Research Groups

Cancer Biology Research Group

Research Group Leader : Graham Baldwin Our research, at Austin Health, has focused on the role of precursors of the peptide hormone gastrin as growth factors in colon cancer. 

Spinal Biology Laboratory

Research Group Leader : Gerald Quan The Spinal Biology Laboratory, located at Austin Health, is focused on two key areas; spinal cancer and traumatic spinal cord injury.

Liver Group

Research Group Leader : Christopher Christophi Located at Austin Health, the Research group is focused on hepatobiliary diseases with particular emphasis on liver cancers.  

Advanced Limb Reconstruction

Research Group Leader : Professor Peter Choong Our research, here at St Vincent's Hospital, addresses a spectrum of conditions including degeneration, tumour, trauma and infection, and is divided into clinical, tissue engineering , bioengineering , and robotics streams.

Ultrasound Education Group

Research themes include a wide range of ultrasound including transoesophageal echocardiography for cardiac surgery, clinical point of care diagnostic ultrasound of heart, lungs, abdomen, vascular, invasive procedures, and new techniques.

Hearing Neurosciences

Research Group Leader : Dr Karina Needham Our research, conducted at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, is focused on hearing loss, therapeutic interventions, and the contribution of ion channels to auditory function and neuropathy.

Virtual Reality Surgery Simulation

Research Group Leader : Professor Stephen O'Leary This group brings together researchers from the Faculties of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, Engineering and Education, to the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, to define the role of simulation in surgical training.

Prostate Cancer Research Group

Research Group Leader : Christopher Hovens Our research at the Royal Melbourne Hospital uses in-depth genomic analysis to identify the origins of candidate subclones contributing to metastasis and decrypt drivers of tumour subclonal expansion.

Biomedical Engineering for Cochlear Implants

Research Group Leader : Dr Carrie NewboldOur research, at the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital, works toward improving the safety, efficiency and efficacy of electrical stimulation of the electrode-neural interface, in particular that of the auditory nerve.

Cellular Reprogramming Group

Research Group Leader : Dr Raymond Wong Located at the Royal Eye and Ear Hospital, our research works toward generating patient-specific iPSCs and developing methods to differentiate pluripotent stem cells into retinal ganglion cells (RGCs).

Macular Research Unit

Research Group Leader : Professor Robyn GuymerHere at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital our research focus is on the most common cause of vision impairment in people aged over 50 years in Australia - Age-related macular degeneration (AMD)..

Ophthalmic Epidemiology Group

Research Group Leader : Professor Mingguang He The Ophthalmic Epidemiology group, located at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, conduct clinical and epidemiologic research in eye and vision-related diseases including myopia, glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, twin studies and relevant instruments and technologies.

Neuroregeneration

Research Group Leader : Associate Professor Alice PébayNeuroregeneration research at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital focuses on the study of stem cells for modelling diseases, aspects of development and regeneration.

Clinical Trials Research Centre, Centre for Eye Research Australia

Research Group Leader : Professor Lyndell LimHere at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, our team runs both investigator initiated and sponsored clinical trials that aim to investigate new treatments in a variety of ophthalmic diseases. 

Ocular Genetics

Research Group Leader : Prof Paul N Baird Research in the Ocular Genetics lab, in the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, focuses on using a range of cutting edge genetic techniques combined with informatics to identify gene and environmental determinants of common complex eye diseases.

Honorary Appointments’ Research Projects

The Department of Surgery values the contribution that our Honorary staff make through their teaching, research, and clinical leadership and service to the department and the Melbourne Medical School .

Glaucoma Research Laboratory

Research Group Leader : Professor Jonathan CrowstonLocated at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, our researchers overall goal is to define structural and functional markers of retinal ganglion cell health that accurately distinguish fast and slow progressors in the longer term.

Cytoprotection Pharmacology Research

Research Group Leader : Professor Greg DustingOur research at the Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, encompasses research into new treatments for vision threatening retinal disease, as well as stem cells and tissue engineering in heart repair.

