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AUSTIN SURGERY
GENERAL SURGERY TRAINING PROGRAM
The University of Melbourne Department of Surgery Austin Health
Contact:
Administrative support : Kim McAughtry
Tel: +613 9496 5468
Fax: +613 9458 1650
Email: kimem@unimelb.edu.au
Site Manager: V Muralidharan
Email: muv@unimelb.edu.au
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Research Opportunities for Surgical Trainees
The University of Melbourne Department of Surgery based at the Austin combines clinical and biomedical research in the areas of cancer, transplantation, spinal biology and surgery. Our location and expertise provides the ideal opportunity to achieve our long term vision of translation of basic science discoveries into clinical practice. The department has a specific interest in the treatment of colorectal cancer and liver tumours, liver transplantation and pancreatic diseases.
The clinical specialty of the department is in surgical techniques such as liver transplantation, major liver and pancreatic surgery and minimally invasive surgery. The Department is a member of the Austin LifeSciences, a strategic research alliance bringing together biomedical, clinical and public health research of University and Hospital Departments and Research Institutes based at Austin Health such as the Ludwig Institute for cancer research.
The department currently receives approximately $2 million dollars in research funding per annum including grants from ARC, NIH, Cancer Council of Victoria and Australia, NHMRC and AHMRF. Students are supported by scholarships from The Australian Rotary Health Fund, Australian Postgraduate Awards, Melbourne Research Scholarships and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons among others.
Biomedical Research
Biomedical Research is carried out by four research groups, namely the Liver and Pancreas Research Group, the Cancer Biology Research Group, the Transplantation Immunobiology Research Group and the Clinical HPB Research Group. Our research investigates novel therapies of colorectal liver metastases, role of regulatory peptides in tumour growth, liver transplantation, study of immunobiology of transplantation rejection, renal, prostate and pancreatic cancer. A number of small animal models of liver and colon tumours, and transplantation have been fully characterized in this department. A number of animal models including transgenic and knockout animals have been developed by the department and along with advanced laboratory facilities provide a strong biological foundation for our research. Cell culture, histopathology, protein chemistry, FACS and molecular biology laboratories are well established within the department.
