Professor Ralph Nanan
People_

Professor Ralph Nanan

Professor of Paediatrics and Child Health
Chair and Professor of Paediatrics NBMLHD
Director of Charles Perkins Centre Nepean
Project Node Leader DOHAD
Clinical Director of Children's Health NBMLHD
Phone
+61 2 4734 2612
Fax
+61 2 4734 1144
Professor Ralph Nanan

Professor Nanan is Chair and Professor of Paediatrics at the Sydney Medical School Nepean and Sub-dean of Research. He is also the Director of the Charles Perkins Centre Nepean and leads the Developmental Origins of Health and Disease project node.

Professor Nanan started his scientific career in Paediatrics at the Children’s University Hospital in Wuerzburg, Germany, where he completed his PhD in 1991 in basic immunology. He then completed the Habilitation, which is the highest German academic degree, in 2002 in clinical immunology, before accepting the positionof Director of Paediatrics at Nepean Hospital in 2003 and then his current position in 2005.

Since beginning at Nepean, Professor Nanan has established a paediatric immunology laboratory and developed a comprehensive paediatric allergy service. He has also been heavily involved in policy development on a state level. Professor Nanan is a Chief Investigator on several clinical cohort studies. Apart from this, he has multiple teaching and supervisory responsibilities at the University of Sydney and regularly speaks at national and international conferences.

Professor Nanan’s main areas of interest are the developmental origins of health and disease with a specific focus on paediatric clinical immunology, allergy and perinatology.

Professor Nanan was the first to describe measles virus epitopes recognised by human T-lymphocytes. In addition, his research has contributed to our understanding of which elements of the immune system confer long-term protection after immunisation. His group provided evidence that preeclampsia, the most common and serious pregnancy related disorder, is likely to be the result of an imbalance between T-regulatory cells, which consequently leads to rejection of the fetus by the maternal immune system.

Professor Nanan and his group are currently investigating key regulatory cells in the immune system, exploring the development of preeclampsia, predicting adverse outcomes in pregnancy by measuring abdominal fat, examining the effects of gestational diabetes on the unborn baby, developing an early childhood allergy questionnaire, and more. In November 2015, the National Health and Medical Research Council awarded a grant of $1.13 million dollars to fund a research study into the treatment of peanut allergy. A large component of the study investigating immunological mechanisms will be conducted at CPC Nepean under the guidance of Professor Nanan. He is also a Chief Investigator on the PrEggNut study, which will be investigating the effects of maternal egg and peanut intake during pregnancy on the offsrping's development of allergies towards these foods. At Nepean, patients will be recruited for this study and the mechanistic investigations involved will be performed in his laboratory.

Professor Nanan welcomes all enquiries regarding potential research collaborations and opportunities for student research projects.

  • Fetal origins of diseases
  • How maternal factors influence fetal growth patterns
  • The immunology of pregnancy
  • Phenotypic and functional analysis of regulatory T cells in adults and newborns
  • The effects of maternal obesity in perinatal medicine
  • The immunology of miscarriage
  • The effects of climate on pregnancy
  • Maternal-fetal evolutionary conflict
  • Applying artifical intelligence to image-processing of fetal ultrasounds

Paediatric research is a particular strength at Nepean. We have the Charles Perkins Centre Nepean and we also have established collaborations with the Clinical School at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and the Marie Bashir Institute. Nepean has a strong community base and places paediatric research within the context of the entire life cycle by collaborations with researchers in other medical and non-medical specialities, from obstetrics and neonatology through to geriatrics and dietetics.

