Rate My Professor Max Berry

Associate Professor Max Berry is a neonatologist and researcher in the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health, Faculty of Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington. She earned a BSc in Developmental Neurobiology from the University of London and an MBBS from Guys and St Thomas's Hospitals, London. Berry obtained her MRCPCH in the UK before emigrating to New Zealand, where she completed specialist training in neonatal and perinatal medicine at hospitals in Hamilton and Wellington. In 2008, she received a Health Research Council Fellowship for her PhD studies, investigating the long-term effects of preterm birth, early nutrition, and antenatal corticosteroid exposure on cardiometabolic outcomes using sheep models. She joined the University of Otago in 2012 as a Neonatologist and Senior Lecturer in Paediatrics, advancing to Associate Professor. Berry directs the Centre for Translational Physiology and leads the Perinatal and Developmental Physiology Group. She actively contributes to teaching 5th and 6th year medical students and participates in the Perinatal and Maternal Mortality Review Committee.

Berry's research centers on pre-clinical and clinical investigations into novel interventions to counteract the consequences of an altered perinatal environment on offspring cardiometabolic and neurodevelopmental outcomes. Her work bridges basic sciences and clinical advancements in perinatal care. Key publications include the PLUSS randomized clinical trial on intratracheal budesonide with surfactant for extremely preterm infants (JAMA, 2024), the UNICORN observational cohort study on creatine for neonatal neurological health (Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 2025), safety of maternal creatine supplementation in a guinea pig model (same journal, 2025), and diurnal timing of antenatal steroids on fetal lung maturation (Journal of Paediatrics & Child Health, 2025). Earlier contributions encompass gestational age impacts on adolescent health and education (Pediatrics, 2018) and docosahexaenoic acid supplementation for bronchopulmonary dysplasia prevention (NEJM, 2017). She has secured significant funding, including Neurological Foundation support ($180,120 in 2018) and Health Research Council grants. Her efforts advance understanding and mitigation of preterm birth's lifelong effects, shaping neonatal interventions.