Debbie Palmer

Associate Professor Debbie Palmer is affiliated with the University of Western Australia (UWA), serving as Associate Professor in the School of Molecular Sciences and Adjunct Associate Professor in the UWA Medical School. She also holds roles as Program Head of Early Life and Life-Course Health at The Kids Research Institute Australia and Co-Director of the Centre for Human Lactation Research and Translation. Her research focuses on nutritional strategies to prevent allergies, particularly during pregnancy, lactation, and infancy, with 12 published randomized controlled trials in top-tier journals. She leads major projects like the Nuts For Babies Study and PrEggStudy, funded by NHMRC grants totaling $43.3 million.

Education: BSc (Science), BND (Nutrition), and PhD from The University of Adelaide. Current supervision of 3 PhD students and 5 completed. Research interests include prebiotics, maternal-infant allergen consumption, and translational allergy prevention guidelines.

Key projects investigate food allergen tolerance via breast milk, maternal dietary interventions, and gut flora modulation. Her work contributes to UN Sustainable Development Goals addressing health and well-being. Labs include the Nutrition In Early Life Team, advancing early-life allergy prevention strategies.