The Paul Harris Fellow Award 2014

Infection and Immunological Conditions, Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health, Lifespan
Project titleResearch student
Developing a cost effective treatment program for obesity using dexamphetamineHazer KHALIFA
The role of the maternal gut microbiota on the immune homeostasis of the offspringCamille POTIER

Publications

Journals

  • Taitz, J., Tan, J., Ni, D., Potier, C., Grau, G., Nanan, R., Macia, L. (2025). Antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis leads to activation of inflammatory pathways. Frontiers in Immunology, 15, 1493991. [More Information]
  • Nielsen, T., Nanan, R., Butler, T., Nassar, N., Poulton, A. (2025). Changing patterns of treatment and prescribers of stimulants for children, adolescents and young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in New South Wales, Australia: evidence for a treatment bottleneck? - A database study. Australasian Psychiatry. [More Information]
  • Ni, D., Senior, A., Raubenheimer, D., Simpson, S., Nanan, R. (2025). High-Fat and Low-Carbohydrate Dietary Environments Are Linked to Reduced Idiopathic Epilepsy Incidence and Prevalence. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. [More Information]

Conferences

  • Zheng, Y., Long, X., Jin, C., Nanan, R., McEwan, A. (2017). Apparent backscatter of cancellous bone from fundamental and second harmonics using an ultrasound imaging system. 2017 IEEE 14th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI 2017), Piscataway: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). [More Information]
  • Kumar, A., Sridar, P., Quinton, A., Kumar, R., Feng, D., Nanan, R., Kim, J. (2016). Plane Identification in Fetal Ultrasound Images Using Saliency Maps and Convolutional Neural Networks. 2016 IEEE 13th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI): From Nano to Macro, Piscataway: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). [More Information]
  • Sridar, P., Li, C., Kumar, A., Quinton, A., Benzie, R., Peek, M., Kumar, R., Kim, J., Nanan, R. (2015). Automatic measurement of thalamic diameter in 2D fetal US brain images using shape prior constrained regularized level sets. 2nd Annual Congress of the DOHaD Society of Australia and New Zealand (DOHaD 2015 Conference), Melbourne: DOHAD Society of Australia & New Zealand.

2025

  • Taitz, J., Tan, J., Ni, D., Potier, C., Grau, G., Nanan, R., Macia, L. (2025). Antibiotic-mediated dysbiosis leads to activation of inflammatory pathways. Frontiers in Immunology, 15, 1493991. [More Information]
  • Nielsen, T., Nanan, R., Butler, T., Nassar, N., Poulton, A. (2025). Changing patterns of treatment and prescribers of stimulants for children, adolescents and young adults with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder in New South Wales, Australia: evidence for a treatment bottleneck? - A database study. Australasian Psychiatry. [More Information]
  • Ni, D., Senior, A., Raubenheimer, D., Simpson, S., Nanan, R. (2025). High-Fat and Low-Carbohydrate Dietary Environments Are Linked to Reduced Idiopathic Epilepsy Incidence and Prevalence. Annals of Clinical and Translational Neurology. [More Information]

2024

  • Reyes, J., Ni, D., Santner-Nanan, B., Pinget, G., Kraftova, L., Ashhurst, T., Marsh-Wakefield, F., Wishart, C., Tan, J., Hsu, P., King, N., Macia, L., Nanan, R. (2024). A unique human cord blood CD8+CD45RA+CD27+CD161+ T-cell subset identified by flow cytometric data analysis using Seurat. Immunology, 173(1), 106-124. [More Information]
  • Ni, D., Reyes, J., Nanan, B., Pinget, G., Kraftova, L., Ashhurst, T., Marshwakefield, F., Wishart, C., Tan, J., Hsu, P., King, N., Macia, L., Nanan, R. (2024). A unique human cord blood CD8+CD45RA+CD27+CD161+T cell subset identified by flow cytometric data analysis using Seurat. European Journal of Immunology, 54(Suppl 1), 714-714. [More Information]
  • Ni, D., Tan, J., Macia, L., Nanan, R. (2024). Breastfeeding is associated with enhanced intestinal gluconeogenesis in infants. BMC Medicine, 22(1), 106. [More Information]

