Leadership
A/Prof Brian Cowie MBBS FANZCA, FASE
Brian is the Director of the Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine.
He is a clinical associate professor with the Department of Critical Care at the University of Melbourne. He is a Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography (FASE) with certification in both TTE and TOE.
After completing his anaesthesia training at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne, Brian developed subspecialty expertise in cardiothoracics, echocardiography and solid organ transplantation with faculty appointments at several major North American university hospitals.
He has served as a senior examiner for the Final Fellowship Examination of the ANZCA and is an alumni of the London Business School. He is collaborator with the Baker Heart and Diabetes Research Institute and his research has focused on the use of perioperative echocardiography to improve patient assessment, haemodynamic monitoring and perioperative outcomes.
Dr Martin Duffy MBBS, MPH, MMed(Periop), Grad Cert in Clinical Education, GChPOM, AFRACMA, FANZCA
Martin is a deputy director of the Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine. He trained at St Vincent’s before doing Neuroanaesthesia and Obstetric anaesthesia fellowships at the Royal Melbourne & Royal Women’s Hospitals.
Martin enjoys all aspects of non-cardiac anaesthesia and has wide ranging interests in perioperative medicine, medical administration, teaching and quality & safety. He has previously held Chief Medical Officer / Director of Medical Services roles. He is a foundation member of ANZCA’s Chapter of Perioperative Medicine and is a final examiner for ANZCA’s fellowship exam.
Martin co-ordinates the rostering of Junior Medical Staff, and the General on-call roster for Senior Medical Staff.
Dr Tuong Phan MBBS PGDipClinUS DMedSci FRCA FANZCA
Tuong is a Deputy Director and Medical Co-Head of Research.
His clinical workload includes:
- Cardiac anaesthesia and perioperative echocardiography,
- Neuroanaesthesia,
- Perioperative Medicine and Enhanced Recovery after Surgery (colorectal)
Research milestones and appointments:
- Doctor of Medical Science 2021, University of Melbourne; “Cardiac output monitoring and fluid therapy in abdominal surgery.”
- Senior clinical lecturer, University of Melbourne
- Co-director of Melbourne Academic Centre Health Services Research program
- Member of the St Vincent’s Research Ethics committee
- Undertaking a Diploma of Biostatics
Research projects
He is an investigator for multi-centre research into perioperative outcomes and has initiated studies in point of care US and wearable glucose monitoring. Past research studies have included cardiac output technology, fluid therapy, and engagement of cultural and linguistically diverse patients in research. He has received grant funding from ANZCA and St Vincent’s Research Fund.
Links:
Dr Ben Slater BSc(Hons), BMed, FANZCA, Grad Dip Clinical US
Ben is one of the Deputy Directors in the Department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine. His training included time at Massachusetts General Hospital as a staff anaesthesiologist and retrieval medicine working with Careflight in NSW. His main areas of clinical practice are cardiac and thoracic anaesthesia. His main area of specialty interest is haematology including the use of viscoelastic coagulation testing. Ben also has a role in a multidisciplinary team examining how the operating theatre can run more efficiently.
Senior Staff Anaesthetists
Dr Alison Graham MBBS FANZCA
Alison is a full-time staff specialist who currently holds a portfolio of Supervisor of Training. She is a Primary Examiner and EMAC instructor. Her previous portfolios have included planning the registrar teaching program at St Vincent’s Hospital, Welfare Advocate and DOS/Endoscopy lead anaesthetist. Her special interests are with ENT anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia, perioperative medicine and education.
On her days off she tends to her heirloom tomatoes.
Dr Anjalee Brahmbhatt MBChB, PgCertUS, GChPOM, FRCA, FANZCA, AFRACMA, GAICD
Honorary Senior Clinical Lecturer, University of Melbourne
Anjalee is a Full-time Staff Specialist Anaesthetist and clinical lead in anaesthesia for Neurosurgery.
After completing her specialist training at Addenbrookes Hospital, Cambridge, UK, she undertook general and trauma fellowships at the Alfred Hospital and St Vincent’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Her key clinical interests are in neuroanaesthesia and anaesthesia for thoracic, trauma and plastic surgery. She has a strong interest in medical education, research and clinical leadership. As part of her role in the department, she is a HMO supervisor, Mentor Lead and manages policies and clinical guidelines. Anjalee sits on the St. Vincent’s Hospital Renal transplant activation committee.
