Life as a Clinician-Scientist Victoria

Professor Mark Dawson is a Physician-Scientist, Program Head, and an Associate Director of Research at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He graduated with a medical degree from the University of Melbourne in 1999, and subsequently trained as a haematologist in Melbourne. After his clinical training, he was awarded a General Sir John Monash Fellowship and Cambridge Commonwealth Trust Fellowship, which he used to complete his PhD at the University of Cambridge. Following his PhD, as the top ranked candidate in the UK for a Wellcome Trust Fellowship, he was awarded the inaugural Wellcome Beit Prize Fellowship to pursue his research into epigenetic regulation of leukaemia stem cells.

Professor Sue Walker is the Sheila Handbury Chair of Maternal Fetal Medicine and Head of Department of Obstetrics, Gynaecology and Newborn Health at The University of Melbourne. She is also Co-Director of Mercy Perinatal – a three-pillar centre of excellence committed to clinical care, education and research in high-risk pregnancy.

Professor Walker’s own research interests focus on improving the detection and management of fetal growth disorders, treatments for pre-eclampsia, and prevention of stillbirth.

Professor Danielle Mazza AM FAHMS is the Head of the Department of General Practice at Monash University and a nationally and internationally recognised leader in implementation research and knowledge translation in the general practice setting.

She has made significant, sustained and ongoing contributions to advance general practice and primary health care in Australia in the field of women’s sexual and reproductive health and as a proponent of evidence-based quality improvement through guideline development and implementation. She leads the SPHERE CRE, which aims to improve the quality, safety, and capacity of primary health care services to achieve better outcomes in women’s sexual and reproductive health.

Professor Richard Page is Academic Chair of Orthopaedics at Deakin University, Barwon Health and St John of God Hospital. He is a specialist shoulder, upper limb and trauma surgeon and current President of the Shoulder and Elbow Society of Australia (SESA). Professor Page is also the Founder of the Barwon Centre for Orthopaedic Research and Education (B-CORE).

He has authored and presented on over 300 referred journal articles and book chapters with >$20M in NHMRC and competitive grants. He has appeared in the media discussing shoulder and orthopaedic topics, with a focus on osteoarthritis. Professor Page’s research covers shoulder replacement surgery, biomaterials and biomechanics, orthopaedic trauma, with extensive clinical trial experience in surgery.

Professor Sarath Ranganathan FAHMS is an internationally renowned clinician scientist and expert in respiratory medicine, specialising in detecting and monitoring lung disease in young patients.

Professor Ranganathan is a consultant respiratory physician at the Royal Children’s Hospital and served as Director of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine between 2012 – 2020. He is also a Group Leader at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, a Principal Investigator of the Australian Respiratory Early Surveillance Team for Cystic Fibrosis (AREST-CF), and holds several international leadership roles within paediatric respiratory medicine.

Professor Erica Wood AO FAHMS leads Monash University’s Transfusion Research Unit and is a haematologist at Monash Health.

Professor Wood is an NHMRC Leadership Fellow, leading the Blood Synergy program and CRE in improving immunoglobulin use. She co-chairs WHO’s Advisory Group on Blood Regulation, Availability & Safety; serves on several Australian government committees, and is an Associate Editor for Blood.

Associate Professor Jai Darvall is an anaesthetist and intensivist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, co-lead of the perioperative medicine service within the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, and holds dual appointments at The University of Melbourne in the Departments of Critical Care and Medical Education.

Associate Professor Darvall has clinical and research interests in frailty, perioperative medicine, and persistent critical illness. His research program aims to improve outcomes for older patients with critical illness or undergoing surgery, particularly those living with frailty. In addition to his primary research interests, he is a trialist and chief investigator of two ANZCA Clinical Trials Network endorsed studies.

Associate Professor Yang graduated from Monash University with a MBBS (Hon) in 2001, attained her FRACP in 2010, and completed a PhD in 2013 focusing on tissue-selective coregulators of the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR). She has since advanced basic and clinical research in the field of MR-driven cardiovascular disease, particularly primary aldosteronism, contributing to 133 original publications.  She established Victoria’s first Endocrine Hypertension Service, co-leads the Primary Aldosteronism Centre of Excellence, and enjoys fostering national and international collaborations to enhance the detection and management of primary aldosteronism for better patient outcomes.