2023

  • Jameson, C., Boulton, K., Silove, N., Nanan, R., Guastella, A. (2023). Ectodermal origins of the skin-brain axis: a novel model for the developing brain, inflammation, and neurodevelopmental conditions. Molecular Psychiatry, 28(1), 108-117. [More Information]
  • Bansal, A., Cherbuin, N., Davis, D., Peek, M., Wingett, A., Christensen, B., Carlisle, H., Broom, M., Schoenaker, D., Dahlstrom, J., Nanan, R., et al (2023). Heatwaves and wildfires suffocate our healthy start to life: time to assess impact and take action. The Lancet Planetary Health, 7(8), e718-e725. [More Information]
  • Pillay, A., Moran, L., Jadhav, A., Sterling, K., Lai, C., Vitagliano, T., Aggarwal, A., Catchpoole, D., Wood, N., Giang Phan, T., Nanan, R., Britton, P., Brilot-Turville, F., Burrell, R., et al (2023). Infection and Vaccine Induced Spike Antibody Responses Against SARS-CoV-2 Variants of Concern in COVID-19-Naïve Children and Adults. Journal of Clinical Immunology, 43(8), 1706-1723. [More Information]

2022

  • Tan, J., Ni, D., Taitz, J., Pinget, G., Read, M., Senior, A., Wali, J., Elnour, R., Shanahan, E., Wu, H., Chadban, S., Nanan, R., King, N., Grau, G., Simpson, S., Macia, L. (2022). Dietary protein increases T-cell-independent sIgA production through changes in gut microbiota-derived extracellular vesicles. Nature Communications, 13(1), 4336-1-4336-15. [More Information]
  • Le, Q., Eslick, G., Mathieu Coulton, K., Akhter, R., Lain, S., Nassar, N., Yaacoub, A., Condous, G., Leonardi, M., Eberhard, J., Nanan, R. (2022). DIFFERENTIAL IMPACT OF PERIODONTAL TREATMENT STRATEGIES DURING PREGNANCY ON PERINATAL OUTCOMES: A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW AND META-ANALYSIS. Journal of Evidence-Based Dental Practice, 22(1), 101666. [More Information]
  • Al Saedi, A., Kirk, B., Iuliano, S., Zanker, J., Vogrin, S., Jayaram, L., Thomas, S., Golding, C., Navarro-Perez, D., Marusic, P., Nanan, R., et al (2022). Effects of 3 months of multi-nutrient supplementation on the immune system and muscle and respiratory function of older adults in aged care (The Pomerium Study): protocol for a randomised controlled trial. BMJ Open, 12(5), e059075. [More Information]

2021

  • Boulton, K., Coghill, D., Silove, N., Pellicano, E., Whitehouse, A., Bellgrove, M., Rinehart, N., Lah, S., Redoblado Hodge, M., Badawi, N., Burns, J., Nanan, R., Novak, I., Goldwater, M., Munro, N., Togher, L., Nassar, N., Guastella, A., et al (2021). A national harmonised data collection network for neurodevelopmental disorders: A transdiagnostic assessment protocol for neurodevelopment, mental health, functioning and well-being. JCPP Advances, 1(4), e12048. [More Information]
  • Macia, L., Galy, O., Nanan, R. (2021). Editorial: Modern Lifestyle and Health: How Changes in the Environment Impacts Immune Function and Physiology. Frontiers in Immunology, 12, 762166. [More Information]
  • Schäfer, S., Sundling, F., Liu, A., Raubenheimer, D., Nanan, R. (2021). Firstborn sex defines early childhood growth of subsequent siblings. Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences, 288(1942), 20202329-1-20202329-10. [More Information]

2020

  • Schäfer, S., Liu, A., Campbell, D., Nanan, R. (2020). Analysis of maternal and perinatal determinants of allergic sensitization in childhood. Allergy, Asthma, and Clinical Immunology, 16(1), 71. [More Information]
  • Ng, A., Liu, A., Nanan, R. (2020). Association between Insulin and Post-Caesarean Resuscitation Rates in Infants of Women with GDM: A Retrospective Study. Journal of Diabetes, 12(2), 151-157. [More Information]
  • Balegar Virupakshappa, K., Jayawardhana, M., Martin, A., De Chazal, P., Nanan, R. (2020). Association of Bolus Feeding With Splanchnic and Cerebral Oxygen Utilization Efficiency Among Premature Infants With Anemia and After Blood Transfusion. JAMA Network Open, 3(2), 1-14. [More Information]