A/Prof Brendan Silbert MBBS FANZCA
Brendan Silbert is a senior staff anaesthestist at St Vincent’s Hospital and Associate Professor at the University of Melbourne. He undertook postgraduate training at Massachusetts General Hospital in USA and St Bartholomew’s in London UK. He has been a long time member of the Staff at St Vincent’s. He has a broad range of interests in clinical anaesthesia but his mission is clinical research. He was a founding member of the Centre for Anaesthesia and Cognitive Function at St Vincent’s and has been an active researcher in perioperative cognitive disorders for many years. He received the first NHMRC funding for anaesthesia research in 1996 and since then has been awarded nearly 10 million dollars in research funding. He is vice chair of the St Vincent’s Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee.
Dr Bridget Langley PGDipEcho, GCClinEd, MBBS, FANZCA
Bridget is a Senior Staff Anaesthetist and Supervisor of Training at St Vincent’s Hospital currently completing a Masters in Clinical Education.
Extensively involved in healthcare professional education, her roles include Supervisor of EMAC Epworth HealthCare, EMAC Subcommittee Member ANZCA, Medical Education SIG Executive Member ANZCA, Senior EMST Instructor and ALS2 Director.
Bridget is also a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Medical Education, Melbourne Medical School responsible for the development, delivery and evaluation of the clinical simulation programs for St Vincent’s Clinical School, The University of Melbourne.
She has undertaken research in airway training and simulation and continues studies in clinical education.
Dr Desmond McGlade MBBS FANZCA
Des is a senior staff anaesthetist and long standing member of the department. His anaesthesia training was via the Northern Suburbs Rotational Training Scheme and St Vincent’s Hospital. Since then he has held full time clinical appointments that include The Royal Women’s Hospital Melbourne, Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cambridge UK and Toronto General Hospital Canada. In 2017 Des attended the Hôpital Petié Salpêtrière in Paris while on sabbatical from St Vincent’s, where he attended as a member of their Vascular Surgery anaesthesia division.
Des’s main clinical interests include vascular and thoracic anaesthesia in which he has held positions as the SSU supervisor and department clinical lead. He is an experienced cardiac anaesthetist. Other areas of clinical responsibility include operating theatre Blood Bank liaison and the Post Anaesthesia Recovery Unit. His interests and expertise extend to echocardiography, transoesophageal and transthoracic, and regional anaesthesia.
Dr Gabe Snyder MBBS FANZCA
Gabe has been a full-time staff anaesthetist at St Vincent’s since 2011. In 2009 and 2010 he was a Visiting Assistant Professor in the Department of Anaesthesia at the University of California, San Francisco. His clinical work covers a wide range of adult anaesthesia, with a particular focus on neurosurgery and hepatobiliary surgery. He is the head of the Anaesthesia Pre-admission Clinic and was a past Discipline Head for Anaesthesia at University of Notre Dame and University of Melbourne St Vincent’s Clinical School. He has a specific interest in optimisation of physical fitness before major surgery. His private practice is predominantly obstetric anaesthesia and analgesia.
Dr Roman Kluger MBBS FANZCA, MBiostat
Roman is a senior full-time staff anaesthetist, and a SSU supervisor for cardiac surgery and interventional cardiology. He is also one of the rotational supervisors for the Victorian Eastern Anaesthesia Rotational Training Program and an ex-part 2 examiner for the College.
Roman began his anaesthesia training in the UK and completed it at St. Vincent’s in 1987.
He has worked at St. Vincent’s since then apart from a 2-year period at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, USA (1990-1992) where he learnt transoesophageal echocardiography (TOE).
His main clinical interest is anaesthesia for cardiac surgery, intraoperative TOE and perfusion.
Roman is also involved with many departmental and external studies due to his statistical qualifications and research experience.
Dr Simon Scharf MBBS FANZCA
By day Simon is a senior staff anaesthetist, and Deputy Head of the Acute Pain Service.
