Darren joined the Department of Accounting and Management at La Trobe University as a Lecturer in February 1997. He transferred to the Department of Economics and Finance in January 2000, and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in 2005, Associate Professor in 2007 and Professor of Finance in 2019. Darren completed his PhD in 1997 and has previously worked in a corporate advisory role in private industry. He was also previously a Research Fellow for Macroeconomics, an economic modelling, forecasting and economic policy analysis and advisory firm.
Darren is currently teaching the Case Studies in Finance capstone subject in the undergraduate Finance programs and Financial Management in the online MBA degree. He has previously taught various corporate finance, investments and introductory finance undergraduate level subjects, as well as related subjects in Masters coursework and MBA degree programs. Darren was awarded an Australian Award for University Teaching (AAUT) Citation for Outstanding Contribution to Student Learning in 2020 for his development of authentic learning activities including simulations and representative finance occupation tasks which significantly enhance student learning and workforce transition and employability. 
Darren's current research interests include all aspects of mergers and acquisitions, corporate governance and wider ownership and control issues, corporate restructuring and cross-listing activities, and empirical corporate finance issues such as capital structure decision-making, dividend policy and capital raising activities. He is also interested in research related to scholarship of teaching and learning and strategies to enhance the student learning experience. Apart from his research and teaching activities, Darren is heavily involved in postgraduate and honours student supervision and program curriculum development. He has supervised 32 PhD research students and over 40 Honours students to successful completion, and is currently involved in the ongoing supervision of 5 PhD students. He is currently the Head of the Department of Accounting, Data Analytics, Economics and Finance in the La Trobe Business School and previously was the Head of the Department of Economics and Finance in the La Trobe Business School from 2015 to 2017.