Professor Julian Smith

Head of Monash University’s Department of Surgery (Monash Medical Centre)

Deputy Head of the Southern Clinical School and Head of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Southern Health

Professor Smith has broad basic and clinical research experience in general and cardiothoracic surgery including organ transplantation and minimally invasive surgical techniques. Current research areas include cardiac surgery without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass, new devices in artificial heart technology, and the evaluation of outcomes in cardiothoracic surgery especially with respect to new technologies such as microsurgery, minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery. Specific academic and research expertise (and contributions) include:

• Development of the Heartport system of minimally invasive cardiac surgery using a combination of thoracoscopic techniques and small incisions (Redwood City, CA, USA).
• Participated in pioneering work on circulatory support devices including:
  
  
1. The first bridge to cardiac transplantation with a left ventricular assist device (LVAD) in Australia;
2. The first implant of a wearable LVAD in the USA (Stanford University);
3. The first implant of a LVAD as a permanent alternative to cardiac transplantation (Cambridge, UK).
   
   
• Establishment of an internationally recognised program of lung volume reduction surgery at the Alfred Hospital, Melbourne. The largest program in Australia and one of the largest in the world.
• First in Australia to report results of cardiac surgery outcomes using the Society of Thoracic Surgeons Database.
• Evaluation of techniques and implementation of virtual reality-based surgical training and pre-operative planning of surgical procedures.
• Establishment and evaluation of surgical techniques and instrumentation for minimally invasive surgery, microsurgery, and robotic-assisted cardiac surgery – the last of which is now being applied clinically by cardiothoracic surgery colleagues at Epworth Hospital, Melbourne.
• First in Australia to use and report the use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation

Professor Smith is a Councillor of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) and Chair of its Division of Research, Audit and Academic Surgery. In 2006, he was awarded the John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship by the RACS for an outstanding contribution to surgical research. He is currently the Vice President of the Australasian Society of Cardiac and Thoracic Surgeons.