By night, he is a network administrator, software developer & programmer. He is a techie at heart, and enjoys creating web apps and research using virtual reality, augmented reality and other medical gadgets.
He is often approached as the departmental tech support.
Simon is a member of the ANZCA ICT Governance steering committee.
Infrequently, he’s allowed into operating theatres, where his main anaesthesia subspecialty of interest is ENT, jet ventilation and difficult airways.
Staff Anaesthetists
Dr Alexander Clarke MBBS/BMedSc FANZCA
Alex recently returned to the department from a faculty position at The University of California, San Francisco where he focused on regional anaesthesia and neuroanaesthesia. He has completed fellowships in neuroanaesthesia and obstetric anaesthesia in Melbourne.
His current research is in the application of machine learning for prediction of the effect of anaesthesia interventions on kidney injury (Bishara Lab, UCSF), outcomes after regional anaesthesia, 3D printing, personal protective equipment and equipment for critical care simulation. Alex on GitHub. Please send me feedback on our website!
Dr Andrew Stewart MB ChB Dip Obst FANZCA PGDip EpidBiost MMED
Andrew is Head of the Acute Pain Service.
He did his primary medical degree and anaesthetic training in New Zealand. He did post fellowship training in Sydney and Oxford before commencing a staff position at St Vincent’s.
Andrew clinical work includes cardiac anaesthesia, transoesophageal echocardiography and medical management of cardiopulmonary bypass. He has a MMEd in pain management and heads the anaesthetic department’s acute pain management team.
Andrew has an interest in simulation and teaching of crisis management and is an EMAC instructor.
Dr Charles Bitcon MBBS BMedSc MClinUS FANZCA FASE
Charles studied medicine at The University of Melbourne and trained in anaesthesia at St. Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He completed a subspecialty fellowship in cardiac anaesthesia at St. Michael’s Hospital in Toronto, Canada, before returning to St. Vincent’s as a full-time staff anaesthetist in 2016. Charles is a Fellow of the American Society of Echocardiography and is board certified in advanced perioperative transesophageal echocardiography. He has completed a master’s degree in clinical ultrasound and has published peer-reviewed echocardiography research. He is one of the department anaesthetic leads for cardiac surgery. His main clinical interests are anaesthesia for cardiac, thoracic, vascular, and orthopaedic surgical procedures.
Dr Christine Vien MBBS FANZCA
Christine completed a fellowship at St Vincent’s Hospital before returning as a full time anaesthetist. Her medical interest lie with regional anaesthesia as well as paediatric anaesthesia, having completed a fellowship at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne. Christine also has a strong interest in medical management, having membered and chaired a number of committees focusing on welfare and training of junior doctors. She is currently the New Fellows Councillor on the ANZCA Council.
Dr Claire Garratt BSc (Hons) MBBS FRCA FANZCA
Claire is a full-time staff specialist anaesthetist and the department Librarian. She completed her anaesthesia training at King’s College Hospital, London, UK and was assimilated into Australian anaesthesia practice gaining FANZCA in August 2017. She has completed fellowships in cardiothoracic, obstetric, hepatobiliary and liver transplant anaesthesia both in the UK and here in Melbourne. Her interests are cardiothoracic and hepatobiliary anaesthesia, transoesophageal and transthoracic echocardiography, perioperative medicine and quality improvement.
Dr Craig Ironfield MBBS, BMedSci, PGCertUS, FANZCA
Craig has been a fulltime staff anaesthetist at St Vincent’s Hospital since 2016 and became Deputy Director in 2023. He also is the Director of Anaesthesia at St Vincent’s Hospital on the Park; a standalone day surgery facility to increase elective surgery capacity after the COVID-19 pandemic. After graduating medical school at the University of Melbourne, he undertook anaesthesia training at St Vincent’s Hospital, followed by a fellowship at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. During this year he focused on providing anaesthesia for major head and neck surgery, and patients involved in severe trauma. After this year he returned to St Vincent’s Hospital as a staff anaesthetist.
Craig holds a strong interest in quality and safety in healthcare and anaesthesia. He has previously led the anaesthetic department’s quality and safety team and is still a member of this team. He also is a representative on the Anaesthesia Subcommittee of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council, a group convened by Safer Care Victoria. Alongside these interests, he has key clinical interests in regional anaesthesia, vascular surgery and neurosurgery. He is also an anaesthetic representative on the hospital’s Transplant Activation Committee.
