Dr. Susan Heaney is a Senior Lecturer and Academic Team Lead at the University of Newcastle Department of Rural Health.  Susan was awarded her PhD for research focusing on nutrition risk in athletes, in particular the validation of a screening instrument and assessment of nutrition knowledge in athletes in 2012, while also working clinically as a dietitian. She is an Advanced Accredited Practicing Dietitian and has expertise in renal dietetics after working in renal supportive care before moving into a full-time academic role. Her research focuses on rural health and clinical dietetics, and she also has a focus on the scholarship of teaching and learning.