Professor Christine Jenkins

Christine Jenkins is Program Head, Respiratory at The George Institute for Global Health; Professor of Respiratory Medicine at UNSW Sydney and Clinical Professor in the Concord Clinical School, University of Sydney.

Christine has been Principal Investigator and has led many investigator-initiated and competitively funded clinical trials in airways disease. Christine recently retired from clinical practice but continues to teach and supervise medical students and higher degree postgraduate students. She has had major roles in advocacy and leadership for lung health in Australia, most recently chairing Lung Foundation Australia, where she continues as a director, and previously chairing the National Asthma Campaign, the Federal Government’s National Asthma Advisory Group and has participated in many local and international guidelines and implementation initiatives to enhance resources, skills, capacity and clinical outcomes in airways disease.

Christine’s area of research interest is the clinical management of airways disease and patient-reported outcomes in response to therapeutic interventions, and she is currently implementing trials in asthma and COPD management and pulmonary rehabilitation in Australia and Asia. Her current work has also examined the role of telemedicine in specialist care during the pandemic and she is overseeing an ambitious study to develop a digital application for primary care to improve the diagnosis and evidence-based management of breathlessness.

In 2002 Christine was made a Member of the Order of Australia in recognition of services to respiratory medicine as a physician, administrator and educator, especially in the field of asthma education. In 2022, she was awarded the Governor General’s Medallion by His Excellency General the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC. This award recognises significant contributions to charities during the 2020 and 2021 pandemic years and is in recognition of Christine’s volunteer expertise, generosity, and exceptional leadership during the COVID-19 pandemic as Chair of Lung Foundation Australia.

Christine is a member and previous president of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, and a member of the American Thoracic Society, European Respiratory Society and the Asia-Pacific Society of Respirology.