Professor David A Scott MBBS, PhD, FANZCA, FFPMANZCA, FCAI, FAMM
David is a Professor with the Department of Critical Care, School of Medicine, University of Melbourne, and a senior staff anaesthetist in the department of Anaesthesia and Acute Pain Medicine - having been Director from 2010 to 2022 and Deputy Director for 19 years prior to this. His clinical interests are in cardiac and vascular anaesthesia, echocardiography and regional anaesthesia. He has clinical and research interests in acute pain medicine and cognitive outcomes after surgery. His PhD was in the neuropharmacology of neuropathic pain. He is a co-editor of the book Acute Pain Management - Scientific Evidence. His ongoing research interests are in blood management and cognitive outcomes following anaesthesia and surgery, including delirium and dementia. He has received over $4M in competitive research grants and has published widely in these areas. He is a member of the Executive of the Perioperative Cognition professional Interest Area of the Alzheimer’s Association International. He is also currently the Chair of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council, and a Director of Professional Affairs (Policy) with ANZCA.
Dr Henry Davidson MBBS FANZCA
Dr Jamahal Luxford MBBS MCU MMed MBA FANZCA FASE
Jamahal graduated from Monash University, and obtained his FANZCA in 2013. He undertook a domestic fellowship at the Royal Darwin Hospital as well as a 6month rotation as a perioperative medical registrar.
From 2014 until 2016 he undertook a Cardiaciothoracic fellowship at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston Massachusetts. He is a full time staff anaesthetist at St Vincent’s and has additional interests in echocardiography (both TTE and TOE) and perioperative medicine.
Dr John Ryan MBBS FANZCA
Dr Lauren Smith MBBS FANZCA
Dr Liz Coyle MBBS FANZCA
Dr Louisa Bhanabhai MBBS FANZCA
Dr Mae Yap MBBS FANZCA
Dr Mike Ng MBBS FANZCA
Dr Nicholas Barton MBBS FANZCA
Dr Sam Costello MBBS BBiomedSci FANZCA
Sam undertook his anaesthetic training within the St Vincent’s Hospital before completing a fellowship in cardiac, vascular and thoracic anaesthesia at University Hospital Leuven, Belgium. Following his fellowship he worked for two years as a consultant anaesthetist at the University Hospital Antwerp, Belgium before returning to an English speaking environment at St Vincent’s Hospital.
He is responsible for the anaesthetic trainee tutorial program. He enjoys the mix of both cardiac and non-cardiac anaesthesia as well as the performance of transoesophageal echocardiography and regional anaesthesia.
Dr Steven McGuigan MBBS FANZCA
Dr Tim Nguyen MBBS FANZCA
Dr Tim Williams MBBS FANZCA
Dr Vaughan Bertram B Biomed. Sc (Adel), MBBS (Melb), FANZCA
Vaughan has been a staff anaesthetist since 2016 and is a current Supervisor of Training and Fellowship Coordinator.
After finishing his registrar training through St Vincent’s Hospital, he completed a fellowship at the Royal Melbourne Hospital before travelling to Canada in 2015 where he completed a 12 month Advanced Airway Management Fellowship at Toronto General Hospital under the mentorship of Professor Richard Cooper.
Vaughan has has written a book chapter for difficult airway management in ENT surgery and published in airway related research.
He works regularly in oral maxillofacial, head and neck, orthopaedic and thoracic surgery, and is enthusiastic about teaching airway management techniques and bronchoscopic intubation. Outside his staff role he works regularly in obstetric anaesthesia.
Dr Will Watson BMBS FANZCA FRCA
Will completed his initial postgraduate training in the South West of England, before moving over to Melbourne to work in Emergency Medicine.
He relocated to Glasgow to pursue anaesthetic training, including subspecialty training in Intensive Care, and anaesthesia for ENT procedures. He was awarded his CCT in Anaesthesia in 2019, before returning to Melbourne to work at St Vincent’s as a Regional Anaesthesia Fellow.
