Donna Rudd

Dr. Donna Rudd is an active Research Fellow at James Cook University's College of Medicine and Dentistry within the Department of Clinical Sciences. Her multidisciplinary research bridges neonatal nephrology, maternal-fetal health, and psychoneuroendocrinology, with significant contributions to understanding preterm infant kidney development and mental health biomarkers.

Her primary research interests focus on pediatric nephrology (particularly fetal renal development using ultrasound biomarkers), maternal-fetal medicine (investigating impacts of smoking and diabetes on infant outcomes), and emerging work in allostatic load measurement for mental health prediction. Recent studies demonstrate methodological innovation in urinary biomarker validation and longitudinal cohort analysis.

Analysis of her 15 most recent publications reveals an evolving research trajectory: beginning with cardiac preservation techniques (2009-2012), shifting to neonatal kidney development (2014-2020), and expanding into microbiome research and mental health biomarkers (2021-present). This progression shows increasing interdisciplinary collaboration across pediatrics, psychiatry, and aquaculture sciences.

Dr. Rudd maintains active research collaborations with Professor Yogavijayan Kandasamy (neonatology), Zoltan Sarnyai (psychiatry), and Roger Huerlimann (microbiology), contributing to JCU's leadership in tropical health research. Her work frequently employs:

• Prospective cohort study designs
• Ultrasound-based physiological measurements
• Biomarker validation techniques
• Longitudinal data analysis from birth cohorts

Her laboratory work operates within JCU's Clinical Sciences research infrastructure, utilizing:

• Neonatal ultrasound imaging facilities
• Biochemical analysis laboratories
• Collaborative access to the Avon Longitudinal Study cohort data