Rate My Professor Vanessa McDonald

Professor Vanessa McDonald is a Professor in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, Faculty of Health and Medicine, at the University of Newcastle. She earned her PhD in Medicine, Bachelor of Nursing, and Diploma in Health Science (Nursing), all from the University of Newcastle. Prior to academia, she worked as a Clinical Nurse Consultant in the Department of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine at John Hunter Hospital from 2000 within the Hunter New England Local Health District, joining the University in 2011. She currently serves as Co-Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Severe Asthma, Co-Director of the Priority Research Centre for Healthy Lungs, leader of the Chronic Disease and Older Person Research group in the School of Nursing and Midwifery, and honorary Clinical Academic Nurse Consultant at John Hunter Hospital.

Her research specializations encompass multidimensional assessment and individualized management of chronic respiratory conditions, including severe asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma-COPD overlap syndrome, bronchiectasis, treatable traits, physical inactivity and sedentary behaviour in obstructive airway diseases, vocal cord dysfunction, landscape fire smoke exposure in asthma, and self-management interventions. Professor McDonald has received major awards such as the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology Prof Ann Woolcock Research Award (2019), Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (2017), Vice Chancellor's Award for Research Excellence (2014), University of Newcastle Researcher of the Year (2014), and multiple Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand presentation awards (2000-2014). Key publications include "A multidimensional assessment of severe asthma" (American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, 2015), "Treatable traits models of care" (Respirology, 2024), "Physical capacity and inactivity in obstructive airway diseases: a 'can do, do do' analysis" (ERJ Open Research, 2024), and "Therapeutic guidelines: Respiratory" (2015). With over 10,000 citations on ResearchGate, her contributions have advanced personalised medicine in respiratory care.