Professor Poole-Warren was awarded a PhD degree from the University of New South Wales in 1990 and held various appointments at UNSW after joining the academic staff in 1995. These include Associate Dean Research Training and Associate Dean Research in the Faculty of Engineering (2005-2009) and Professor in the Graduate School of Biomedical Engineering (2009). She was appointed Dean of Graduate Research in 2010 and Pro-Vice Chancellor (Research Training) in 2012.Professor Poole-Warren continues to lead a research group in biomedical engineering focusing on design and understanding of biosynthetic polymers for medical applications.