Associate Professor Rebecca Disler is an early-career clinical respiratory researcher and registered nurse, ARC Discovery Early Career Researcher Award (DECRA) Fellow, Fellow of the American Thoracic Society (2023), and Fellow of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (2022), based in the Respiratory Research@Alfred section of the Department of Immunology and Pathology in the Central Clinical School. 

Through her work, Rebecca seeks to influence and has a rapidly emerging research trajectory and profile in healthcare improvement for people living with chronic lung disease, building on her experience as clinical nurse and Respiratory Specialist Nurse across acute and community sectors in Australia and the UK. Her standing is illustrated through my recent award of the prestigious and highly competitive ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Fellowship to address end-stage chronic disease across rural Australia. The DECRA Fellowship awarded for outstanding research in line with Australian national priorities, is awarded to 200 applicants Australia-wide, and has a success rate of 17%.

A/Prof Disler has >$2.67 million in competitive funding ($555,615 as CI). Her research is published in high-ranking nursing, respiratory, palliative care, chronic disease, telehealth journals and rural health journals (40% in top 10% journal and 46% in top 10% most cited worldwide; SciVal: accessed 10/10/2022). Ranked top 0.9% of >360,000 global chronic disease researchers and top 1.2 % of >103,000 COPD researchers, and top 0.8% of >370,000 patient care management researchers (http://expertscape.com: accessed 27/01/2023). H-index of 15 and i10 index of 21 are exemplary for discipline and career stage. Rebecca’s work has been included in several international and national guidelines, including UK’s National Institute for Care Excellence (NICE) statements and the Global Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) Strategy.

A/Prof Disler is furthermore recognized through several awards, including recent Fellow of the American Thoracic Society (1 of 2 Australian nurses), Fellow of the TSANZ (2022, 1 of 3 nurses), and the international American Thoracic Society Early Career Achievement Award (2017) (ATS). Assoc Prof Disler’s 2020 invitation to give the inaugural Year of the Nurse and Midwife address for the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and her 2021 invitations from the American Thoracic Society to assist with the development and Co-Chair the 2021 Nursing Year in Review and invitation to speak on Cognition in chronic lung disease all illustrate her national and international standing. Similarly, her membership on the TSANZ Research Sub-Committee, previous Victorian Executive Board (2018-2021) and Local Organizing Committee for the national Annual Scientific Conference (2020-2021), and as current Co-Convenor of the TSANZ Palliative and Supportive Care Special interest group, illustrate her leadership and contribution to discipline.

Rebecca seeks to influence and has a rapidly emerging research trajectory and profile in healthcare improvement for people living with chronic lung disease, building on her experience as clinical nurse and Respiratory Specialist Nurse across acute and community sectors in Australia and the UK. Her standing is illustrated through my recent award of the prestigious and highly competitive ARC Discovery Early Career Research Award (DECRA) Fellowship to address end-stage chronic disease across rural Australia. The DECRA Fellowship awarded for outstanding research in line with Australian national priorities, is awarded to 200 applicants Australia wide, and has a success rate of 17%.