Deakin Distinguished Professor Alison Hutchinson is a Professor of Nursing in the School of Nursing and Midwifery at Deakin University, Co-Director of the Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research in the Institute for Health Transformation at Deakin University and is the Chair in Nursing at Barwon Health. Her primary research interest centres on improving care through knowledge translation. As Co-Director of the Centre for Quality and Patient Safety Research, she provides strategic direction for the Centre, which comprises more than 40 scholars undertaking research in the areas of patient safety, patient experience, and workforce development. Professor Hutchinson received a national knowledge translation fellowship from the Canadian Institutes for Health Research (CIHR) and a provincial fellowship from the Alberta Heritage Foundation for Medical Research (now Alberta Innovates).

She has attracted competitive research funding from a range of funding bodies. With more than 250 publications, she has co-authored several book chapters and has published widely in international peer-reviewed journals. In 2019, in recognition of her sustained contribution to nursing research, Professor Hutchinson was awarded the title of Deakin Distinguished Professor, the highest honour Deakin University can bestow upon an academic staff member. In July 2021, she was inducted into the Sigma International Nurse Researcher Hall of Fame.