Prof Wendy Brown

Professor Wendy Brown is a trailblazer in the field of surgery and obesity research. In 2015, she became the first woman to be appointed Chair of the Monash University Department of Surgery. Her roles also include serving as the Director of the Centre for Obesity Research and Education (CORE), and Clinical Lead for the National Bariatric Surgery Registry and the Victorian Upper GI Cancer Registry.

Professor Brown’s expertise lies in bariatric and upper gastrointestinal surgery, with a focus on cancer and reflux disease. Her research aims to optimally manage obesity as a chronic disease, and she has published over 60 peer-reviewed papers in this area. She is also leading the development of the Bi-national Bariatric Surgery Registry, which aims to track the outcomes of bariatric procedures longitudinally for 10 years and capture all such procedures across Australia and New Zealand.

Apart from her research and clinical roles, Professor Brown is actively involved in various leadership positions in the medical community. She is president-elect of the Australia & New Zealand Gastro Oesophageal Surgery Association and Obesity Surgery Society of Australia and New Zealand. She serves as Deputy Chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) Section of Upper GI Surgery, Senior Examiner in the RACS Court of General Surgery Examiners, and is a member of RACS Board in Surgical Research. She is also the Scientific Chair of the International Federation for the Surgery of Obesity and Metabolic Disorders. In addition, she has been a member of the Victorian State Ministerial Cancer Taskforce, Bariatric working party, and the Victorian Surgical Consultative Council.

Professor Brown’s achievements and contributions to the field of surgery and obesity research are remarkable, and her leadership and service to the medical community are commendable.