Linda Gallo

Biography:

Dr Linda Gallo joined the School of Health as Lecturer in Biomedical Sciences in 2022. She is a member of the VasoActive Cardiovascular Rehabilitation and Research Program. Linda was previously appointed as a UQ Amplify Lecturer at The University of Queensland (2020-2022) and an NHMRC/Heart Foundation Early Career Fellow at The University of Queensland (2016-2019) and Mater Research (2013-2016). She continues to hold an Honorary position in the Faculty of Medicine, The University of Queensland.

Linda undertakes numerous peer review activities, including serving on major national grant panels, and as Editor for Nutrients, Associate Editor for Frontiers in Physiology, and Editorial Board Member for American Journal of Physiology-Renal.

Research:

Linda’s research interest is cardiometabolic disease risk and associated lifestyle behaviours, particularly during young adulthood and pregnancy. Linda’s PhD investigated how low birth weight affects kidney development and increases the risk of high blood pressure and kidney disease in adulthood. Her postdoctoral research focussed on a new drug class for diabetes mellitus, SGLT2 inhibitors, and its effects on kidney and heart function. In 2016, Linda established a research program which combines her broad areas of interest. This includes the assessment of diet, physical activity, and cardiometabolic health in young adults, maternal dietary intake, nutrient status, and obstetric cardiometabolic outcomes, and the impact of COVID-19 lockdowns on preterm birth rates. She collaborates with numerous researchers and clinicians, including those interested in the impacts of adverse prenatal exposures such as alcohol, links between the maternal microbiome and pregnancy outcomes, and how diabetes is a risk factor for severe influenza and COVID-19. Linda has published >50 peer-reviewed articles, of which >75% are in top quartile journals.

Current student projects:

• PhD (UQ with Prof Karen Moritz, Dr James Cuffe, Prof Vicki Clifton): The effect of alcohol exposure on maternal, placental and fetal micronutrients
• PhD (UQ with A/Prof Kirsty Short): The long-term cardiovascular complications of COVID-19
• PhD (UQ with A/Prof Kirsty Short): Understanding the interaction between diabetes and severe influenza

Prospective student projects:

• Cardiovascular risk in young adults: a co-designed lifestyle intervention delivered through learning management platforms
• Multiple micronutrient supplementation in pregnancy, and pregnancy and birth outcomes - Queensland Family Cohort