Jennifer Helen Martin is an Australian clinical pharmacologist, physician and academic. She is chair of

Clinical Pharmacology Clinical pharmacology is "that discipline that teaches, does research, frames policy, gives information and advice about the actions and proper uses of medicines in humans and implements that knowledge in clinical practice". Clinical pharmacology ...

in the University of Newcastle School of Medicine and Public Health, Director of the

NHMRC The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded res ...

funded Australian Centre for Cannabinoid Clinical and Research Excellence (ACRE), and a Fellow of the

Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences The Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences is an academy to promote health and medical sciences in Australia. It was established in June 2014. It cites "The Academy will serve the three purposes identified as of high priority in the 2 ...

. Martin is also Editor-in-Chief of the academic journal

Pharmacology Research & Perspectives ''Pharmacology Research & Perspectives'' is a bi-monthly peer-reviewed open access medical journal which publishes research over all aspects of drug action. The editor-in-chief is Jennifer H. Martin. The journal was established in 2013 as a jo ...

. Martin translates research into practice and policy. Her research involves the investigation of therapeutic drugs, from drug design and development, to

clinical trial Clinical trials are prospective biomedical or behavioral research studies on human subject research, human participants designed to answer specific questions about biomedical or behavioral interventions, including new treatments (such as novel v ...

s and studies to investigate how new drugs perform in the general population. Governance roles include President-Elect of the RACP and President from May 2024; Council Member of the University of Newcastle and the NSW Counci
AICD

Early life

Martin grew up in

Wellington Wellington is the capital city of New Zealand. It is located at the south-western tip of the North Island, between Cook Strait and the Remutaka Range. Wellington is the third-largest city in New Zealand (second largest in the North Island ...

, New Zealand where she followed an early interest in medicine from her love of sport, hoping to one day be the doctor who travelled with the New Zealand Olympic team. After studying medicine at the

University of Otago The University of Otago () is a public university, public research university, research collegiate university based in Dunedin, Otago, New Zealand. Founded in 1869, Otago is New Zealand's oldest university and one of the oldest universities in ...

, moved to work and study in the United Kingdom in 1993, later returning to New Zealand to train as a specialist in pharmacology and internal medicine. Martin moved to Melbourne to undertake a PhD in Medicine in 2000.

Career

Martin is a Rhodes Scholar who studied PPE and

health economics Health economics is a branch of economics concerned with issues related to Health care efficiency, efficiency, effectiveness, value and behavior in the production and consumption of health and healthcare. Health economics is important in dete ...

at the

University of Oxford The University of Oxford is a collegiate university, collegiate research university in Oxford, England. There is evidence of teaching as early as 1096, making it the oldest university in the English-speaking world and the List of oldest un ...

. She completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the

and a Doctor of Philosophy at

Monash University Monash University () is a public university, public research university based in Melbourne, Victoria (state), Victoria, Australia. Named after World War I general Sir John Monash, it was founded in 1958 and is the second oldest university in the ...

in 2005, examining innate immunity and heart failure

pathophysiology Pathophysiology (or physiopathology) is a branch of study, at the intersection of pathology and physiology, concerning disordered physiological processes that cause, result from, or are otherwise associated with a disease or injury. Pathology is ...

in people with

type 2 diabetes Type 2 diabetes (T2D), formerly known as adult-onset diabetes, is a form of diabetes mellitus that is characterized by high blood sugar, insulin resistance, and relative lack of insulin. Common symptoms include increased thirst, frequent ...

. Her post-doctoral work investigated

macrophage Macrophages (; abbreviated MPhi, φ, MΦ or MP) are a type of white blood cell of the innate immune system that engulf and digest pathogens, such as cancer cells, microbes, cellular debris and foreign substances, which do not have proteins that ...

function in high fat diet at the

Walter and Eliza Hall Institute WEHI (), previously known as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, and as the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, is Australia's oldest medical research research institute, institute. Sir Frank Macfarlane Burnet, who won the Nobe ...

. Following her post-doctoral studies, Martin became the Head of Southside Clinical School at the

University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a Public university, public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone ...

where she was involved in revising the medical curricula to broaden medical student experiences in healthcare. Martin took on the leadership position of Chair of Clinical Pharmacology at the University of Newcastle in 2013. Martin was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences in 2020. In the same year she published a report of clinical trials in Australia of using increasingly legal medicines based on

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

. The report gave advice on ethics and keeping patients safe. Martin resigned as staff-elected Councillor from th
University of Newcastle Council
i
June 2021
in protest at the appointment of Whitehaven Coal Chairman

Mark Vaile Mark Anthony James Vaile (born 18 April 1956) is an Australian former politician who served as the 12th deputy prime minister of Australia and the leader of the National Party of Australia from 2005 to 2007, during the final years of the Howar ...

as Chancellor. Vaile did not take up th
Chancellor role
and Martin was re-elected to the University Council i
October 2021

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Martin, Jennifer Living people Year of birth missing (living people) Australian pharmacologists Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences University of Otago alumni Monash University alumni Academic staff of the University of Queensland Academic staff of the University of Newcastle (Australia) New Zealand Rhodes Scholars New Zealand expatriates in Australia