Dr Aya Mousa is a NHMRC biomedical research fellow and the Head of Diabetes, Metabolic and Reproductive Health research at the Monash Centre for Health Research and Implementation (MCHRI), Monash University. She was awarded her PhD in April 2018, which was a clinical research PhD in the area of diabetes prevention, with a focus on nutritional interventions including vitamin D. She also has a background in public health and health services research from undergraduate and Honours studies, where she graduated at the top of her cohort, recieving the Senior Scholar Award and the Honours Prize for having the highest grade point averages (GPA) in both the Bachelors degree and the Honours program.

Prior to commencing her PhD, Dr Mousa worked as a teaching associate at the University of Auckland in New Zealand where she taught epidemiology and biostatistics, quantitative and qualitative research methods, and public health research theory and practice. She then commenced her PhD focusing on the prevention of cardiometabolic diseases. This involved clinical trials, mechanistic studies, epidemiology and evidence synthesis, as well as formal coursework in advanced biostatistics and chronic disease epidemiology.

Dr Mousa has published extensively in the areas of metabolism, diabetes, pregnancy and nutrition, and possesses a unique skillset spanning across the research continuum from mechanistic and epidemiological research to clinical and public health research and translation. Her work has been recognised with multiple awards and commendations including the Henry Krum Prize for Clinical Sciences, the Monash Health First Prize Endocrinology Clinical Research Award, and being nominated for the Victorian Premier's Award for Health and Medical Research. She also received a highly competitive Postdoctoral Bridging Fellowship, after which she was awarded a NHMRC Early Career Fellowship only 3 months after PhD conferral.

Today, Dr Mousa leads a team at MCHRI focusing on diabetes, metabolic and reproductive disorders, which includes work in obesity, type 1 and type 2 diabetes, polycystic ovary syndrome, and in pregnancy including gestational diabetes and the cross-talk between metabolic and reproductive disorders. The theme focuses on testing interventions for preventing these conditions, as well as uncovering their underlying aetiologies using a combination of physiological, epidemiological and clinical research approaches to deliver high-quality research outcomes with real-world impact.

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