2024 Speakers
The Australian Society of Anaesthetists National Scientific Congress is proud to announce the 2024 Keynote Congress speakers.
Stay tuned for updates on additional speakers.
Keynote speakers
Prof Ramani Moonesinghe
Professor of Perioperative Medicine, University College London and Director of the Health Services Research Centre, Royal College of Anaesthetists
Professor Moonesinghe is Professor of Perioperative Medicine at UCL and Honorary consultant in anaesthesia, perioperative and critical care medicine at UCL Hospitals. She holds several national leadership roles including as National Clinical Director for Critical and Perioperative Care at NHS England and NHS Improvement, and Director of the Health Services Research Centre at the Royal College of Anaesthetists. She was previously a Council member of the Royal College of Anaesthetists (four years) and advisor on academic training to the National Institute for Academic Anaesthesia (seven years). Her research focuses on evaluating novel technologies and pathways, risk prediction and outcome measurement, and improvement studies focusing on perioperative and critical care. Although her research is predominantly UK based, she is also involved with projects internationally, including several in low and middle income settings. Studies which she leads have recruited more than 80,000 participants to the NIHR portfolio, and she has received grant funding from NIHR, Welcome and the Health Foundation. Her work based at UCL includes setting strategic direction for the Centre for Perioperative Medicine and the Research Dept for Targeted Intervention, and supporting her own research group which currently includes 13 doctoral students. In her role for NHS England and NHS Improvement, she has been the senior clinical advisor supporting the critical care response to COVID19, involving a broad scope of work including procurement, workforce, clinical practice guidelines, research, innovation, and quality. She continues clinical strategic leadership for critical care, and also for the perioperative / anaesthesia aspect of the recovery of elective services. She was awarded the title of Officer of the Order of the British Empire (OBE) in the 2021 Queen’s New Year’s Honours for service to anaesthesia, perioperative and critical care.
Prof Dan Sessler (Virtual)
Vice-president for Clinical and Outcomes Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center, Houston
Dr Sessler attended medical school at Columbia University, and subsequently completed pediatric and anesthesia residencies at the University of California, Los Angeles. After stints as professor at UCSF and vice dean at the University of Louisville, he is currently Professor and Michael Cudahy Chair of Outcomes Research at the Cleveland Clinic. In September 2024 he will become Vice-president for Clinical and Outcomes Research at the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston.
Dr Sessler published a book on therapeutic hypothermia, more than 970 full research papers including three-dozen in the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, and JAMA and more than 50 editorials. More than 125 of his papers were accompanied by editorials, and more than 30 were cover articles for major anesthesia journals since 2010. Dr Sessler’s papers have been cited more than 70,000 times in peer-reviewed articles per Scopus — making him the world’s most published and cited perioperative investigator. He is among the top 0.01% of cited scientists in any field, with an H Index of 126.
Dr Sessler has been a principal or co-investigator on grants totaling $100 million. He founded and directs the Outcomes Research Consortium. The Consortium is the world’s largest clinical anesthesia research group, and publishes a full paper every other day for a total of more than 2,000 full papers. He was an editor of Anesthesiology for 9 years and is now Senior Editor for Trials at the Journal of Clinical Anesthesia. He served as a director for the Foundation for Anesthesia Education and Research (FAER) for 8 years. He has given invited lectures at more than 500 institutions. Dr Sessler’s awards include a Fulbright Fellowship and the American Society of Anesthesiologists Excellence in Research prize.
A/Prof Bisola Onajin-Obembe
Past-President of the Nigerian Society of Anesthetists
Consultant Anaesthesiologist and Assistant Professor of Anaesthesia at the University of Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Nigeria.
