Professor Wendy Brown

Professor Wendy Brown graduated from Monash University with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) with Honours, graduating first in her class in 1992. She completed her PhD through the Monash University Department of Surgery at the Alfred Hospital in 2001, and completed her surgical training in 2002.

Her sub-specialist interests include oesophago-gastric cancer, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and bariatric surgery. Her research interests focus on the health benefits of weight loss, the physiology of upper gastrointestinal procedures, optimal service delivery models for bariatric surgery, and registry science.

Professor Brown is the first woman appointed as Program Director of Surgical Services and is Professor and Chair of the Department of Surgery at Monash University, Alfred Health. Her other appointments include Clinical Director of the ANZ Bariatric Surgery Registry; Chair of the Victorian Perioperative Consultative Council Surgical Sub-Committee; Past-President of Obesity Surgery Society of Australia and New Zealand and the Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand Gastric and Oesophageal Surgery Association; Past-Senior examiner in General Surgery for the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons; Past chair of the Scientific Committee and Global Registry of the International Federation for Surgery for Obesity.

Professor Brown was awarded the prestigious Royal Australasian College of Surgeons John Mitchell Crouch Fellowship for Research Excellence in 2018. She has also received multiple accolades for her contributions to bariatric surgery, including the International Federation for Surgery of Obesity Appreciation Award (2022), Presidents Award (2023), and the Research Excellence Award (2024).