Dr Georgi Atanasov is currently the UGI & HPB Fellow at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Adelaide, South Australia. He undertook his training and specialty examinations at the Medical University in Berlin, Germany. This is one of the largest surgical departments and transplant centres in Europe. To gain international exposure and advanced training, he undertook the HPB/UGI fellowship at the Department of Surgery, University of Adelaide.
SPEAKERS
Henry Badgery is a general surgery registrar at St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne and current PhD student at the University of Melbourne Department of Surgery Hospital under Mr Matthew Read, collaborating with the Department of Biomedical Engineering.
Ahmed Barazanchi is an upper GI fellow at the Royal Northshore and currently an AANZGOSA trainee.
I am a current SET 4 General Surgical trainee base out of the RBWH. I have previous worked on the HPB department as an unaccredited registrar at this institution and have a keen interest in pursuing post fellowship studies in this field.
I feel this research would best be delivered as a verbal presentation.
Professor Wendy Brown is an Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon. She is the Programme Director for Surgical Services and Chair of the Monash University Department of Surgery at Alfred Health, the Director of the Oesophago-Gastric and Bariatric Unit Alfred Hospital as well as Clinical Director of the ANZ Bariatric Surgery Registry and Clinical Lead of the Victorian State Upper GI Cancer Registry.
Her sub-specialist interests are oesophago-gastric cancer, gastrooesophageal reflux disease and bariatric surgery. Her research interests focus on the health benefits from weight loss, physiology of upper GI procedures, optimal service delivery models for bariatric surgery and registry science. She collaborates with basic researchers exploring mechanisms of satiety, NASH and oesophageal cancer.
She is Chair of the International Federation for Surgery for Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) Global Registry, Chair of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council Surgical Sub-Committee, Past President of OSSANZ and ANZGOSA, Past Senior Examiner in General Surgery for the RACS, Past- Chair of the Scientific Committee of IFSO.
Professor Wendy Brown is an Upper GI and Bariatric Surgeon. She is the Programme Director for Surgical Services and Chair of the Monash University Department of Surgery at Alfred Health, the Director of the Oesophago-Gastric and Bariatric Unit Alfred Hospital as well as Clinical Director of the ANZ Bariatric Surgery Registry and Clinical Lead of the Victorian State Upper GI Cancer Registry.
Her sub-specialist interests are oesophago-gastric cancer, gastrooesophageal reflux disease and bariatric surgery. Her research interests focus on the health benefits from weight loss, physiology of upper GI procedures, optimal service delivery models for bariatric surgery and registry science. She collaborates with basic researchers exploring mechanisms of satiety, NASH and oesophageal cancer.
She is Chair of the International Federation for Surgery for Obesity and Metabolic Disorders (IFSO) Global Registry, Chair of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council Surgical Sub-Committee, Past President of OSSANZ and ANZGOSA, Past Senior Examiner in General Surgery for the RACS, Past- Chair of the Scientific Committee of IFSO.
Chiara is a research fellow with the OGB unit at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne and is currently completing her PhD thesis “Identifying factors for patient selection to improve health resource utilisation in bariatric surgery within the public health system”. Chiara will commence her ANZGOSA post fellowship training in 2023.
Saxon is an HPB surgeon in Christchurch , New Zealand. His research interests include safe cholecystectomy and post pancreatoduodenectomy acute pancreatitis.
During his medical studies at Leiden University (the Netherlands), Michiel de Maat initiated his first oncological research projects within the translational surgical group of professors Cornelius van de Velde and Rob Tollenaar. This lead to a visit to the John Wayne Cancer Institute (JWCI, Santa Monica, US) in 2002 where he was given the opportunity to train basic scientific research skills in the Department of Molecular Oncology under the supervision of dr. Dave Hoon. The next four years he interrupted his medical studies to build a collaboration between the departments of surgical oncology at Leiden University and the JWCI and focused these translational projects on epigenetic biomarkers in gastrointestinal cancers. In 2008 he obtained his M.D (with honors) and his Ph.D. in 2010 based on the obtained data. In 2011 he started his surgical training in the South of the Netherlands (trainers dr. Ton Hoofwijk and professor Laurents Stassen) and registered as a gastrointestinal as well as an oncological surgeon in 2016. After a fellowship in the Antwerp university hospital (Belgium, head professor Guy Hubens) in bariatric, robotic and upper-GI surgery he continued as a fellow in upper-GI robotic surgery at the University Medical Center Utrecht (professors Jelle Ruurda and Richard van Hillegersberg). Here he became a staff surgeon in 2018 specialized in upper-GI, robotic, HIPEC (hyperthermic intraoperative peritoneal chemotherapy), and colorectal surgery. In April 2020 he returned to the Antwerp University Hospital as an upper-GI senior staff surgeon to build a regional collaboration in this area for centralized surgical care for esophageal diseases. His research interests are in translational oncology developing individualized patient therapy by using organoid models and (serum) biomarkers.
