Dr Bruce Neal

Bruce Neal is Professor of Medicine at UNSW Sydney and Executive Director of The George Institute Australia.  Bruce completed his medical degree at the University of Bristol in the UK in 1990 where he also trained in general medicine.  Prior to joining the George Institute Australia he studied epidemiology at the University of Auckland where he completed his PhD.  Bruce has played a lead role in growing the George Institute from three individuals based in Sydney in 1999 to the present team of more than 700 people distributed around the globe.  Bruce has pioneered new ways of engaging world-leading offsite researchers to work with the George Institute, and leverage access to overseas expertise and funding streams.

Bruce has deep national and international connections and collaborates actively with colleagues across the country.  He has engaged extensively with international commercial partners in the pharmaceutical, food and health insurance industries attracting large sums of industry support for his work.  He has also been highly successful with securing peer-reviewed funding and currently leads the largest every Program Grant awarded by the National Health and Medical Research Council.  He was a founder of the George Institute’s highly successful spin out company George Clinical, which currently has offices in 15 jurisdictions.  He has been identified as a highly cited author in 2015, 2017, 2018 and again in 2019.

Bruce has broad-based clinical and pubic heath research expertise with a strong focus on the translation of research findings into enhanced clinical care and better government policies. He has particular experience in the fields of high blood pressure, diabetes and clinical trials. He also has a longstanding interest in the environmental determinants of chronic disease and the potential for changes in the food supply to deliver large, cost-effective and equitable health gains.  He launched the popular FoodSwitch smartphone application to empower healthier consumer food choices, available in Australia and nine overseas jurisdictions.