Professor Karen Moritz is internationally renowned for her work in understanding how early life perturbations contribute to an increased risk of developing cardiovascular, renal and metabolic disease in adulthood.
Her research has focused on determining how prenatal alcohol can result in “developmental programming” of disease. Her research has identified critical windows of susceptibility to alcohol, including the period around conception and prior to implantation.
In addition, her work has identified the placenta as playing a key role in the sex-specific offspring outcomes following maternal perturbations. Her research spans both preclinical and clinical domains.
Professor Moritz maintains a strong commitment to teaching of undergraduate and higher degree students and was the recipient of the Excellence in Research Supervision Award in 2015.
She was appointed the Director of the Child Health Research Centre in 2016 and in 2021 became the Associate Dean of Research in the Faculty of Medicine.