Accepting PhD Students

PhD projects

Diabetes prevention for postpartum women with a history of gestational diabetes--an implementation project involving intersectoral partnerships to integrate medical and social care

Addressing inequities in gestational diabetes--understanding cultural beliefs and stigma in the prevention, management and postpartum follow-up of GDM through interdisciplinary partnership integrating humanities and medical science.

20072025

Research activity per year

Personal profile

Biography

Dr Siew Lim is a research fellow and Accredited Practising Dietitian on health equity and women reproductive health with a focus on gestational diabetes. She is recognised nationally and internationally as an emerging leader in the field of lifestyle management in women of reproductive age. She has a background in biomedical science and dietetics, where she graduated at the top of her cohort in both her Biomedical Science Bachelors degree and the Masters in Nutrition and Dietetic program, taking the Dean’s Award in Physiology and the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (International) Nutrition and Dietetics award for the best overall performance for the respective courses. She has received a National Health and Medical Research Council Early Career Fellowship in 2018. Her research focuses on translating and implementing evidence-based lifestyle programs for chronic disease prevention in women of reproductive age, particularly in postpartum women at high metabolic risks. Her research on translation and implementation has a specific focus on the development of scalable and sustainable interventions for primary care, hospital outpatient clinic and other community settings.

Prior to commencing her postdoctoral, Dr Lim has worked as Research Fellow in various organisations nationally and internationally, in which she led public health and clinical projects. Her current research focuses on translating and implementing evidence-based research in lifestyle intervention to address existing health service gaps to prevent chronic diseases in women at high risk. This involves evidence synthesis, framework analyses, pragmatic randomised controlled trials, quality improvement methodologies, mixed methods research, implementation science and systems approaches.

Dr Lim collaborates extensively within Australia and abroad with multidisciplinary clinical and research team that comprises experts in health psychology, clinical psychology, endocrinology, obstetrics and gynecology, exercise physiology, dietetics, health service improvement and public health. Her work has been recognised with increasing number of grants including NHMRC Partnership grants and NHF Vanguard grant, to develop and implement lifestyle intervention for the prevention of chronic diseases in postpartum women at high metabolic risk in real-world setting such as general practices.  

Dr Lim is involved in ongoing community service as a dietitian at a community volunteer-run organisation. She is also a the Chair of Equity, Diversity and Inclusivity at the Nutrition Society of Australia.

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

  • SDG 2 - Zero Hunger
  • SDG 3 - Good Health and Well-being
  • SDG 11 - Sustainable Cities and Communities

Education/Academic qualification

Physiology, PhD, CSIRO - Human Nutrition (South Australia)

Nutrition and Dietetics, MND, Flinders University

Biomedical Science, BSc (Biomedical), University of Adelaide

External positions

Academic editor

Research area keywords

  • Gestational diabetes
  • Lifestyle
  • Behaviour Change
  • Prevention
  • Diabetes
  • Cardiovascular disease
  • Reproductive Health
  • Women's Health
  • Equity

Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years

Recent external collaboration on country/territory level. Dive into details by clicking on the dots or