Rate My Professor Cathy Avila

Dr Cathy Avila serves as an Adjunct Lecturer and Clinical Trials Coordinator in the Faculty of Health at Southern Cross University. Her academic background includes a Diploma in Naturopathy (SCNT&TCM), a BSc (Hons) from the University of Exeter, and a PhD from Southern Cross University. Her doctoral thesis, completed in 2009, examined the effect of nutritional supplementation on premenstrual syndrome symptoms.

In her career at Southern Cross University, Dr Avila has worked as a lecturer in exercise biochemistry in the School of Health and Human Sciences. Her research centers on complementary medicine, including the integration of complementary therapies with mainstream healthcare, N-of-1 trials in practice-based research, nutritional interventions, lymphoedema treatments, and bioactive compounds from marine molluscs. Key publications include 'How do patients integrate complementary medicine with mainstream healthcare? A survey of patients' perspectives' (Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 2020, with Sandra Grace and Joanne Bradbury); 'Practice-based research in complementary medicine: could N-of-1 trials become the new gold standard?' (Healthcare, 2020); 'The effectiveness of manual lymphatic drainage and low level laser therapy on lymphoedema' (Journal of the Australian Traditional Medicine Society, 2018); 'A Novel Nutrient Intervention of Probiotics, Glutamine, and Fish Oil in Psychological Distress' (2023); and 'Are the Traditional Medical Uses of Muricidae Molluscs Substantiated by Their Pharmacological Properties and Bioactive Compounds?' (Marine Drugs, 2015). She has coordinated clinical trials, such as a premenstrual syndrome study involving over 200 participants, mentored exercise science interns for high school students, and advised doctoral research on naturopathic management of chronic pain.