Dr Newton has led a team exploring the impact of frailty in cardiovascular and lung disease. This team was the first to show the independent impact on people referred for heart transplantation, that it is reversible in certain patients and they the first team to validate the various frailty measures in heart failure. This work has been widely cited including in the latest Australian heart failure guidelines and other international guidelines and consensus papers. He was a senior investigator and lead author of the NSW Heart Failure Snapshot, the largest, prospective, point prevalence study of acute heart failure management and outcomes in Australia.

He has supervised 32 (22 PhD,10 Honours) students to completion His former PhD students have continued their academic careers in post-doctoral or academic positions in Hong Kong, Lebanon, and interstate positions in South Australia, Victoria and Queensland.

Dr Newton has held significant leadership positions including President Australasian Cardiovascular Nursing Council (2019 - 2021), Chair, Heart Failure Council, Cardiac Society of Australia & New Zealand (2016-2019), and completed two terms on the CSANZ Cardiovascular Nursing Council (2012-2018). He was a member of the 2018 National Heart Foundation of Australia and Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand (CSANZ) Heart Failure Guidelines Working Group.

He was co-convenor for the 2015 ACNC Annual Scientific Meeting and was on the Organising Committee for the 2015 Heart Foundation Cardiovascular Research Network Showcase. He has served on numerous Academic Committees at both UTS and WSU including Faculty and University Research Committees and Graduate Research School Board. He was the inaugural chair of the clinical trials ethics committee at UTS.