Dr Onajin-Obembe (MBBS, FWACS, MBA, PhD) is a global anaesthesiologist and Assistant Professor of Anaesthesia at the University of Port Harcourt, Nigeria. She is the President of Global Alliance for Surgical, Obstetrics, Trauma, and Anaesthesia Care (The G4 Alliance), an alliance of over 75 organizations. She is also Past-President of the Nigerian Society of Anesthetists. She has been a pioneer of paediatric, maxillofacial, ear, nose, and throat anaesthesia in Nigeria and now works to promote surgical and anaesthesia healthcare policies and practice. She has over 60 peer reviewed publications.
Ms King is a social worker, counsellor and passionate advocate for mental health literacy. Ms King is the founder and managing director of Two Two One Mental Health Charity and current 2023 Northern Territory Local Hero. Two Two One delivers accredited mental health training, workshops, and community education to close gaps in the delivery of mental health services and education. This Includes teen, and remote programs.
Ms King organises a number of accessible opportunities for people to access mental health information including mental health night school sessions and mental health week events.
Prof Ki Jinn Chin
Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Professor Chin, MBBS (Hons), MMed, FANZCA, FRCPC, is a Professor in the Department of Anesthesiology and Pain Medicine at the University of Toronto, and is also the Regional Anesthesia Program Director at Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Canada. He graduated from the University of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, UK, completed anesthesiology training in Singapore, and is dual-fellowship certified in neuroanesthesia (University of Western Ontario) and regional anesthesia (Toronto Western Hospital). He is a well-published and internationally recognized expert in the use of regional anesthesia to improve patient care and outcomes. His academic interests include (1) ultrasound-guided fascial plane blocks, (2) central neuraxial blocks, and (3) education in the clinical and technical skills required for regional anesthesia using both traditional and online formats. He hosts much of his teaching material on YouTube at www.youtube.com/c/KiJinnChin.
Prof Anne Tonkin AO
Chair, Medical Board of Australia
Professor Tonkin is Chair of the Medical Board of Australia which is responsible for registration and regulation of all doctors in Australia. She has been involved in medical regulation for more than a decade and was first appointed to the Medical Board of South Australia in 2009, prior to the National Scheme. She held the position of Chair of the South Australian Board from 2012 until she was appointed as Chair of the National Board in 2018.
In 2023, Professor Tonkin was made an Officer of the Order of Australia for her distinguished service to medical professional regulation, to tertiary education, and to clinical pharmacology. In the same year, she was also awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Medical Administrators.
Professor Anne Tonkin trained as a general physician with a sub-specialty in clinical pharmacology, and practised at the Royal Adelaide Hospital for more than 25 years. She was a clinical academic in the Adelaide Medical School for 22 years, becoming Professor in Medical Education with responsibilities for curriculum planning and implementation.
Professor Tonkin has also served the Australian Medical Council as a council member and had long-standing involvement with its accreditation processes for medical school and specialist colleges up until her appointment to the Medical Board of Australia.
Dr Mark Koning
Anesthesiologist
Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands
Dr Koning studied medicine at the Free University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands, from 2004 – 2010. He went on to specialise in anaesthesiology and intensive care medicine at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands and passed the European Examination of Anaesthesiology and the Examination of Intensive Care.
In 2021 he completed his thesis about intrathecal morphine at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam titled ‘the clinical effects of intrathecal morphine in contemporary surgery.
Dr Koning currently works as an anaesthesiologist and intensivist at the Rijnstate Hospital, Arnhem, The Netherlands, where he has been since 2018.
A/Prof Suzi Nou
Past President of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and Clinical Associate Professor, University of Melbourne
Associate Professor Nou is Past President of the Australian Society of Anaesthetists and Clinical Associate Professor, University of Melbourne. She is also Federal Councillor of the Australian Medical Association (AMA), commissioned officer of the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) and Chair of Lifebox ANZ, a global not-for-profit organisation focussed on making surgery and anaesthesia safer worldwide.
