Karen Simmer is an Australian paediatrician and professor of Newborn Medicine at the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

and is director of two neonatal intensive care units at hospitals in Perth. She also runs the WA Human Milk Bank and is team leader, neonatal gut health, nutrition and development at the

Telethon Kids Institute The Telethon Kids Institute is an Australian medical research institute focused on the prevention of paediatric disease and the development of improved treatments to improve the health and wellbeing of children. Telethon Kids has developed a pa ...

. Simmer completed her secondary education at

Abbotsleigh , motto_translation = Time Flies Faster than a Weaver's Shuttle , established = , type = Independent early learning, primary and secondary day and boarding school , denomination = Ang ...

in Sydney and undertook an MB BS at the

University of Sydney The University of Sydney (USYD), also known as Sydney University, or informally Sydney Uni, is a public university, public research university located in Sydney, Australia. Founded in 1850, it is the oldest university in Australia and is one o ...

. She graduated from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degre ...

with a PhD in perinatal nutrition and later completed the Advanced Management Program at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

Honours

Simmer was appointed an

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Go ...

in the

2015 Queen's Birthday Honours The 2015 Queen's Birthday Honours are appointments by some of the 16 Commonwealth realms of Queen Elizabeth II to various orders and honours to reward and highlight good works by citizens of those countries. The Birthday Honours are awarded as ...

for "distinguished service to medicine in the field of paediatrics, particularly neonatal and perinatal nutrition, to medical education as an academic, researcher and clinician, and to the community". She was elected 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 20 ...

in 2017.

Selected publications

* Makrides M, Neumann MA, Byard RW, Simmer K, Gibson RA. Fatty acid composition of brain, retina, and erythrocytes in breast- and formula-fed infants. Am J Clin Nutr. 1994 Aug;60(2):189-94. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/60.2.189. PMID 7913291. * Makrides M, Neumann M, Simmer K, Pater J, Gibson R. Are long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acids essential nutrients in infancy? Lancet. 1995 Jun 10;345(8963):1463-8. doi: 10.1016/s0140-6736(95)91035-2. PMID 7769900. * Moon K, Rao SC, Schulzke SM, Patole SK, Simmer K. Longchain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in preterm infants. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2016 Dec 20;12(12):CD000375. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD000375.pub5. PMID 27995607; PMCID: PMC6463838. * Jasani B, Simmer K, Patole SK, Rao SC. Long chain polyunsaturated fatty acid supplementation in infants born at term. Cochrane Database Syst Rev 2017 Mar 10;3(3):CD000376. doi: 10.1002/14651858.CD000376.pub4. PMID 28281303; PMCID: PMC6464574. * Hartmann BT, Pang WW, Keil AD, Hartmann PE, Simmer K; Australian Neonatal Clinical Care Unit. Best practice guidelines for the operation of a donor human milk bank in an Australian NICU. Early Hum Dev. 2007 Oct;83(10):667-73. doi: 10.1016/j.earlhumdev.2007.07.012. Epub 2007 Oct 3. PMID 17913402.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Simmer, Karen Living people Year of birth missing (living people) University of Sydney alumni Academic staff of the University of Western Australia Australian paediatricians Women pediatricians Officers of the Order of Australia Fellows of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Alumni of the University of London People educated at Abbotsleigh