Dr Suzanne Estaphan
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About
Suzanne Estaphan is a motivated, energetic and outgoing medical teacher and researcher. She was granted her M.B.B.Ch. in 2005, Diploma of Pediatrics in 2009, MSc of Physiology in 2012, Doctorate of Physiology in 2015, and Basic certificate in Medical Education in 2018.
Suzanne has held multiple clinical and academic positions across her career. Currently she is a Senior Lecturer in medical Sciences (Physiology), ANU School of Medicine and Psychology, where she convenes a number of undergraduate and postgraduate courses across the Bachelor of Health Science (BHLTH) and the medical programs (MCHD), and actively contributes to ANU Medical School Admissions, assessment committee, and Curriculum committees. Dr. Estaphan started her clinical career in 2006 where she graded up from house officer, pediatrics resident up to pediatrics specialist in 2010 , and started her academic work in teaching medical Physiology and mentoring medical students since 2008. In 2023, Suzanne has been recognised as Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA).
Dr Estaphan is a recognised reviewer for high ranked journals including Antioxidants and Redox Signalling journal and the Journal of Physiology and Biochemistry. She has presented her work at various high profile international conferences and was awarded "The American Physiological Society Travel Award" in 2017. In 2023 she was invited to join the editorial board of Frontiers in Physiology journal as a review editor and in 2024 she joined the editorial board of PlosOne as academic editor.
Affiliations
Research interests
Dr Estaphan studies the role of oxidative stress and inflammation in the physiology and the pathophysiology of different medical conditions and explores potential interventions including antioxidant drugs.
To date, she has over a dozen publications in this area and has attracted approximately $200,000 in funding. Her research has looked at the effect of oxidative damage to the kidney, liver, brain, pancreas and bones.
Her newest projects aim to explore the sleep dysfunction in people with eating disorders, and whether a drug used to control blood glucose levels in people with type 2 diabetes can impact a person’s ability to exercise.
In addition to her oxidative stress and disease cycle work, Suzanne has an interest in medical education research. At the height of the pandemic, as part of the ANU response to COVID-19, Suzanne completed research about social studying and on student’s use of learning resources.
Dr Estaphan continues to be actively involved in medical education research currently co-leading a project about clinical reasoning in learning, and is contributing to a national project that aims to Achieve Consensus on the Core Concepts of Physiology.
Projects
- Process mapping and learning (PmapL), Principal investigator
- Sleep in people with eating disorders, Principal investigator
- The effect of COVID-19 pandemic on social studying and on students use of learning resources, Principal investigator
- Investigating physiological, behavioural, perceptual and cognitive responses to heat exposure and/or physical activity , Co-investigator
- Lessons for distance education and e-learning, forged in the crucible of a pandemic, Researcher
Location
ANU Medical School, Room 1.39, Florey Building 54 Mills Road, ANU ACT 2600