Maria Craig

Professor Maria Craig is a leading academic in paediatric endocrinology at the University of Sydney's Faculty of Medicine and Health, serving as Professor of Paediatric Endocrinology at The Children's Hospital at Westmead and Principal Investigator at the Westmead Applied Research Centre. She is a member of the Charles Perkins Centre, focusing on diabetes research across multiple domains.

Her research spans prediction and prevention of islet autoimmunity, enterovirus-diabetes associations, and epidemiology of childhood diabetes including complications. Current work examines health outcomes in adults with childhood-onset type 1 diabetes, screening protocols for early-stage disease, and clinical education requirements. Her publications reveal strong emphasis on longitudinal cohort studies, international registry analyses (particularly Australasian Diabetes Data Network), and mechanistic investigations into viral triggers of autoimmunity.

Professor Craig has contributed significantly to ISPAD Clinical Practice Consensus Guidelines across multiple editions, particularly in microvascular complications, epidemiology, and type 1 diabetes staging. Her research program integrates clinical epidemiology with molecular virology, maintaining active collaborations across Australia, New Zealand, Europe, and North America.

She supervises multiple research students including Tom Campbell, Celia Li, and Kara Mikler, with projects spanning clinical outcomes, screening protocols, and educational interventions. Her work involves substantial grant funding for longitudinal studies like the Environmental Determinants of Islet Autoimmunity (ENDIA) project.

Professor Craig leads laboratory investigations in the Westmead Applied Research Centre examining gut virome profiles, enterovirus detection methods, and biomarker discovery for early diabetes prediction. Her team actively recruits pediatric cohorts for prospective studies on viral exposures and autoimmune development.