Ocular Biomarkers, Bioenergetics and Angiogenesis Research Group

Research Group Leader : Dr Peter van WijngaardenOur research in the Department of Ophthalmology, is focussed on the interface between the eye and systemic disease.

Indigenous Ear Health

Research Group Leader : Professor Stephen O'Leary Located at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital, our researchers are committed to reducing the burden of ear disease amongst Indigenous children.

Research at Epworth

Research Group Leader: Professor Richard de SteigerThe principal research interests of the Department of Surgery at Epworth HealthCare are focused on musculoskeletal disease. There are three broad areas of research; inflammatory mechanisms of knee osteoarthritis, biomechanics of healthy and replaced knee joints and health services and patient outcomes

Welcome to the Centre for Research Excellence in Total Joint Replacement - OPUS

Primarily located at St Vincent's Hospital in Fitzroy, the NHMRC funded project will endevous to OPtimise oUtcomes, equity, cost effectiveness and patient Selection (OPUS) in Total Joint Replacement. It will transform the research and practice landscape of joint replacement surgery, and promote critically needed stewardship to optimise management for better outcomes and reduced costs for this high volume and expensive procedure through the help of clinical and academic specialists in the field, both nationally and internationally

Hearing Regeneration and Protection

Research Group Leader: Professor Stephen O'LearyA major focus of our work at the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital is developing therapies to protect residual hearing and minimise hearing loss and tissue response after cochlear implantation

Cardiothoracic Surgery

Research Group Leader :Professor Alistair RoyseThe cardiothoracic surgery unit performs all types of cardiac surgery and thoracic surgery...

Neurosurgery

Research Group Leader :Professor Kate DrummondOur laboratory focuses on brain tumours and epilepsy. We aim to understand the neurobiology of brain tumours, particularly glioma.

Glioblastoma Survival Signaling Lab

Research Group Leader :Dr Rod LuworOur key research focus, here at The Royal Melbourne Hospital aims to understand how cancer signaling molecules and pathways regulate the pro-tumorigenic characteristics of glioblastoma, the most aggressive and lethal brain tumour in adults.

Prostate Cancer

Research Group Leader :Associate Professor Chris HovensOur research over the past five years has placed our group in a pivotal position to decipher the genomic codes that drive metastasis and lethal disease in prostate cancer.

Brain Cancer Microenvironment and Biology Laboratory

Research Group Leader :Dr Theo Mantamadiotis Our key research goal is to understand the molecular and cellular biology of brain cancer.

Breast Cancer

Research Group Leader :Professor Bruce MannProfessor Mann's main research interests are clinical trials into tailored treatments in early breast cancer, prevention and screening of patients at high risk of developing breast and endocrine malignancies and outcomes in emergency general surgery.

Endocrine Surgery

Research Group Leader :Associate Professor Julie MillerEndocrine Surgery involves clinical management of patients suffering from tumours of the endocrine system.

Ophthalmology

Research Group Leader :Dr Elaine Chong Dr Chong is collaborating on clinical trials with surgeons from the Royal Melbourne Hospital.

Cancer Signaling Research Laboratory

Research Group Leader : Hong-Jian Zhu Located at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, the focus is on discovering the molecular signalling pathways regulating cancer cell development.

Stem Cell Disease Modelling

Research Group Leader :Professor Alice PèbayOur key research focus, here at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, focuses on the study of human pluripotent stem cells for modelling neurodegenerative diseases.

Brain Tumours and Epilepsy

Research Group Leader :Associate Professor Andrew Morokoff Our key research focus, here at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, is to understand the neurobiology of brain tumours, particularly glioma, the most common cancer of the brain.

Brain Cancer Invasion Group

Research Group Leader :Dr Stanley StylliOur key research focus, here at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, is on the most prevalent and aggressive form of glioma and the tumour with the worst prognosis, the glioblastoma multiforme.

Head and Neck Tumour Stream Research Group