Dr Kim Bridle

National and International Profile

Dr Bridle is currently Senior Research Officer within the School of Clinical Medicine, The University of Queensland. Dr Bridle has an emerging national and international profile as evidenced by her past involvement on the Gastroenterological Society of Australia’s Research Committee and editorial responsibilities. She has been invited speaker at meetings of the Australian/New Zealand Liver Transplant Society and the Gastroenterological Society of Australia. Her research interests include mechanisms and therapy of hepatic fibrosis, post-transplant disease recurrence and iron overload disorders.

Student Supervision, Peer Review and Discipline Involvement

 Dr Bridle has been an invited reviewer of manuscripts for international journals relevant to the discipline of hepatology and cell biology and has reviewed NHMRC grants in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2016. She is on the Editorial Board of “BioMed Research International” (Hepatology subject area). Dr Bridle has been/is Supervisor of 5 PhD scholars, 1 MPhil scholar and has supervised medical students undertaking research for Honours degrees and as part of their medical training. Dr Bridle has served on the Research Committee of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia (2010-2013). She was also a member of the users group responsible for design and fit-out of the newly opened animal facility of the Translational Research Institute on the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus. She is a current member of The University of Queensland Enhancing Systems and Services Animal Ethics program.

Publications, Impact and Funding Support 

Dr Bridle has over 30 publications with a total of over 1200 citations and an average citation rate of 39 citations per item (Web of Science). Dr Bridle has made important contributions to the understanding of diseases associated with altered iron metabolism and mechanisms of hepatic fibrosis. Dr Bridle has several publications examining mechanisms of fibrosis in cholestatic liver diseases (Liver Transplantation 2009, 15(10):1315-24; Am J Path, 1998 153:527-35; Liver, 2000 20:387-96; Hepatology, 2009 49:533-44). In addition, Dr Bridle has had a strong interest in basic stellate cell biology and the role of these cells in fibrosis. This is evidenced by her publications in this area (Am J Path, 2002 160:1705-15; Am J Path, 2003 162:1661-67; J Lab Clin Med, 2006 147:234-241; Liver Int, 2007 27:1066-75). Dr Bridle has also contributed to the field of haemochromatosis and fibrosis in haemochromatosis. In particular, her 2003 publication (Lancet, 2003 361:669-673; 400+ citations) was the first to demonstrate altered hepcidin expression in patients with haemochromatosis.  Several other publications in iron/fibrosis and co-toxic liver disease research demonstrate further research achievements (Liver, 2000 21:96-104; J Hepatol, 2003 38:426-433; JGH, 2001 16:599-606; Alcohol Clin Exp Res, 2006 30:106-112). Dr Bridle has held NHMRC project grants totalling $0.8M and has previously been awarded $1.6 M as a CI from other competitive grants/fellowships.