Brian J. Dunkin – MD, FACS
Chief Medical Officer
Boston Scientific Endoscopy
Marlborough, MA
Dr. Brian Dunkin is the Chief Medical Officer for Boston Scientific, Endoscopy, a world leading manufacturer of less invasive devices for gastrointestinal and pulmonary conditions. In this role he is responsible for leading the development and execution of a patient centric medical affairs strategy to support the creation and commercialization of Boston Scientific’s innovative portfolio. Additionally, he leads the Medical Safety and Professional Education teams within the Division and is a member of Boston Scientific’s Endoscopy Management Board.
Dr. Dunkin is originally from Wisconsin, earned a degree in biomedical engineering from Boston University, attended medical school in Reno, Nevada, completed a residency in general surgery at the George Washington University in Washington, DC, and a fellowship in advanced laparoscopy and surgical endoscopy at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio. He has held academic and leadership positions at the Universities of Maryland, Miami, the Weill Cornell Medical College, the Houston Methodist Hospital in Texas, and, most recently, the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) in Boston.
While at the Houston Methodist Hospital (2007-2018) Dr. Dunkin was a Professor of Surgery, the John F., Jr. and Carolyn Bookout Chair in Surgical Innovation, Head of the Section of Endoscopic Surgery, and Medical Director of the Methodist Institute for Technology, Innovation, & Education (MITIESM) – a world class education and research institute focused on helping practicing health care professionals learn new procedural skills and adopt new medical technology. Dr. Dunkin left the Houston Methodist Hospital in 2019 to join Boston Scientific.
Dr. Dunkin continues part-time clinical practice at MGH. His clinical focus is on advanced laparoscopic surgery and flexible gastrointestinal endoscopy, working to bring novel technologies into practice to perform procedures less invasively and more accurately. His research interests are in the development of novel methods and devices for endoscopic surgery, better methods of surgical education, and applying the science of selection to surgical trainees. He holds patents on medical device innovations, has published in the areas of flexible endoscopy, minimally invasive surgery, gastrointestinal physiology, surgical education, and surgical trainee selection, and is the co-founder of two companies, ORIntelligence and SurgWise – a consulting group that provides selection and assessment solutions to surgery training programs and organizations. He is a past president of the Society of American Gastrointestinal and Endoscopic Surgeons (SAGES), Fellow of the American College of Surgeons, and a member of the American Surgical Association, the most prestigious professional surgical organization in the United States. He also serves on the Dean’s Advisory Board for the Boston University College of Engineering and is a member of the College of Fellows at the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), a select group of the top 2% of medical and biological engineering professionals in the United States.
Good afternoon all, I am Joseph Fantasia, a third year post-graduate medicine student from Flinders University, South Australia.
Associate Professor/Consultant Surgeon Sarah Thompson and I have collaboratively conducted our narrative review, which focussed on the reliability of endoscopic assessment of fundoplication.
We thank you for your time and interest in our research.
I have a strong interest in Upper GI research and currently working as an Upper GI Fellow at Eastern Health, Victoria. I will be starting AANZGOSA training next year.
Trudy Hong is an HMO with Monash Health with a keen interest in surgery. She has already published widely in many sub-specialty disciplines and is excited to be presenting on the RUQ pain diversion pathway at Monash Hospital – the first of its kind in Australia
Dr Guirgis is currently a General Surgical, Bariatric and Surgical Oncology Fellow in WA currently working in the state peritonectomy unit. He has interests in advances in minimally invasive and robotic surgery as well as all facets of benign and malignant Upper GI surgery. He is currently completing a Masters Degree in Minimally Invasive and Robotic Surgery. He is also involved in numerous research initiatives in WA and nationally covering benign and malignant Upper GI surgery and General Surgery. He aims to apply for Aanzgosa post Fellowship training in 2023.
Professor Jeffrey Hamdorf AM
Jeff is an Academic Surgeon (Upper Gastrointestinal and Bariatric) based in Western Australia.
