Denise Harrison

Professor Denise Harrison is a Professor of Nursing and Deputy Head of Department in the Department of Nursing, School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Holding qualifications as a registered nurse (RN), registered midwife (RM), and PhD from the University of Melbourne (completed 2004-2007), she leads the Be Sweet to Babies research team. Her academic interests center on improving pain assessment and management for newborns, infants, and young children, with emphasis on ethical research practices, family-centered interventions, knowledge translation, and overcoming barriers to implementing evidence-based pain relief in clinical settings such as neonatal intensive care units.

Harrison's distinguished career includes over a decade in Canada as Professor and Chair in Nursing Care of Children, Youth and Families at the University of Ottawa and affiliate investigator at the Children's Hospital of Eastern Ontario (CHEO) Research Institute, prior to returning to the University of Melbourne in 2020 to advance paediatric pain research through Australian partnerships. She has authored over 188 peer-reviewed publications, accumulating nearly 5,000 citations. Notable contributions include the 2013 systematic review and meta-analysis 'A Systematic Review and Meta-Analyses of Nonsucrose Sweet Solutions for Pain Relief in Neonates' (cited over 240 times), 'Sucrose for Procedural Pain Management in Infants' (Pediatrics, 2012), and 'The Psychometric Properties of the FLACC Scale Used to Assess Procedural Pain' (The Journal of Pain, 2018). Her work has shaped international guidelines on non-pharmacological pain management strategies like sweet solutions and breastfeeding during procedures, influencing clinical practices and policy in neonatal care globally.
Professional Email: deniseh@unimelb.edu.au