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DR SUSAN R DAVIS MBBS, FRACP, PHD is an Australian National Health and Medical Research Council Principal Research Fellow (since 2007) and Director of the Women’s Health Research Program in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University Melbourne. She is a consultant Endocrinologist at Cabrini Medical Centre and Head of the Women’s Specialist Clinic, the Alfred Hospital Melbourne.

Dr Davis graduated in medicine from Monash University, Melbourne in 1980 and completed her specialist physician training in endocrinology (Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians) and her PhD on “Mechanisms controlling inhibin synthesis” in 1988.  Since that time her research has addressed the roles of oestrogens and androgens in non-reproductive health including: breast cancer, cardiovascular function, obesity, cognitive function, mood, sexual function and musculoskeletal health. She has been the recipient of several awards including the International Menopause Society’s Henry Burger Prize (2011) and Robert Greenblatt Award (1993), the Australasian Menopause Society Award 2009, and the Monash University Distinguished Alumni Award (2009).

Research and Publications

Through her 300 peer reviewed publications (including 160 original research papers and 30 book chapters), Dr Davis has made a leading contribution to knowledge of oestrogens and androgens in women. Her research has been published in the highest impact factor journals, resulting in an h-index of 45. She serves on the editorial boards of the journals Menopause, Maturitas and Climacteric. Dr Davis has written 2 books on women’s health, produced the Bone Health for Life website (National Arthritis and Musculoskeletal Conditions Improvement Grants Program) and the DVD: “So, I have breast cancer, what now?” for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer and their families (2006). She developed the PROSPECT tool for GPs to screen older women for osteoporosis in primary care.

Other Main Professional Activities

Scientific Chair for the IMS Congress in 2016, having co-Chaired the 2014 Congress in Mexico, Panel Member for the US Endocrine Society Guidelines on the ‘Menopause’ and ‘Androgens for women” and co-Chair of the International Society of Sexual Medicine Consensus Committee for hormones and sexual function. Past: President of the Australasian Menopause Society, member of the Monash University Council and Council Executive, member of the Monash University Human Research Ethics Committee and served on the Monash Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences Promotions and Adjunct Appointments Committees.

Contributions to Indigenous Health

After completing a women’s health study in the Kimberley in 2000 her team developed “Women’s Business- Wungai ngunga” and “You gotta look after yourself- Aminina nud mulumuluna” – educational booklets about women’s health issues and fundamental health education using local language and local art and, the health promotion video “You gotta look after yourself- Aminina nud mulumuluna”. This work was awarded the Glaxo Welcome International Diabetes Education Award in 2000. Dr Davis served on the Royal Australasian College of Physicians Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Committee.

International Menopause Society

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