Jeff is the Director of CTEC, a world-class skills training centre and is UWA’s Professor of Surgical Education.
Influential in teaching and learning, curriculum development, summative assessment and student progress. At the postgraduate level he has been involved with the education of trainees through simulation. Awarded Membership of the Order of Australia, 2019, for services to medical education and surgery, particularly in the area of bariatric surgery.
Currently the President of ANZMOSS (Australian and New Zealand Metabolic Obesity Surgery Society).
Research interests in medical, surgical and nursing education, and obesity especially relating to interprofessional team care. Publications include books and book chapters and over 60 publications.
I’m Kathy, an intern at Eastern Health hoping to get into general surgery in the future.
Current Upper GI Fellow at Eastern Health, with an interest in gallstone disease and ERCP. Undertaking a Masters in Surgery on the topic of reducing radiation dosage at ERCP. Keen on research, teaching, operating and cricket!
I am a SET 3 General surgery registrar at Alfred Health and pHD candidate at Monash University.
Mary Ann Johnson is a general and oesophagogastric surgeon in Melbourne in both public and private practice. She completed her 3-year ANZGOSA fellowship in 2016 with one year posts at Box Hill hospital, Melbourne; Fiona Stanley, Perth and Royal Victorian Infirmary, Newcastle-upon-tyne UK. She enjoys the challenge of a complex case.
Dr Ngee-Soon Lau graduated from medical school at the University of New South Wales in 2013 with distinction. During this time, he also completed an honours year at Neuroscience Research Australia and passed with first class honours in 2011.
Ngee-Soon underwent General Surgery Training at Royal Prince Alfred and Concord Hospitals in Sydney and was awarded a Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2020. He then undertook advanced training in Liver Transplantation and Hepatobiliary Surgery at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, and The Canberra Hospital.
Ngee-Soon’s research interests include split liver transplantation and ex-vivo machine perfusion. He is a PhD candidate at the University of Sydney, and has developed a world-first model of ex-vivo liver splitting during normothermic machine perfusion. In 2022, Ngee-Soon has received the prestigious Rising Star Award at the International Liver Transplantation Society Meeting in Istanbul and was the winner of the ANZ Chapter of the ACS Surgical Forum at the RACS ASC in Brisbane.
Dr. Yit Leang is a junior surgeon who obtained his general surgical fellowship in 2020 and subsequently completed a year of upper GI training at The Alfred in Melbourne. He is currently pursuing a PhD whilst gaining more experience in the field of upper GI and bariatric surgery.
Eunice is a HPB and liver transplant surgeon at Austin Health and Monash Health. She completed her general surgical training through Monash Health, before undertaking fellowships in HPB and transplant surgery at the Austin Hospital and the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh, Scotland. She completed her PhD at the University of Melbourne in 2021. Her dissertation was focused on optimising allocation of deceased liver grafts for transplantation, which involved the development of an Australian transplant benefit score for liver allocation. Her research interests include statistical analysis, simulation and machine learning methods in surgery.
Andrew MacCormick trained in General Surgery in Aotearoa New Zealand. He undertook his fellowship in Upper GI and Bariatric surgery. He is an Associate Professor in the Department of Surgery, University of Auckland and a Consultant Surgeon at Middlemore Hospital. He works as a Bariatric and Upper GI surgeon and Director of Trauma. Andrew’s ongoing research interests are in health services research including registries, and clinical decision making. Additionally he has research projects in the areas of ERAS, Environmental Issues, Clinical Variation and his clinical interests which include trauma, benign and malignant oesophageal and gastric diseases and bariatric surgery.
Chris Nahm is an HPB surgeon at Westmead Hospital in Sydney, Australia and Senior Lecturer with the University of Sydney. He completed training in general surgery through Royal North Shore Hospital, then completed a PhD examining pancreatic cancer biomarker discovery at the Kolling Institute. He completed the ANZHPBA fellowship through Westmead Hospital and St. James’s University Hospital in Leeds UK. He serves on the editorial board of HPB, and is co-director of the Masters of Surgery Program at The University of Sydney.
My clinical background is that of a trainee in general surgery. For the last six years my primary research focus has been on improving outcomes from pancreatic cancer. I also have an interest in medical education.
Kate is an unaccredited registrar previously based as Nepean Hospital. She has a MBBS from the University of Sydney and a Masters of Surgical Sciences from the University of Edinburgh. She is now based in the Illawarra Shoalhaven Local Health District, where she remains committed to a career in general surgery, with particular interests in rural surgery.
