Professor Peter Clifton MBBS, B Med Sci, PhD, FRACP
Current Appointments | Biography | Recent Publications
Current Appointments
| Affiliate Professor of Medicine, University of Adelaide |
| Director, CSIRO Human Nutrition |
| Theme Leader Obesity and Health Prevantative Health Flagship - Affiliate Professor Department of Medicine and Department of Biomedical Science Adelaide University |
Biography
Peter Clifton has been Head of the Clinical Research Unit at CSIRO Health Sciences and Nutrition since 1994, and been theme leader for Obesity and Health since 2004. He is now responsible for all food and health related research in both CSIRO Human Nutrition and Food Science Australia. His unique Unit focuses on the evaluation of dietary interventions, has extensive links with both the food industry and international collaborators, and has recently been in a position to attract NHMRC Project Grant funding. Prof Clifton has developed strategies to modify cardiovascular risk, and in recent years broadened the focus to the control of obesity and obesity-related conditions, including management of hyperglycaemia and disordered lipids in diabetic and insulin-resistant subjects, and strategies to modify macronutrient intake in order to optimise weight loss in the obese. During the last 7 years he has supervised “weight loss” trials involving more than 1000 participants; the outcomes have provided important insights into the role of saturated and trans fatty acids, poly- and mono-unsaturated fats, plant sterols, soluble fibre, fish oils, and red meat in a healthy diet, and led to changes in intake recommendations and industry practices. Prof Clifton is responsible for the management of a specialised support team comprising research dietitians, registered nurses and clinical trial managers, which plans and coordinates volunteer studies, conducts pre-launch product testing and efficacy trials, offers consultancy services, provides research advice and literature reviews, and conducts education and information programs. Prof Clifton has supervised 6 PhD students, 12 Honours students and 6 visiting international students. He is an author of 114 peer-reviewed papers and 4 book chapters. He has been an invited speaker at the Second International Symposium on Cardiovascular risk factors in Osaka, Japan in 1992, the International Union of Nutritional Sciences Congress in Adelaide in 1994, and the Pennington Nutrition Research Centre's Symposium on Genetics and Dietary Response, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, USA in 1995. He has presented data at American Heart Association press conferences in 1999 and 2002. In June 2005, he published The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, co-written with A/Prof Manny Noakes. This book, which has sold over 600,000 copies in Australia and 30,000 internationally, and has now been translated into 6 languages, is testimony to the capacity of his team to impact on the dietary habits of the Australian population.
Recent Publications