2019

  • Sridar, P., Kumar, A., Quinton, A., Kennedy, N., Nanan, R., Kim, J. (2019). An automated framework for large scale retrospective analysis of ultrasound images. IEEE Journal of Translational Engineering in Health and Medicine, 7, 1-9. [More Information]
  • Nanan, R., Dang, C., Hoyland, L. (2019). Association of Early Introduction of Solids With Infant Sleep. JAMA Pediatrics, 173(2), 194-195. [More Information]
  • Sridar, P., Kumar, A., Nanan, R., Quinton, A., Kim, J., Krishnakumar, R. (2019). Decision Fusion-Based Fetal Ultrasound Image Plane Classification Using Convolutional Neural Networks. Ultrasound in Medicine and Biology, 45(5), 1259-1273. [More Information]

2018

  • Hsu, P., Nanan, R. (2018). Does Breast Milk Nurture T Lymphocytes in Their Cradle? Frontiers in Pediatrics, 6, 268. [More Information]
  • Hsu, P., Lai, C., Hu, M., Nanan, B., Dahlstrom, J., Lee, C., Ajmal, A., Bullman, A., Arbuckle, S., Al Saedi, A., Campbell, D., Nanan, R., et al (2018). IL-2 enhances gut homing potential of human naive regulatory t cells early in life. Journal of Immunology, 200(12), 3970-3980. [More Information]
  • Poulton, A., Armstrong, B., Nanan, R. (2018). Perinatal Outcomes of Women Diagnosed with Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder: An Australian Population-Based Cohort Study. CNS Drugs, 32(4), 377-386. [More Information]

2017

  • De Ridder, M., Kim, J., Jing, Y., Khadra, M., Nanan, R. (2017). A systematic review on incentive-driven mobile health technology: As used in diabetes management. Journal of Telemedicine and Telecare, 23(1), 26-35. [More Information]
  • Zheng, Y., Long, X., Jin, C., Nanan, R., McEwan, A. (2017). Apparent backscatter of cancellous bone from fundamental and second harmonics using an ultrasound imaging system. 2017 IEEE 14th International Symposium on Biomedical Imaging (ISBI 2017), Piscataway: Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). [More Information]
  • Sridar, P., Kumar, A., Li, C., Woo, J., Quinton, A., Benzie, R., Peek, M., Feng, D., Kumar, R., Nanan, R., Kim, J. (2017). Automatic Measurement of Thalamic Diameter in 2D Fetal Ultrasound Brain Images using Shape Prior Constrained Regularized Level Sets. IEEE Journal of Biomedical and Health Informatics, 21(4), 1069-1078. [More Information]

2016

  • Huang, M., Bhurawala, H., Nanan, R. (2016). Decline in Lung Function in Childhood Asthma. New England Journal of Medicine, 375(7), e13(1). [More Information]
  • Poulton, A., Chen, F., Nanan, R. (2016). Epinephrine administration and pediatric in-hospital cardiac arrest. JAMA, 315(4), 416-417. [More Information]
  • Liu, A., Shrestha, S., Nanan, R. (2016). Lipaemia in lipoprotein lipase deficiency. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 52(5), 576-576. [More Information]

2015

  • Eviston, D., Quinton, A., Martin, A., Benzie, R., Peek, M., Nanan, R. (2015). [32-OR]: A smaller fetal thymus precedes clinical pre-eclampsia: a prospective study. Pregnancy Hypertension, 5(1), 15-16. [More Information]
  • Eviston, D., Minasyan, A., Robledo, K., Peek, M., Nanan, R. (2015). Altered fetal head growth inpreeclampsia: a retrospective cohort proof-of-concept study. Frontiers in Pediatrics, 3, 1-5. [More Information]
  • Sridar, P., Li, C., Kumar, A., Quinton, A., Benzie, R., Peek, M., Kumar, R., Kim, J., Nanan, R. (2015). Automatic measurement of thalamic diameter in 2D fetal US brain images using shape prior constrained regularized level sets. 2nd Annual Congress of the DOHaD Society of Australia and New Zealand (DOHaD 2015 Conference), Melbourne: DOHAD Society of Australia & New Zealand.

