Elif Ekinci

Endocrinologist, Head of Diabetes | Austin Health

Professor Elif Ekinci (MBBS, FRACP, PhD) is a clinician researcher, academic endocrinologist, in the field of diabetes. Her research is focused on the detection and management of diabetes complications, undertaking observational and clinical trials. Multi-disciplinary collaborations with basic scientists, engineers, people living with diabetes and other scientists, Prof Elif hopes to pave a translation pathway for novel discoveries in diabetes, into routine clinical practice.
As the Inaugural Director of Australian Centre for Accelerating Diabetes Innovations (ACADI) launched in 2022, Prof Ekinci, established ACADI through MRFF funding from the Australian Government’s Targeted Translation Research Accelerator (TTRA) program, delivered by MTPConnect. ACADI has been awarded $10million from the Australian Government’s Medical Research Future Fund and received over $13million in cash and in- kind support from its partners. Led out of the University of Melbourne, ACADI is delivering novel interventions for timely diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diabetes and its complications with the access to clinical evaluation, leadership and networks, research commercialisation experience and workforce training. ACADI’s design responds to key barriers slowing Australian development of innovations.
Prof Ekinci is also the Head of Diabetes at Austin Health, where she co-ordinates the clinical care of inpatients and outpatients with diabetes. Her role as Head of Diabetes and Obesity clinical trials at Austin Health at the Centre for Research and Education in Diabetes and Obesity, places her group at the cutting edge of diabetes clinical trials (pharmaceutical and investigator-initiated).
She is the Weary Dunlop Medical Research Foundation Principal Research Fellow in Metabolic Medicine and Dame Kate Campbell Fellow at The University of Melbourne, Department of Medicine, Austin Health. The Dame Kate Campbell Fellowship is given to researchers recognising incredible contributions to the University of Melbourne for outstanding research and wider involvement in our local community and across the globe.
She has supervised over 5 PhD students to completion and is currently supervising over 10 PhD students. She has 180 peer reviewed publications in leading diabetes, obesity and metabolism journals. She has attracted over $25million in research funding and received multiple awards for her work including Australian Diabetes Society Ranji and Amara Wikramanayake Clinical Diabetes Research Award given to leading early- mid career diabetes researchers in Australia.