The Department of Surgery has research interests in a number of areas. For further information please contact the Department’s Administrative Assistant on 9903 0611.
There are research opportunities for Honours, Master of Surgery, MD and PhD students.
Research areas:
| Burns | Orthopaedic surgery |
| Cardiothoracic | Plastic surgery |
| Colorectal | Spine |
| Endocrine surgery | Trauma |
| General surgery | Upper Gastrointestinal |
| Hepatobiliary | Urology |
| Neurosurgery |
Cardiac Surgical Research Unit, Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery
For further information contact: Professor Franklin Rosenfeldt f.rosenfeldt@alfred.org.au (pictured, above, with his prototype box for storage and perfusion of the donor heart before transplant)
Research Areas Include:
- Metabolic physical and mental preparation for major surgery
- Antioxidant Therapy for the Treatment of iron overload Cardiomyopathy in ?-Thalassaemia sufferers
- The evaluation of hearts obtained after cardiac arrest for use as heart transplant donors
- Mechanical and biological properties of absorbable polylactide plates for use in operative fixation of fractured ribs
- Cardiac mitochondrial metabolism in health & disease states
- Epidemiology-based projects
- Thoracic/pulmonary surgery related projects
Neurosurgery Research
For further information contact: Professor Jeffrey V. Rosenfeld - j.rosenfeld@alfred.org.au
Ph: 9903 0190
Research Areas Include:
- Traumatic Brain Injury and Spinal Injury
- Clinical Studies in the Alfred Hospital
- Traumatic spine and spinal cord injury
- Intensive monitoring, including brain oxygen and micro dialysis
- Surgery for brain injury
- Laboratory studies in the National Trauma Research Institute
- Traumatic brain injury models in rodents
- Inflammation post-trauma
- Neural precursor cells
- Cytokine response
- Effect of hypoxia
- Neurosurgical Ethics including organ donation issues
Orthopaedic Surgery Research
For further information contact Miss Susan Liew s.liew@alfred.org.au
Research Areas Include:
- Femoral fracture fixation in multi-trauma patients
- Posterior pelvic fixation
- Vacuum Assisted Closure (VAC) device in orthopaedic patients
- Use of retrievable inferior vena cava filters in orthopaedic patients
- Non-Operative treatment of type II dens fractures
- Use of Gamma nail for the fixation of proximal femur fractures in the elderly
- International collaborative multi-centre randomised trials
Department of General Surgery
For further information contact Professor Jonathan Serpell jonathan.serpell@alfred.org.au
Research Areas Include:
Breast Endocrine and General Surgery:
- Involved in various areas of clinical research including: endocrine surgery, thyroid surgery, parathyroid surgery, adrenal surgery, parotid surgery and soft tissue tumour surgery.
Current Research Projects include:
- Anatomical studies on the recurrent laryngeal nerve (Prof. Jonathan Serpell),
- The Australian experience of isolated limb infusion for palliation intransit metastasis for melanoma. (Dr Paul Paddle, Prof Jonathan Serpell).
- The impact of synoptic thyroid cytology reporting. (Dr Cyril Tsan, Prof. Jonathan Serpell).
Colorectal & General Surgery Unit
Involved in a diverse range of research projects which reflect the diverse interests of the members of this unit. Research areas include: colorectal cancer, management of faecal incontinence, anal intraepithelial neoplasia, transanal endoscopic microsurgery, laproscopiccolorectal surgery and endorectal ultrasound.
Current Research Projects include:
- A study of patients with anal intraepithelial neoplasia (Dr. Robert Winn)
- Pathology reporting for colorectal cancer (Mr. Stephen Bell)
- The use of an electromagnetic chair for faecal incontinence ( Mr. Chip Farmer)
- The use of dye staining to improve the lymph node yield in bowel resection specimens to increase the accuracy of pathology reporting. (Mr. Stephen Bell)
Upper Gastrointestinal & General Surgery Unit
The Upper Gastrointestinal Unit has established several databases for the collection of clinical information regarding major hepatectomies, pancreatic surgery, oesophagectomy, gastrectomy and bariatric practices.
Research Projects Include:
- Laparoscopic hepatectomy ( Mr. Charles Pilgrim, Mr. Val Usatoff, Mr. Peter Evans)
- Traumatic Rupture of the diaphragm (Dr. Kishani Goonewardne, Mr. Paul Burton, Mr. Peter Evans)
- A randomized controlled trial of the effect of the lap-box trainer on laproscopic skills acquision Use of retrievable inferior vena cava filters in orthopaedic patients
- Non-Operative treatment of type II dens fractures
- Use of Gamma nail for the fixation of proximal femur fractures in the elderly
- International collaborative multi-centre randomised trials
Skin regeneration
For further information contact: Dr Shiva Akbarzadeh shiva.akbarzadeh@monash.edu