2014

  • Tripp, N., Hainey, K., Liu, A., Poulton, A., Peek, M., Kim, J., Nanan, R. (2014). An emerging model of maternity care: Smartphone, midwife, doctor? Women and Birth, 27(1), 64-67. [More Information]
  • Bruck, J., Nanan, R., Boughton, P., Brooker, G. (2014). Automating peripheral venous cannulation: A novel device design. Australian Biomedical Engineering Conference, Canberra: Engineers Australia.
  • Poulton, A., Nanan, R. (2014). Drugs for the treatment of obesity. JAMA, 311(17), 1807-1807. [More Information]

2013

  • Kanaan, T., Liu, A., Leroi, M., Nanan, R. (2013). A multicentre survey of hepatitis C awareness in a high-risk population. Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health, 49(8), 649-653. [More Information]
  • Bradbeer, L., Thakkar, S., Liu, A., Nanan, R. (2013). Childhood headache and H. pylori: A possible association. Australian Family Physician, 42(1/2), 134-136. [More Information]
  • Nanan, B., Straubinger, K., Hsu, P., Parnell, G., Tang, B., Xu, B., Makris, A., Hennessy, A., Peek, M., Busch, D., Nanan, R., et al (2013). Fetal-maternal alignment of regulatory T cells correlates with IL-10 and Bcl-2 upregulation in pregnancy. Journal of Immunology, 191(1), 145-153. [More Information]

2012

  • Hsu, P., Nanan, B., Dahlstrom, J., Fadia, M., Chandra, A., Peek, M., Nanan, R. (2012). Altered Decidual DC-SIGN+ Antigen-Presenting Cells and Impaired Regulatory T-Cell Induction in Preeclampsia. American Journal of Pathology, 181(6), 2149-2160. [More Information]
  • Poulton, A., Liu, A., Nanan, R. (2012). Budesonide in preschool-age children with recurrent wheezing. New England Journal of Medicine, 366(6), 570-570. [More Information]
  • Nanan, R., Poulton, A., Champion, B. (2012). Clinical pathways: a departure from the art of medicine. Medical Journal of Australia, 196(2), 96-96. [More Information]

2011

  • Liu, A., Bjorkman, T., Stewart, C., Nanan, R. (2011). Pharmacological Treatment of Neonatal Opiate Withdrawal: Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea. International Journal of Pediatrics, 2011 (Article ID 935631), 935631-1-935631-5. [More Information]
  • Poulton, A., Babajanyan, A., Nanan, R. (2011). Restricted elimination diet for ADHD. The Lancet, 377(9777), 1567-1568. [More Information]
  • Mohamed, N., Eviston, D., Quinton, A., Benzie, R., Kirby, A., Peek, M., Nanan, R. (2011). Smaller fetal thymuses in pre-eclampsia: a prospective cross-sectional study. Ultrasound in Obstetrics and Gynecology, 37(4), 410-415. [More Information]

2010

  • Suryani, S., Fulcher, D., Nanan, B., Nanan, R., Wong, M., Shaw, P., Gibson, J., Williams, A., Tangye, S. (2010). Differential expression of CD21 identifies developmentally and functionally distinct subsets of human transitional B cells. Blood, 115(3), 519-529. [More Information]
  • Marceau, J., Murray, H., Nanan, R. (2010). Efficacy of Oral Sucrose in Infants of Methadone-Maintained Mothers. Neonatology: fetal and neonatal research, 97(1), 67-70. [More Information]
  • Liu, A., Sithamparanathan, S., Jones, M., Cook, C., Nanan, R. (2010). Growth restriction in pregnancies of opioid-dependent mothers. Archives of Disease in Childhood: Fetal and Neonatal Edition, 95(4), F258-F262. [More Information]

2009

  • Kwok, S., Bennetts, B., Nanan, R. (2009). A case of periodic fever and persistent splenomegaly in a 2-year-old boy. BMJ Case Reports, 2009, bcr06.2008.0098. [More Information]
  • Poulton, A., Nanan, R. (2009). Age-related changes in motor subtle signs among girls and boys with ADHD. Neurology, 73(15), 1248-1249. [More Information]
  • Peek, M., Nanan, R. (2009). Comment on: Association of maternal pre-pregnancy weight with birth defects: Evidence from a case-control study in Western Australia. Aust N Z J Obstet Gynaecol 2009; 49: 11-15. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 49(5), 564-5. [More Information]

