Professor Julian Smith MBBS, MS, FRAC, FACS, FCSANZ

Professor Julian Smith is Head of Monash University’s Department of Surgery (Monash Medical Centre), Deputy Head of the Southern Clinical School and Head of the Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Southern Health.

He graduated in medicine from the University of Melbourne in 1981. His early post-graduate years were spent at the Royal Melbourne Hospital from where he obtained a Master of Surgery degree from the University of Melbourne and the Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in General Surgery. His Australian training in cardiothoracic surgery was carried out at the Royal Melbourne, Alfred and Royal Children's Hospitals. After obtaining the FRACS in Cardiothoracic Surgery, he spent time at Stanford University in the USA and then Papworth Hospital in the UK for further training particularly in the field of transplantation. In early 1995, he returned to the Alfred Hospital as a cardiothoracic surgeon and Deputy Head of the Heart and Lung Transplant Service, positions he held until September 2001.

Professor Smith has broad basic and clinical research experience in general and cardiothoracic surgery including organ transplantation and minimally invasive surgical techniques.  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 Healthcare, Melbourne
• First in Australia to use and report the use of high intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU) in the surgical ablation of atrial fibrillation.

Melbourne University

• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery M.B.B.S. 1981
• Master of Surgery M.S. 1986

Professional registrations

• Registered medical practitioner, Australia.        

Scientific and professional societies

• Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
• Fellow of the American College of Surgeons
• Fellow of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand

• Head of Department of Surgery (Monash Medical Centre), Monash University
• Deputy Head, Southern Clinical School, Monash University
• Head of Department of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Southern Health
• Clinical Program Director, Specialty Program, Southern Health
• Member, Senior Medical Staff, Southern Health, Melbourne, Australia
• Honorary Cardiothoracic Surgeon, Peninsula Health

• John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, 2006

• Councilor (generally elected), Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
• Chair, Division of Research, Audit & Academic Surgery, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
• Vice President, Australasian Society of Cardiac & Thoracic Surgeons
• Member of the International Surgical Group
• Board Member, Australasian Cardiac Surgery Research Institution Ltd
• Member, Court of Cardiothoracic Examiners, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons
• Member, Expert Witness Panel, Australasian Society of Cardiac & Thoracic Surgeons

Current research endeavours include:

• Cardiac surgery without the use of cardiopulmonary bypass
• New devices in artificial heart technology
• The evaluation of outcomes in cardiothoracic surgery especially with respect to new technologies such as microsurgery, minimally invasive and robotic-assisted surgery
• Inflammatory response to cardiopulmonary bypass

Top 10 peer reviewed articles in scientific journals

1.     Reid CM, Billah B, Dinh D, Skillington PD, Smith JA, Yii M, Seevanayagam S, Pick A, Mohajeri M, Shardey GC. An Australaian risk prediction model for 30-day mortality following isolated coronary artery bypass – the AusSCORE. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2009;138:904-10.

2.     Hayashi Y, Cochrane AD, Menahem S, Smith JA. Neo-aortic root dilatation with saccular aneurysm formation after arterial switch operation for Taussig-Bing anomaly. J Thorac Cardiovasc Surg 2007;133:569-72.

3.     Yap C-H, Reid C, Yii M, Rowland MA, Mohajeri M, Skillington PD, Smith JA. Validation of the EuroSCORE model in Australia. Eur J Cardiothoracic Surg 2006;29:441-446.

4.     Zimmet AD, Almeida A, Goldstein J, Shardey GC, Pick AW, Lowe CE, Jolley DJ, Smith JA. The outcome of cardiac surgery in dialysis dependent patients. Heart, Lung & Circulation 2005;14:187-190.

5.     Snell GI, Holdsworth L, Borrill ZL, Thomson KR, Kalff V, Smith JA, Williams TJ. The potential for bronchoscopic lung volume reduction using bronchial prostheses. Chest 2003;124:1073-1080.

6.     Snell GI, Solin P, Chin W, Rabinov M, Williams TJ, Esmore DS, Smith JA. Lung volume reduction surgery for emphysema: an Australian perspective. Med J Aust 1997;167:529-32.

7.     *Peters WS, Stevens JH, Smith JA, Rosenfeldt FL, Siegel LC, Burdon TA. Minimally invasive right heart surgery: techniques for bicaval occlusion and cardioplegia. Ann Thorac Surg 1997;64:1843-45.

8.     Smith JA, Dunning JJ, Parry AJ, Large SR, Wallwork J. Transmyocardial laser revascularisation. J Cardiac Surg 1995;10:569-72.

9.     Smith JA, Fann JI, Miller DC, Moore KA, DeAnda A Jr., Mitchell RS, Stinson EB, Oyer PE, Reitz BA & Shumway NE. Surgical management of aortic dissection in patients with the Marfan syndrome. Circulation 1994;90 (Part 2):II-235 - II-242.

10.     Smith JA, Westlake GW, Mullerworth MH, Skillington P & Tatoulis J. Excellent long term results of cardiac valve replacement with the St. Jude Medical valve prosthesis. Circulation 1993; 88 (Suppl II):II-49 - II-54.

Recent invited international and national participation

Chen Y, Phillips DJ, Verrier ED, Hedger MP, Smith JA. Functional significance of activin A in cardiopulmonary bypass and myocardial ischaemia-reperfusion injury. Paper presented at the 50th Annual Meeting, International Surgical Group, Louisville, Kentucky, USA, 2010

Smith JA. ANZASM reports and their content – how can they be improved from a fellow’s perspective? Paper presented at the Pre ASC ANZASM Workshop, RACS, Brisbane, 2009.