Associate Professor Nou has lived and worked in developing countries for over 20 years and continues to be actively involved with the development of paediatric anaesthesia and critical care services in Cambodia. She is host and producer of the “Australian Anaesthesia” podcast and dabbles in creating educational digital content. She wishes to foster diversity in leadership within the Australian medical community through her latest endeavour, the Australian and New Zealand chapter of the Women’s Empowerment and Leadership Initiative (WELI).
Dr Elmar Helmich
Anesthesiologist
Whangarei Hospital, New Zealand
Dr Helmich, a qualified anaesthetist hailing from the Netherlands, pursued a portion of his
training in Auckland and presently serves at Whangarei Hospital in New Zealand.
Demonstrating a distinct passion for sustainability, he initiated Green Teams within three different healthcare institutions. His dedication to the subject is evident through numerous published articles on sustainability, presentations at
various conferences, and authorship of a chapter addressing sustainability in an anaesthesia textbook.
Despite his commitment to environmental consciousness, Dr Helmich is willing to burn
some kerosene to join us in Darwin this year. During his presentation, he intends to share insights on the practical integration of sustainable practices in our daily medical routines and illuminate the future trajectory of these efforts.
Prof Shalini Dhir
Director of Regional Anaesthesia at the Schulich School of Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario
Professor Dhir, MD, MSc, FRCPC is the director of regional anaesthesia at the Schulich School of Medicine, Western University, London, Ontario. She completed her fellowship in obstetric anaesthesia and regional anaesthesia. She subsequently assumed a faculty position in the Department of Anaesthesia and Perioperative Medicine, at the Western University in 2006. She obtained a further anaesthesia degree in Canada and master’s degree in clinical management of Pain at the Edinburgh University, UK. At present, she is a Professor of Anaesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine. She is also the Regional Anaesthesia Fellowship Director. Professor Dhir has a keen interest in teaching. Apart from teaching at the university level to undergraduate and post graduate medical and anaesthesia students, she is keenly involved in the fellowship training programs. She has done voluntary teaching assignments in Guyana, Ethiopia and Rwanda as part of the Canadian Anaesthesia Society International Education Foundation and in South Sudan and Afghanistan as part of Doctors Without Borders. Her research interests include obstetric anaesthesia, regional anaesthesia and pain management.
Dr Fiona Lander
Australian lawyer and medical doctor, and an Associate Partner at McKinsey & Company
Dr Fiona Lander is an Australian lawyer and medical doctor, and an Associate
Partner at McKinsey & Company working on healthcare strategy and
transformation topics. She is currently undertaking advanced training in Public
Health Medicine. Fiona was a Frank Knox Memorial Fellow at Harvard University,
where she completed a Masters of Public Health in 2015; she graduated from
Monash University with dual honours in Medicine/Surgery and Laws. Before
joining McKinsey, Fiona worked as a consultant to the UN Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights, and served as Senior Officer assisting the
United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health in Mumbai, India.
Fiona is a Board Director of Diabetes WA and She Runs.
A/Prof Lachlan Miles
Staff Specialist and Deputy Head of Research in the Department of Anaesthesia at Austin Health, VIC
Associate Professor Lachlan Miles is a Staff Specialist and Deputy Head of Research in the Department of Anaesthesia at Austin Health, an Honorary Principal Fellow of the Department of Critical Care at the University of Melbourne and an Honorary Principal Research Fellow in the Preclinical Critical Care Unit of The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. His subspecialty clinical practice involves cardiothoracic and major hepatobiliary anaesthesia (including liver transplant) and peri-operative medicine.
Associate Professor Miles balances his clinical interests with a substantial research portfolio, and his work spans both clinical and translational research in collaboration with his colleagues at The Florey Institute locally, and with multiple international groups in the United States and the United Kingdom. His major research interests concern peri-operative inflammation (including neuroinflammation), anaemia and iron status, right ventricular dysfunction and Patient Blood Management. He has published > 60 original manuscripts in high-impact anaesthesia and general medicine journals in the last 10 years, and is the principal chief investigator of the NATO study, which is endorsed by the ANZCA Clinical Trials Network. He is a previous winner of the Douglas Renton Medal for the Primary Fellowship Examination, awarded by ANZCA in 2010, the Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Emerging Researcher Award in 2019, and the Gilbert Brown Prize, awarded by ANZCA for the best free paper at the Annual Scientific Meeting in 2020. He is an Editor and member of the Editorial Board of the journal Anaesthesia.
