Dr Valentina Naumovski
Dr Valentina (Tina) Naumovski (BE (Hons), BSc (Chem.), PhD, GCULT, FHEA) is the Senior Research Fellow in Diabetes in the School of Medicine and Diabetes Obesity Metabolism Translational Research Unit (DOMTRU), Western Sydney University, Australia.
Tina is one of very few researchers in the world with a multidisciplinary approach spanning the cultivation, analytical (isolating and identifying bioactive compounds), pharmacological/preclinical (mechanism of action predominantly in diabetes/metabolic syndrome, drug interactions, pharmacokinetics), clinical (medicinal cannabis for symptom relief and diabetes) and qualitative research.
Currently, she is the operational lead of the Pasifika Preventing Diabetes Programme (PPDP), which aims to reduce the burden of Type 2 Diabetes in the Pasifika population in Greater Sydney. Previously, she was the operational lead of a world-leading NSW Government-funded research program on medicinal cannabis clinical trials (Phase I/II/III) in advanced cancer addressing anorexia. She leads a trans-Tasman group tasked with mapping a program to improve cachexia/anorexia syndrome. She was the operational lead of the Joint Chair in Traditional Chinese Medicine (JCTCM) program at WSU and initiated, progressed and completed the research and educational aims examining the quality, safety and efficacy of traditional Chinese medicines. Tina has been invited as a guest lecturer at various forums on complementary medicines to further knowledge and education in this field. She has received two highly awarded poster and best paper prizes (ISCMR and ESIM in 2023). Tina is a TGA Statutory Advisory Committee member in Complementary Medicines, is the Research Chair for the ISCMR and was the scientific consultant on a winning international patent case involving a herbal product.
Tina is a key member of the teaching team in the School of Medicine, Western Sydney University. She has held the position of Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology at the School of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW, and School of Science at WSU. She is recognised for her teaching by the Higher Education Academy Professional Standards Framework (FHEA), UK and won the School of Science Staff Excellence Award and was a finalist for the Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Teaching Excellence Awards Citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning at Western Sydney University in 2022 and Values in Action Heroes Award (UNSW) in 2023.