Prior to returning full time to St Vincents he worked for 12 months as a Consultant in both Anaesthesia and Intensive Care medicine in Scotland, which coincided with the peak of the COVID pandemic.
He took up his staff anaesthetist post at St Vincents in February 2022, having completed the SIMG pathway with ANZCA, and is the department lead for regional anaesthesia and a liaison for orthopaedics
His areas of interest are Regional Anaesthesia and Perioperative medicine.
Visiting Consultant Anaesthetists
Dr Alex Baker MB ChB, BSc, FANZCA, GDipMgmt, EDRA
Alex is a Kiwi who completed his anaesthetic training in NSW, Victoria and the UK. He has a special interest in anaesthesia for ENT procedures, regional anaesthesia and teaching. Outside of work his interests include: mountain biking, surfing and kitesurfing.
Dr Alexandra Kent MBBS FANZCA
Dr Amit Ganguly MBBS FANZCA
Dr Andrew Middleton MBBS FANZCA
Dr Andrew Wyss MBBS FANZCA
Dr Wyss trained at St Vincents and finished his anaesthetic training with a neuroanaesthesia fellowship in London, Ontario, Canada.
Dr Wyss was on staff at St Vincents for several years and now is a visiting consultant at St Vincent’s and The Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital, along with private practice.
He maintains special interest in neuroaneasthesia, cranio-facial, ENT, and ophthalmic anaesthesia.
Dr Ashutosh Nath MBBS FANZCA
Dr Bianca Macula MBBS FANZCA
Dr Christopher Scarff MBBS FANZCA
Dr Crispin Wan MBBS FANZCA
Crispin is a VMO who works at St. Vincent’s, Eye & Ear Hospital and Epworth. He trained in Monash and completed his fellowship years at St. Vincent’s and Oxford concentrating in neuroanaesthesia and airway management.
He’s also the HMO Supervisor for Anaesthesia, SSU Supervisor for Ophthalmology, EMAC instructor, executive committee member for the Daycare Surgery SIG and an Honorary Clinical Fellow at the University of Melbourne.
His clinical interests include airway management, ENT, neuroanaesthesia, TCI, regional anaesthesia and ophthalmology. He’s produced various local manuals for fibreoptic intubation, ENT and CICO and is actively involved in airway management teaching.
Dr Daniel Wong MBBS FANZCA
Dr David Burns MBBS FANZCA
Dr David Olive MBBS FANZCA
After completing his registrar years at St. Vincent’s, David did fellowships in obstetric anaesthesia at the Royal Women’s Hospital and in cardiac anaesthesia in Bristol, UK. He has worked at St. Vincent’s at a consultant level since 2001. David has a varied practice that includes anaesthesia for orthopaedic and plastic (hand) surgery, both of which involve extensive use of regional anaesthetic techniques. He also provides anaesthesia for obstetrics, ENT (including a significant paediatric caseload), upper GI (including bariatrics) and paediatric dental procedures. David is a passionate teacher of medical students, registrars, nurses and midwives. Aside from regular tutorials and lectures, David has taught regional techniques, including ultrasound-guided blocks and sub-Tenon’s blocks, at national conferences and local workshops. David’s non-clinical roles have included being a member of the Economics Advisory Committee of the ASA (2004-12); Chairman of the Epworth HealthCare Obstetric Anaesthesia Committee and the Chairman of the Obstetric Anaesthesia Special Interest Group at St. Vincent’s Private (2004-24); anaesthesia representative on the Medical Advisory Committee at Masada Private Hospital (2014-22). Outside of his time at St. Vincent’s, David is also a Voluntary Assisted Dying practitioner.
Dr Elliot Schulberg MBBS FANZCA, MMed(Periop)
Elliot is a VMO anaesthetist who trained through Monash Health before completing a regional anaesthesia fellowship at Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre in Toronto, Canada.
He maintains public appointments at St Vincent’s Hospital and Monash Health as well as private practice. He has a special interest in ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia.
