Professor Britta Regli-von Ungern-Sternberg holds the foundation Chair of Paediatric Anaesthesia at the University of Western Australia (the first of its kind in Australasia), and is a specialist paediatric anaesthetist at Perth Children’s Hospital. In 2024, she was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science for the Frank Fenner Life Scientist of the Year and was also a WA finalist for Australian of the Year. She leads the most active paediatric anaesthesia research program in Australasia which is also an internationally leading program focusing on continuously driving improvements in safety and quality of care along the perioperative pathway. The research team is strengthened by its multidisciplinary nature comprising anaesthetists, surgeons, physicians, nurses, allied health professionals, engineers, scientists, statisticians and health economists across multiple medical and academic institutions.  These diverse clinical networks provide strong evidence for immediate translation into tangible health benefits for young Australians.

Her main research interests relate to the prediction and prevention of respiratory complications in paediatric anaesthesia, lung function changes during anaesthesia, the evaluation of different airway devices, as well as the impact of anaesthesia in early life on a child’s neurodevelopment.

Britta was appointed to the Clinical Senate of Western Australia in 2020 and sits on the UWA Low Risk Ethics Review Panel as well as the Ethics Committee of the WA hild and Adolescent Health Service. She is a member of the Executive for the Clinical Trials Network of the Australia and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists (ANZCA) as well as Chair of the ANZCA Research Committee and sits on the Society for Paediatric Anaesthesia New Zealand and Australia Research Committee.  She is a Section Editor and Editorial Advisory Board member for the journal Pediatric Anesthesia. She has been a Western Australia Science Ambassador since 2023. 

In 2023 she was the joint winner of the Mid-Career Scientist of the Year in the WA Premier's Science Awards. She was also announced as a WA Tall Poppy and WA Tall Poppy of the Year in 2022 as well as being inducted into the WA Women's Hall of Fame. She was awarded Fellowship of the prestigous Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science in 2023 and was named as one of the 50 Remarkable and Inspirational Women in Australian Science by Cosmos Magazine in March 2024.