. In 2017 she was made a
Visiting Professorial Fellow in Epidemiology within the Nuffield Department of
Population Health, University of Oxford.
Between 2002 and 2009, she was awarded three internationally competitive
fellowships including the inaugural Career Development Fellowship from the
Heart Foundation and the NSW Office for Science and Medical Research. In
2009, Professor Huxley relocated to the United States where she became a co-
investigator on the Atherosclerosis Risk in Communities Study and the Multi-
Ethnic Study of Atherosclerosis in the Division of Epidemiology and Public
Health, University of Minnesota. In 2013, Professor Huxley returned to
Australia to take her the Chair in Epidemiology at the University of
Queensland, before moving into the role of Head of School of Public Health at
Curtin University in Perth in 2015. Her research has two main foci; the first
is on the determination and quantification of major and modifiable risk
factors for chronic disease and sex and ethnic disparities in these
relationships; and the second area is in evaluating the health impact of
climate change and air pollution. She has published more than 200 research
articles, has a H-index of 58 (Web of Science) and currently holds several
competitive NHMRC research grants as Principal or Co-Investigator in areas
related to obesity, diabetes and women's health.