2008

  • Nanan, B., Seddiki, N., Zhu, E., Quent, V., Kelleher, A., Fazekas de St Groth, B., Nanan, R. (2008). Accelerated age-dependent transition of human regulatory T cells to effector memory phenotype. International Immunology, 20(3), 375-383. [More Information]
  • Nanan, R., Liu, A., Fletcher, J. (2008). Ambulatory oral amoxicillin for severe pneumonia in children. The Lancet, 371(9621), 1333-1334. [More Information]
  • Nanan, R., Peek, M. (2008). Asthma and Neonatal Airway Colonization. New England Journal of Medicine, 358(4), 424.

2007

  • Peek, M., Condous, G., Nanan, R. (2007). Fetal Pulse Oximetry and Cesarean Delivery. New England Journal of Medicine, 356(13), 1377. [More Information]

2006

  • Liu, A., Hogan, P., Nanan, R. (2006). Acute haemorrhagic oedema of infancy. Archives of Disease in Childhood, 91(5), 382-382. [More Information]
  • Liu, A., Dao-Ung, L., McDonald, D., Nanan, R. (2006). Chronic gingivitis in a new BTK mutation. European Journal of Haematology, 76, 171-175. [More Information]
  • Fazekas de St Groth, B., Seddiki, N., Nanan, B., Martinson, J., Zaunders, J., Sasson, S., Landay, A., Nanan, R., Kelleher, A. (2006). Expression of IL-2 and IL-7 receptors discriminates between human regulatory and activated T-cells within CD45RA and CD45RO compartments. Federation of Clinical Immunology Societies (FOCIS) Annual Meeting 2006, USA: Academic Press.

2005

  • Sütterlin, A., Sütterlin, M., Nanan, R., Baumann-Müller, A., Dietl, J., Müller, T. (2005). Normalization of a severely abnormal ductus venosus Doppler flow velocity waveform in the presence of normal arterial flow parameters. Journal of Perinatal Medicine, 33(1), 83-86. [More Information]
  • Nanan, B., Peek, M., McCullagh, P., Nanan, R. (2005). Therapeutic potential of stem cells in perinatal medicine. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, 45(2), 102-107. [More Information]

2003

  • Muller, T., Nanan, R., Rehn, M., Kristen, P., Dietl, J. (2003). Arterial and ductus venosus Doppler in fetuses with absent or reverse end-diastolic flow in the umbilical artery: longitudinal analysis. Fetal Diagnosis and Therapy, 18(3), 163-169. [More Information]
  • Muller, T., Nanan, R., Dietl, J. (2003). Effect of antenatal corticosteroid administration on Doppler flow velocity parameters in pregnancies with absent or reverse end-diastolic flow in the umbilical artery. Acta Obstetricia et Gynecologica Scandinavica, 82(9), 794-796. [More Information]
  • Bieback, K., Breer, C., Nanan, R., ter Meulen, V., Schneider-Schaulies, S. (2003). Expansion of human gamma/delta T cells in vitro is differentially regulated by the measles virus glycoproteins. Journal of General Virology, 84(5), 1179-1188. [More Information]

2002

  • Nanan, R., Wirbelauer, J., Werner, E., Schrod, L., Speer, C. (2002). Congenital Hyposplenia with multiple additional anomalies: a variant of the Ivemark Syndrome (in German). Klinische Paediatrie: Zeitschrift fur Klinik und Praxis, 214(5), 299-302.

Selected Grants

2024

  • Reappointment to the position of Leader, CPC Nepean in the Charles Perkins Centre (CPC)., Nanan R, Charles Perkins Centre/CPC Research Award (Leadership)

2023

  • Understanding the impact of lifestyle on immune homeostasis and health, Nanan R, Charles Perkins Centre/Jennie Mackenzie Research Fund

In the media

Channel 9 news - Peanut Allergy TrialNovember 17, 2015:

"It’s hoped a new study in Sydney’s west may lead to a breakthrough in the way dangerous food allergies are treated" :http://www.9news.com.au/health/2015/11/17/18/44/new-peanut-allergy-trial-has-permanent-cure-in-its-sights