Dr Stephanie Yiallourou is a Public Health researcher with a strong focus on understanding factors that lead to increased cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. She studies a range of risk factors, ranging from poor sleep to perinatal influences on cardiovascular risk. She completed her PhD at Monash University, Hudson Institute for Medical Research in 2008 in paediatric sleep, where she also undertook postdoctoral training (2009–16). During her postdoctoral period at the Hudson she was awarded the prestigious Kaarene Fitzgerald Fellowship by Red Nose (2009–12) to investigate the long-term cardiovascular consequences of prematurity and fetal growth restriction.

She has successfully established as CI (including NHMRC project grants as CIA and CIC or AI) a number of experimental sleep projects as well as large-scale public health projects. In total, she has attracted >$1.25 million of research funding. Her research is published in top ranked journals within their fields, having 41 publications that have been integral in informing international (American Academy of Pediatrics) and national (VicGov) safe sleeping guidelines. She has been invited to present her work at international symposia and has received 11 awards and prizes for research excellence, including 3 international New-Investigator awards.

As part of the on-going BIRCH study, she coordinates the sleep sub-study, having successfully led community screening for sleep problems in 200 Indigenous Australians. Also, as part of the NHMRC funded MODERN trial, she supervises analysis of sleep assessments in 275 residents within regional communities. As a member of the Australasian Sleep Association (ASA) Indigenous Working Party, she is an emerging leader in sleep and cardiovascular research, with her research focus on improving CVD-related health outcomes.