Dr Fergal McDonagh MBBS FANZCA
Dr Jacyln Soo MBBS FANZCA
Dr James Mitchell MBBS FANZCA
James’ anaesthesia training was at the Geelong Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital, the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, the Mercy Hospital for Women and the Royal Children’s Hospital. From 2001 to 2004 he was an Assistant Professor at the University of California, San Francisco, gaining extensive experience in neuroanaesthesia and publishing research in mechanisms of opioid tolerance and peripheral inflammation.
As well as general cases, he anaesthetises for neurosurgery, other specialty surgery and paediatric ophthalmic, ENT and dental surgery. James has prepared study materials in anaesthesia which are in use both here and in the UK and is involved in the assessment of the performance of foreign-trained anaesthetists seeking to practice in Australia.
He lives with his partner Jay in Fitzroy where their interests include bodybuilding and rowing with Melbourne Argonauts.
Dr Jeffrey Reddy BHB, MBChB, FANZCA
Jeff is a visiting anaesthetist with a special interest in regional and cardiothoracic anaesthesia. He trained and completed his anaesthetic training in New Zealand. He finished a fellowship at St Vincents focusing on cardiac/regional and airway management then worked as a consultant in Auckland with a focus on obstetrics before returning to St Vincents. He has a strong interest in perioperative clinical ultrasound.
Dr Jina Hanna MBBS FANZCA
Dr Kate Barrett MBBS FANZCA
Dr Keng Low MBBS FANZCA
Dr Maggie Wong MBBS, MMed, MHlthEth, FANZCA
Maggie is a sessional anaesthetist. She was a St Vincent’s Hospital anaesthetic trainee, and completed her training with a fellowship at The Royal Women’s Hospital and the Massachusetts General Hospital. Her professional interests include obstetrics anaesthetic, perioperative medicine, medical education and health ethics. She is a Fellowship Examiner and DPA Assessor for ANZCA, a member of the Victorian Consultative Council of Anaesthetic Morbidity and Mortality, and a faculty member of the Monash University Master of Medicine course to 2017.
Dr Mahsa Adabi MBBS FANZCA
Dr May Tsai MBBS BMedSc MMed PGCert Clin. US FANZCA
May is currently a VMO and has been at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne since internship. She finished her anaesthetic training with an airway and thoracic anaesthesia fellowship at Toronto General Hospital, Ontario, Canada.
She has public appointments at Eastern Health, Eye & Ear and Mercy Health as well as private practice. Outside work she practices martial arts and regularly travels around the world to maintain a healthy work-life balance.
Dr Michael Rattray MBBS FANZCA
Dr Michael Solly MBBS FANZCA
Michael is a visiting anaesthetist at St Vincents.
Michael trained at the Royal Melbourne Hospital before completing a fellowship year at St Vincent’s Hospital and then staying on for a year as a staff anaesthetist.
Leaving St Vincents he spent five years at the Mercy Hospital for Women as a half time staff anaesthetist before returning to St Vincent’s as a visiting anaesthetist in 2002.
Since then Michael has combined private practice with work at St Vincent’s.
Clinically he works in a range of areas including neuroaneasthesia, colorectal surgery, vascular surgery and orthopaedics and gynaecology.
Dr Michelle Chong MBBS FANZCA
Dr Nancy Fammartino MBBS FANZCA
Dr Peik Fei Yau MBBS FANZCA
Dr Phillipa Hore MBBS FANZCA
Dr Rachel McLennan MBBS FANZCA
Dr Robert Gotmaker MBBS FANZCA
Dr Robyn Tran MBBS FANZCA
Dr Robyn Tran is a specialist anaesthetist who works at both Monash Health and St Vincent’s Hospital where she is involved in the Anaesthesia Allergy Clinic and skin testing. Her other clinical interests include Obstetric anaesthesia. Prior to embarking on medical studies at ANU Canberra, she trained as a Pharmacist which enriched her interest in pharmacology and adverse drug reactions.
Dr Sherman Lee MBBS FANZCA
Sherman is a sessional anaesthetist. He embarked on training in Anaesthesia and Intensive Care through Monash Health and completed his anaesthetic fellowship at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. He is also a consultant anaesthetist at the Royal Victorian Eye & Ear Hospital and maintains a private practice at several hospitals in Melbourne. Sherman’s special interests include Orthopaedic, Regional, Airway, Ear, Nose, and Throat, and Ophthalmic anaesthesia. Beyond his clinical practice, Sherman is deeply involved in medical education. In his personal time, Sherman finds solace and joy in scuba diving with his beloved wife, capturing life’s moments through photography, and exploring nature with his young family.
