Rate My Professor Jane Pillow

Professor Jane Pillow is a clinical academic neonatologist and Professor in the School of Human Sciences at the University of Western Australia, where she also serves as Senior Principal Research Fellow and NHMRC Leadership Fellow. She completed her undergraduate medical studies with a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) and Bachelor of Medical Science (BMedSci with Distinction) at the University of Queensland in 1986 and 1987, respectively. Following clinical internship and postgraduate training in paediatrics and neonatology at institutions including Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Medical Centre in Melbourne, she was awarded Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 1996 and Neonatal Subspecialist qualification in 1997. She earned her PhD with Distinction from the University of Western Australia in 2000 on optimising high frequency oscillatory ventilation, supported by an NHMRC Postgraduate Medical Research Scholarship. Professor Pillow undertook an NHMRC Neil Hamilton Fairley Postdoctoral Fellowship at the Institute of Child Health in London from 2001 to 2003 before returning to Perth. Her career includes consultant neonatologist positions at Princess Margaret Hospital, King Edward Memorial Hospital, and University College London Hospital from 1997 to 2015. She is Founding Director of the UWA Preclinical Intensive Care Research Unit, Theme Lead for the Early Environment Theme at Telethon Kids Institute, and has held roles such as Associate Dean (Research) for the Faculty of Science at UWA and Academic Representative on the Australian and New Zealand Neonatal Network Executive.

Internationally acknowledged as an expert in neonatal respiratory physiology and mechanical ventilation, Professor Pillow's research focuses on improving cardiorespiratory outcomes for preterm infants through lung protective strategies, non-invasive surfactant delivery, immunomodulation, circadian rhythm development, and interventions targeting inflammation and infection. She has secured over $35 million AUD in competitive research funding, including multiple NHMRC project and ideas grants (seven as Chief Investigator A), an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence as CIA and Co-Director, NHMRC Development Grant, NIH grants, and Wellcome Trust funding. Key publications include 'Lung function trajectories throughout childhood in survivors of very preterm birth: a longitudinal cohort study' (The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health, 2018), 'Nebulised surfactant to reduce severity of respiratory distress: A blinded, parallel, randomised controlled trial' (Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition, 2019), and 'Physiology and predictors of impaired gas exchange in infants with bronchopulmonary dysplasia' (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2019). She has received numerous awards, including the Sylvia and Charles Viertel Senior Medical Research Fellowship (2007), NHMRC Senior Research Fellowship (2015), UWA Vice Chancellor’s mid-career research prize (2015), School of Human Sciences Award for Research Impact and Innovation (2023), and the Richard D. Rowe Clinical Research Award (2013). Professor Pillow contributes as an NHMRC grant reviewer since 1999, chaired the ANZNN Working Group on Chronic Lung Disease and Bronchopulmonary Dysplasia, and delivers public lectures such as 'Mandatory Minute Ventilation in Neonates' (2021).