Rate My Professor Rani Bhatia

Dr Rani Bhatia is a Conjoint Associate Professor in the School of Medicine and Public Health, specialising in Paediatrics and Child Health, at the University of Newcastle, Australia, within the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing. She holds qualifications including MBBS, MD, FRACP, and MCLAM. Bhatia completed her postgraduate training in paediatrics in Perth and Newcastle, receiving her General Paediatric Fellowship in 2006. She then pursued specialist training in clinical allergy and immunology, obtaining dual fellowship in Paediatric Allergy and Immunology in 2008. After training in general paediatrics at Princess Margaret Hospital in Perth, she moved to Newcastle in 2005. With over 20 years of experience in paediatric medicine and child health, she serves as Senior Staff Specialist in Paediatric Allergy and Immunology at John Hunter Children’s Hospital, where she established the Paediatric Allergy and Immunology Service. A member of the Academy of Clinical Educators at the University of Newcastle, she is actively involved in medical student teaching and mentorship.

Bhatia’s research interests centre on clinical food allergy, eczema, and immunological conditions affecting children. She has co-authored several peer-reviewed publications, including 'Change in exhaled nitric oxide during peanut challenge is related to severity of reaction' (2020, Allergy, Asthma & Clinical Immunology), 'Use of an egg ladder for home egg introduction in children with IgE-mediated egg allergy' (2021, Pediatric Allergy and Immunology), 'Review of venom immunotherapy at a regional tertiary paediatric hospital' (2022, Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health), 'Reproducibility of serum IgE, Ara h2 skin prick testing and fraction of exhaled nitric oxide for predicting clinical peanut allergy in children' (2016, Clinical and Translational Allergy), and 'Non-invasive detection of microvascular changes in a paediatric and adolescent population with type 1 diabetes: a pilot cross-sectional study' (2013, BMC Endocrine Disorders). She has secured competitive grants from the John Hunter Charitable Research Trust Fund and Hunter Children’s Research Foundation. Her awards include Hunter Children’s Research Foundation Research Mentor of the Year in 2010 and 2017, and a Gold Medal in MD Paediatrics (1998). Bhatia manages a wide range of allergic and immunological conditions in children, including food allergy, insect allergy, eczema, asthma, hay fever, immune deficiencies, and eosinophilic gut diseases.