Dr Simon Jones MBBS FANZCA
Simon is a visiting medical officer and specialty unit supervisor of neuroanaesthesia at St Vincent’s Hospital.
After completing his training at St Vincent’s Hospital, he completed a general fellowship at the Bristol Royal Infirmary in 2000, then a neuroanaesthesia fellowship at St George’s Hospital, London in 2001. Simon was awarded the Magill medal during his earlier studies in the UK and returned to St Vincent’s in 2002.
As well as a public appointment at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital, he has a busy private practice. Areas of interest include neuroanaesthesia, obstetrics, regional anaesthesia colorectal and eye surgery. He is actively involved in teaching and research with publications in the fields of plastic and neurosurgery.
Dr Vanida NaRanong MBBS FANZCA
Dr Yoshiaki Uda MBBS FANZCA DipClinUS
Yoshi is a VMO anaesthetist with a special interest in cardiothoracic and regional anaesthesia. He spent two years of training at St. Vincent’s Hospital with a strong emphasis in regional anaesthesia. Subsequently, Yoshi completed fellowship in cardiac anaesthesia and anaesthesia for organ transplantation at Toronto General Hospital, Toronto, Canada before returning to St. Vincent’s in 2017.
His interests include teaching and research in ultrasound guided regional anaesthesia, transthoracic and transesophageal echocardiography.
Acute Pain
Kim Choate
After 12 years working in the Intensive Care Unit at The Alfred, Kim joined St Vincent’s Hospital Anaesthetic Department in 2009 as a Clinical Nurse Consultant in the Acute Pain Service (APS). She found the role challenging and went on to gain a Post Graduate qualification in Pain Management. Having gained a master’s in clinical nursing and following two years in a candidature role, Kim was endorsed as a Pain Management Nurse Practitioner in 2017. Her research interests include Post Operative Nausea and Vomiting, ketamine analgesia and nursing documentation of analgesia strategies. In 2021, Kim and Wendy started a Nurse-led APS Perioperative Pain Clinic. The aim of this transitional pain clinic is to provide preoperative pain education and opioid/analgesic weaning to complex pain patients. In addition, they aim to identify patients with severe pain anxiety and provide relaxation activities that can be practised before surgery. The patients are cared for by the APS team and post discharge follow up includes a telephone consult and liaison with the patient’s general practitioner.
Wendy McDonald
Research
A/Prof Lisbeth Evered
Lis has a BSc, Masters in Biostatistics and a PhD in neuroscience and is Scientific Head of Research in the Department and Associate Professor, University of Melbourne. She has over 60 publications in cognitive clinical research. Lis founded the Perioperative Cognition and delirium Professional Interest Area (PIA) of the Alzheimer’s Association (US). She is Associate Editor for BJA and Senior Editor for Anesthesia & Analgesia, and a reviewer for many peer-reviewed journals. She is the recipient of more than $8M in NHMRC project grants and other competitive funding. Lis is Chair of the International nomenclature consensus working party which has revised postoperative cognitive disorders from research to clinical guidelines. Her main area of research interest is identifying the impact of surgery and anaesthesia on the cognitive trajectory of older individuals including identifying biomarkers associated with these changes, and identifying perioperative interventions to reduce postoperative decline. Lis is supervisor of several research higher degree students, medical students undertaking their research projects and is research mentor to trainees and junior consultants. Lis is currently undertaking a sabbatical as Associate Professor of Neuroscience Faculty member at Weill Cornell Medicine, New York
Kelly Atkins
Biomedical Engineering
Babak Shoghi
Simon Tang
Support Staff
Dee Henriss Dip Mgt/Dip Bus
Dee completed high school in South Africa and worked in various administration roles there, until she migrated to Australia and joined our Department in 2010 as an Administration Assistant. Dee is detail focused and likes getting involved in all projects in the department, providing admin support to both senior and junior staff. When not at work, she likes spending time with friends and family playing board games and she also enjoys knitting.