Jared is a non training surgical registrar in Christchurch Hospital, New Zealand. He completed medical school at the University of Otago and has spent time working as both in General Surgery and in ICU.
Dr Jenny Myers is a senior medical scientist at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and a senior lecturer at The University of Adelaide & Flinders University. Her considerable expertise in upper GI motility & physiology, fosters excellence in clinical service provision, teaching, education & supervision of higher degree students. Dr Myers has authored over 70 peer-reviewed scientific articles. Her clinical and research interests include advancing knowledge and diagnostic utility of oesophageal physiology tests for reflux disease, achalasia and upper GI surgery.
Josipa Petric, a junior Resident Medical Officer in SA, has a strong interest in surgery and research, with the aim of improving patient experiences and outcomes, and empowering patients to make informed decisions about their health.
Josipa is also passionate about mentoring medical students and interns, supporting them to navigate their way through medical studies and beyond.
Matanyahu Rubinstein is a junior doctor at The Alfred Hospital and is involved in translational surgical and interventional medical research after completing a Bachelor of Medical Science (Honours) at Monash University in 2020.
First year ANZHPBA Fellow
- Sydney based, seconded to Melbourne (great city!)
- Third year of Post Fellowship Training
- Pancreatic Fellowship RNSH 2021
- Liver/Peritonectomy Fellowship St George Hospital 2020
Final Year Medical Student at Bond University with a special interest in HPB surgery.
I am a unaccredited general surgical registrar working at Prince of Wales Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, with a subspecialty interest in hepatobiliary and oesophagogastric surgery. I graduated from the University of New South Wales in 2018 with BMed/MD.
Hyerim is currently a general surgical SRMO at Concord Hospital. She has completed her internship and residency at St George and Sutherland, and has a keen interest in pursuing HPB surgery in her career path.
Isaac is a PhD candidate at the University of Otago Christchurch having deferred the general surgery training programme. His research interests lie in the intersection between surgical process and automated analysis tools. When not at work he enjoys running in the hills.
HPB Surgeon, Interventional Endoscopist, ERCPist. Perth trained, Sydney and Brisbane polished. Back in WA working in a combined gastro/surgical ERCP department. Self appointed chair of complex endoscopic craft group. Firm believer that ERCP should only be performed by those trained in managing frustration.
Anagi is an Epidemiologist and works at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University. She is currently undertaking a PhD with The Alfred’s department of surgery.
Enoch is a current ANZGOSA fellow based at Fiona Stanley Hospital in Western Australia. He has a keen interest in minimally invasive and endoscopic techniques in upper GI surgery.
Dr Yang graduated from Monash University with MBBS (Hons) in 2015. He completed his graduate diploma in surgical anatomy with Melbourne University in 2017. He obtained his Masters of Surgery (Surgical Sciences) with The University of Sydney in 2019. He commenced General Surgery SET training in 2021 at Alfred Health.
Professor John Zalcberg is Head of the Cancer Research Program in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine at Monash University, providing academic leadership to a number of clinical quality registries. He holds the inaugural Tony Charlton Chair in Cancer Research at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne, Australia. Prior to taking up his current position in 2015, he was Director of the Division of Cancer Medicine at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Peter Mac) in Melbourne for 17 years and Chief Medical Officer at that institution for 5 years.
He has held leadership positions with the Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group (AGITG), Cancer Trials Australia, the Cancer Drugs Alliance, Australian Red Cross Blood Service, the Cancer Institute of New South Wales, the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA) and the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance. He is a current member of the Board of the ICON Group, All.Can Australia as well as PRAXIS.
He has received several awards including a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM), the Cancer Achievement Award from the Medical Oncology Group of Australia and the Tom Reeve Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cancer Care from COSA. In 2014, the AGITG created the annual “John Zalcberg OAM Award for Excellence in Cancer Research” and in 2018 he was awarded the Red Cross Distinguished Service Medal.
Professor Zalcberg’s clinical research interests include gastrointestinal (GI) cancer and quality of care and he has published over 350 articles in peer-reviewed journals. He was the Principal Investigator for the EORTC advanced GIST trial in Australia and continues to be actively involved in trials in this disease, as well as other gastrointestinal cancers in which he continues an active clinical practice.
Dr. William Ziaziaris is a General Surgery Education and Training registrar in NSW, Australia with an interest in Upper GI and Hepatopancreatobiliary surgery and research.
