Hugh Barrett

Hugh Barrett is Professor in Systems Biology and an NHMRC Senior Research Fellow in UWA’s School of Medicine & Pharmacology, and the Faculty of Engineering, Computing and Mathematics.

He received a PhD from the University of Adelaide for research undertaken at the Baker Heart Research Institute and CSIRO’s Division of Human Nutrition, and subsequently spent eleven years working in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington, Seattle. Hugh returned to Australia in 1999, and is presently an NHRMC Senior Research Fellow.

Hugh's research focus is lipid and lipoprotein metabolism as a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. Through clinical research, and the use of tracer methodologies, his research has characterized dyslipidemic states and the mechanisms of action of pharmacotherapies developed to lower cardiovascular disease risk. His use of mathematical modeling in human, animal and in vitro systems has provided insight into the pathways responsible for the regulation of lipid and lipoprotein metabolism.

Hugh has published more than 200 research papers in specialist lipid and general endocrinology journals. He is an Associate Editor for Atherosclerosis and on the editorial board of the Journal of Lipid Research. He has served on NHMRC Grant and Fellowship Review Panels, and was Chair of the Australian Research Council’s Medical and Health Sciences ERA Panel in 2012.