Associate Professor Erin Howden
Associate Professor
Medicine & Health
School of Health Sciences
I am a clinical exercise physiologist with more than 15 years of experience in clinical research. I was awarded my PhD from the University of Queensland in 2012, after which I completed four years of international postdoctoral training at the Institute for Exercise and Environmental Medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Centre. In 2016, I returned to Australia to join the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, where I led the establishment of a new research program in exercise cardio‑oncology. I was awarded a National Heart Foundation Future Leadership Fellowship in 2020 and was recognised as an Emerging Leader by the Baker Institute through the Sir Laurence Muir Medal in 2021.
My background in clinical exercise physiology, is complemented by additional training in cardiovascular imaging and invasive haemodynamics. My research program is dedicated to improving the prevention and treatment of cardiometabolic disease in at‑risk populations through innovative multidisciplinary approaches, with a particular focus on “exercise as medicine.” By developing more effective therapeutic strategies, my goal is to reduce health‑care expenditure, enhance quality of life, and lower the morbidity and mortality associated with cardiovascular disease.
My work integrates state‑of‑the‑art cardiac and vascular imaging, exercise testing, classic haemodynamic techniques, and big‑data/bioinformatics approaches to deepen our understanding of human integrative physiology. A major focus of my research is improving outcomes for individuals at risk of heart failure. To achieve this, my team investigates the mechanisms underlying exercise intolerance in at‑risk groups and evaluates the efficacy of novel treatment strategies.
One of my most significant contributions to date demonstrated that exercise training is an effective countermeasure to prevent the cardiovascular effects of sedentary ageing, published in Circulation. I also led the development of a novel tool that characterises exercise limitations by phenotyping the oxygen pathway, which published in Circulation in 2021. Additionally, my research has shown that exercise therapy during treatment for breast and blood cancers is cardioprotective.
E-mail
Location
School of Health Sciences, Faculty of Medicine & Health
Health Translation Hub, Level 6 North
- Publications
- Media
- Grants
- Awards
- Research Activities
- Engagement
- Teaching and Supervision
MRFF Survivorship Care and Collaborative Research – 2024
TeleCARE: A personalised, clinician‑supported, virtual care telehealth exercise, nutrition, behaviour‑change and peer‑support model for cancer‑related fatigue.
Investigators: Daly, Kiss, Denehy, Steer, McCaffrey, Ugalde, Prado, Hutchinson, Dalla Via, Howden, Bolam, Orellana, Kennedy, Braguley, Bourke
$1,997,048
MRFF Emerging Priorities and Consumer Driven Research – 2023
Neural Basis of Disturbed Cardiovascular Control in Post‑Acute Sequelae of COVID‑19
Investigators: Howden, Macefield, Moneghetti, Corcoran, Holland, Burton, Taylor
$797,607
MRFF Emerging Priorities and Consumer Driven Research – 2023
HEAL: Harnessing Effective Approaches for Long COVID through an adaptive clinical trial
Investigators: Majumdar, Tippett, Scoullar, Howden, McMahon, Heritier, Cheng, Cutcher, Capp
$249,893
Cybec Foundation – 2024–2026
Increased risk of heart failure in women: response to novel therapies
CIA: Howden
$148,000
St Vincent’s Hospital Research Endowment Fund – Seed Funding (2025)
Stepping Towards Precision Rehabilitation: Establishing benefits and safety of early cardiac rehabilitation in diabetics post‑acute coronary syndrome
Investigators: Moneghetti, Howden, Wilson, Barnard, Thompson, Deschepper, Tesselaa
$19,866
Canadian Institutes of Health Research – National Women’s Health Research Initiative
Women’s Health Research – Early Career Researcher Grant (2023–2025)
Quantifying the cardiovascular and metabolic health benefits of Canada’s physical activity and healthful eating guidelines in pre‑ and post‑menopausal women
Investigators: Kirkham (University of Toronto), Gillen, Arcand, Harvey, Lipscombe, Bentley, Trihn, Howden
$100,000 CAD + $948,600 CAD (2023)
National Heart Foundation – 2023–2024
Prevention of heart failure in women: The ETHEL study
Investigators: Davis, Howden, Marwick, Islam
$159,846; Recipient of the Ross Hohnen Award for Innovation
Mason Foundation – 2022–2023
Myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome and long‑COVID: uncovering early autonomic pathophysiology
Investigators: Taylor, Macefield, Burton, Sandler, Moneghetti, Howden, Lloyd
$197,900
MRFF Rare Cancers, Rare Diseases, Unmet Need – 2020
Use of Cardioprotective Therapy to Manage Persistent Cardiovascular Effects of COVID‑19: A pathway to recognition and treatment of subclinical disease
Investigators: Marwick, Howden, Maguire, Negishi, Thomas, Huynh, Schuffham, Burchill, Wong, Wright
$2,574,943
University of Melbourne – Seed Funding (2021)
Persistent cardiovascular effects of COVID‑19
Investigators: Howden, Burchill, Maguire, Huynh, Wright, La Gerche, Wong, Douglas, Marwick
$100,000
National Heart Foundation – COVID‑19 Grant (2021)
Persistent cardiovascular effects of COVID‑19: A pathway to recognition and treatment of subclinical disease
Investigators: Marwick, Howden, Maguire, Wright
$100,000
National Heart Foundation – Future Leader Fellowship (2020–2023)
Exercise to prevent cardiac and vascular toxicity in cancer patients
$535,120
World Cancer Research Fund – 2019–2022
Preventing the Adverse Cardiometabolic Consequences of Allogeneic Stem Cell Transplant with Physical Activity
Investigators: Howden EJ, La Gerche A, Kingwell BK, Dunstan DW, Avery S, Own N, Lynch BM
£349,985
World Cancer Research Fund – 2020–2022
Preventing Functional Disability in Breast Cancer Survivors – A Randomised Exercise Intervention
Role: CI
Investigators: La Gerche, Loi, Haykowsky, Howden, Daly, Antill, Salum, Fraser, Liew
£293,822
Jack Brockhoff Early Career Research Grant – 2020–2022
Identification and prevention of chemotherapy‑induced premature vascular ageing in patients with breast cancer
$130,290
Baker Institute – Emerging Leader Fellowship (2018–2020)
Recipient: Howden
$280,000
Baker Institute – Women in Science Project Support (2018)
Recipient: Howden
$10,000
University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center – High Impact/High Risk Grant (2015)
Next Generation Renal Denervation: Establishing efficacy and mechanistic effects
Investigators: Howden, Levine
$75,000 USD
- 2024: Heart Foundation Collaboration Exchange Award
- 2022: Best Poster – Congress of the International Autonomic Neuroscience
- 2020: Sir Laurence Muir Prize – Baker Institute – Competitively Awarded
- 2019: 1000 Mile Travel Award – Travel Award
- 2018–2020: Emerging Leader Fellowship – Baker Institute – Salary & Project Support
- 2018: Carolyn Thomson Travel Grant – Travel Award
- 2018: CSANZ Travel Fellowship – Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand
- 2018: CASS Travel Award – CASS Foundation – ECR Travel Award
- 2017: Bright Sparks Travel Award – Baker Institute – Travel Funding
- 2015: APS Select Award – American Physiological Society – Scholarship Distinction
- 2014: Travel Award – UT Southwestern Postdoctoral Association
- 2012: Travel Award – Princess Alexandra Hospital – Private Practice Trust Grant
- 2011: Travel Grant – Australian National Heart Foundation
- 2009: John Sutton Award – Best New Investigator – Australian Conference of Science & Medicine in Sport