Dr Elisa Bertoja
Staff Anaesthetist, University College London Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust
Dr Elisa Bertoja has been a consultant in anaesthesia and perioperative medicine at University College London Hospitals since 2008.
Graduating in Italy, she also trained in Germany and the UK. Her clinical interest lies in anaesthesia for complex major surgery (cardiovascular, thoracic and upper-GI) alongside her active involvement in medical education. She is a Primary FRCA examiner and an educational supervisor, and was a College tutor in anaesthesia and a training programme director to foundation doctors. As chair of her anaesthetic department, Elisa is an advocate for fairness and equality,
On the basis of her international background and her current involvement in training, Elisa is keen to make the route to anaesthetic CCT and the FRCA exam fit for the 21st century. She is aware of the pivotal role of SAS and non-UK-trained doctors in our healthcare system and wants to make sure their treatment is fair and transparent.
Elisa is very sociable; she loves spending time with her friends and family, and travelling (when possible) to see the beautiful world we live in. If she hadn’t gone into medicine, her interests would have been in architecture or geology (specifically vulcanology).
Ms Sacha King
Managing Director
Two Two One Mental Health Charity
Ms King is a social worker, counsellor and passionate advocate for mental health literacy. Ms King is the founder and managing director of Two Two One Mental Health Charity and current 2023 Northern Territory Local Hero. Two Two One delivers accredited mental health training, workshops, and community education to close gaps in the delivery of mental health services and education. This Includes teen, and remote programs.
Ms King organises a number of accessible opportunities for people to access mental health information including mental health night school sessions and mental health week events.
Industry Sponsored speakers
Dr Will Flanary
An Ophthalmologist and comedian who moonlights in his free time as “Dr. Glaucomflecken”
Will Flanary is an ophthalmologist and comedian who moonlights in his free time as “Dr. Glaucomflecken,” a social media personality who creates medical-themed comedy shorts to an audience of over 4 million across social media. His humor has been shaped by the challenges of medical training and by his experiences as a patient. Will is a 2-time testicular cancer survivor as well as a survivor of cardiac arrest, saved by his intrepid wife and her timely CPR. Initially used as a creative outlet to cope with these health challenges, Will’s comedy has evolved over time to incorporate biting satire of the US health care system, academic publishing, and interpersonal conflicts pervasive in the medical system. He is a frequent keynote speaker who encourages medical audiences to embrace humor in everyday life.
Prof Anil Patel
Consultant Anaesthetist
The Royal National ENT & Eastman Dental Hospitals (former Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital), London
Prof. Anil Patel is a consultant anaesthetist at The Royal National ENT & Eastman Dental Hospitals, UCLH and DAS professor of anaesthesia & airway management. He is the past president of DAS and has held posts as clinical lead, college tutor, Royal College audit co-ordinator, as well as National and International roles developing guidelines for airway management. He has received the Humphry Davy Award from The Royal College of Anaesthetists, Distinguished Research Award from International Airway Management Society and honorary membership of the European Airway Management Society for extraordinary contribution in the field of airway management.
Prof. Patel has 130+ peer-reviewed publications, 25 book chapters, over 6,000 citations.
Acknowledgement of Country
We acknowledge and pay our respects to the Larrakia people, the traditional owners of the Darwin region where NSC2024 will be hosted. The Larrakia people have a deep, spiritual connection to the land and are responsible for ensuring it is respected by all that use it.
We commit to respecting the land, people and culture of the Larrakia Nation during the conference.