Karen Simmer is the Professor of Newborn Medicine at the University of Western Australia. She is the Director of the Neonatal ICUs in Perth and Co-Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence for preterm infants. She established the first Human Milk Bank in Australia. Prof Simmer has published over 170 original research manuscripts and has an international reputation in the effects of early nutrition and infection on child development. She has qualifications from Sydney, London and Harvard Universities. She was made an Officer in the Order of Australia for her commitment to paediatrics as an academic, researcher and clinician.