Professor Zee Upton is Dean of the Faculty of Health at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where she provides strategic leadership to advance excellence in health education, research, innovation and community impact through collaboration, partnership and purpose driven leadership.

Professor Upton is an accomplished academic leader, scientist and research and innovation executive with deep expertise in strategy, governance, commercialisation, industry partnerships and organisational transformation. Prior to joining UTS, she served as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research & Innovation) and Pro Vice-Chancellor in the College of Health, Medicine and Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle, where she remains an Honorary Professor. 

Her expertise spans research strategy, innovation ecosystems, commercialisation, stakeholder engagement, research translation and partnership development. She has a strong track record of building national and international collaborations across universities, industry, government and community sectors, strengthening research capability and translating research into health and societal impact.

A biochemist by training, Professor Upton has held senior research and leadership roles at the Skin Research Institute of Singapore, A*STAR's Institute of Medical Biology, Queensland University of Technology and CSIRO Human Nutrition. Throughout her career, she has led major organisational transformation initiatives, expanded commercialisation and innovation pipelines, and fostered high impact research partnerships. 

Professor Upton is passionate about creating environments where researchers, students, industry and community partners work together to address complex health challenges and improve outcomes for communities. Her leadership is shaped by a commitment to research and education excellence, innovation and delivering meaningful impact at scale.