A/Prof. Brian K. Owler
MB BS BSc(Med)(Hons) PhD FRACS
Adult & Pediatric Neurosurgeon

Qualifications

University of Sydney

• Doctor of Philosophy (Surgery) University of Sydney, 2000-2004
• Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery, University of Sydney, 1990-96
• Bachelor of Science (Medicine), Honors Class I, University of Sydney, 1993

Royal Australian College of Surgeons

• Fellow in Neurosurgery

Registered Medical Practitioner

• Medical Board of New South Wales
  Registration number: MPO:332468
  06/01/1997-Current
  
  
• General Medical Council, UK
  Registration number: 4678528
  26/01/2001 – 26/06/2002
   
• Medical Registration Board of Northern Territory Australia
  Registration Number: MED 104626
  08/09/1999 – 30/09/2000

Positions Held

Current Positions

• Associate Professor of Neurosurgery
  Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, CHW Clinical School
  Discipline of Surgery, Western Clinical School
  Sydney Medical School, University of Sydney
   
• Visiting Medical Officer – Neurosurgery
  Children’s Hospital at Westmead
  Westmead Hospital
  Westmead Private Hospital
  Sydney Adventist Hospital – Head of Department
  Norwest Private Hospital – Head of Department
   
• Australian Medical Association – NSW Branch
  Member of Board 2010
  Chair - Hospital Practice Committee 2010
  Councillor – Surgeon Class 2009 – 2013
   
• Australian Medical Association – Federal Council
  Federal Councillor (NSW Representative) 2011
  Economics and Workforce Committee Member 2011
   
• Commonwealth Department of Health and Ageing
  Council of Australian Governments (COAG) Expert Panel on Emergency Department and Elective Surgery Performance 2011
   
• Westmead Hospital
  Senior Clinical Council 2009
  Medical Staff Council – Executive Committee 2009
  Deputy Chair – Division of Surgery 2010
   
• Board Memberships / Directorships
  International Society for Hydrocephalus & CSF Research – Director 2009-2013
  Australian Medical Association – NSW Branch 2010
  Australian Medical Association – Federal Council 2011
   
• Hydrocephalus Association of NSW
  Patron 2010
   
• RYDA Australia (Rotary Clubs Fostering Youth Driver Awareness)
  Vice-Patron 2011
   
• Memberships
  Australian Medical Association
  Neurosurgical Society of Australasia
  Medical Staff Council – Children’s Hospital at Westmead
  Medical Staff Council – Westmead Hospital
  International Society for the Cerebrospinal Fluid Disorder Research

Previous Academic Positions

• Senior Clinical Lecturer, Children’s Hospital at Westmead Clinical School, University of Sydney 2007-08
• Clinical Lecturer, Central Clinical School, University of Sydney 2004-2005
• Honorary Research Associate, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney) 2004-2006
• Addenbrooke's Hospital (Cambridge, UK), Honorary Clinical Fellow (Ph.D.) 2000-2001
• Key Supervisor in Neuroanatomy (Cambridge, UK), Queens’ College, University of Cambridge 2001

Previous Clinical Positions

• Senior Registrar in Neurosurgery, Westmead Hospital 2004-2006
• Senior Registrar in Neurosurgery, Children’s Hospital at Westmead (Sydney) 2003-2004
• Senior Registrar in Neurosurgery, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney) 2001-2003
• Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney), General Surgical Registrar (Unaccredited) 1999
• Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney), Neurosurgical Registrar (Unaccredited) 1998
• Royal Prince Alfred Hospital (Sydney), Intern 1997

Other Positions

• GMCT
  Working Party Parkinson’s Disease and other Movement Disorders 2007/8
   
• University of Sydney
  Academic Board, 1994
  Member Quality Assurance Delegation, 1994
  Medical Libraries Committee, 1992-3
   
• University of Sydney, Faculty of Medicine
  Member of Faculty Board, 1994
  Member of Faculty Standing Committee, 1994
  Staff-Student Liaison Committee, 1994
  Department of Medicine, Student Representative, 1994
  Graduate Medical Program, Basic and Clinical Sciences Committee, 1994-96
  Graduate Medical Program, Neuroscience Committee, 1994-96
   
• Sydney University Medical Society
  Director of Bookshop, 1991-1994
  Undergraduate President, 1994
  Undergraduate Vice-President, 1995-96
  Clinical Years Representative, 1995
  Member 1990-2000
  Member of Council 1990-1996
  Member of Executive Committee, 1991-95
  Assistant Director of Bookshop, 1990-91
  Convenor: Final Year Book Editorial Committee, 1996
  University of Sydney Medical Revue, Assistant Technical Director, 1990
  University of Sydney Medical Revue, Technical Director, 1991-92
   
• Australian Medical Association, NSW Branch
  Co-opted Member Hospital Practice Committee 2008
  Councillor, Student and DIT representative, 1995-97
  Resident’s and Student’s Committee, 1994-97
  Hospital Practice Committee, 1995-97
  Ethics Committee, 1995-97
   
• Postgraduate Medical Council of NSW
  Medical Workforce Committee, 1996
   
• NSW Department of Health
  Taskforce: Mental Health and Suicide of Doctors and Medical Students, 1996

Teaching Experience

University of Sydney

Current regular involvement with the Graduate Medical Program includes regular involvement in lectures to both second and third year medicine at the University and at the Western Clinical School. I have lectured on CSF Secretion and at the University each year from 2003-8. I have also given clinical lectures on the approach to the Unconscious Patient at the Western Clinical School each year since 2005-8. I maintain an active clinical teaching role with respect to graduate medical students who are regularly attached to the neurosurgical service. When required I have provided other input such as writing MCQs for formal examinations.

I have had various roles in the providing formal clinical tutorials, SCORPIO sessions and grand round lectures. This has also included tutorials and lectures provided to nurses and other health professionals on a formal and informal basis.

It has been a pleasure to provide direct student supervision for a GMP Honours project (Student: Giuliano Marino) relating to normal pressure hydrocephalus. This resulted in the following student awards: Department of Surgery - K.C.T. Rawle ACCS Association Prize, the Robert Craig Prize in Surgery and the John Wait Scholarship.

Other previous formal involvement in medical education has included participating in the development of the Graduate Medical involvement as an undergraduate in development of the neurosciences component of the curriculum.

Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

As a Consultant Neurosurgeon at several teaching hospitals I have a responsibility for the education and supervision of a number of RACS Advanced and Basic Neurosurgical Trainees on a daily basis. This includes clinical and surgical education as well as mentoring trainees, providing feedback and formal assessment.

Queens’ College, University of Cambridge

I was responsible for providing neuroanatomy tutorials for medical students studying at the Queen’s College, Cambridge during 2000-01.

Students Supervised

• Dr Tom Pitham: Master of Surgery, Discipline of Surgery: Associate Supervisor, 2009-10
• Dr Mitchell Hansen, Master of Surgery, Discipline of Surgery, Associate Supervisor, 2008-09

Clinical Achievements

My current clinical practice encompasses both paediatric and adult neurosurgery. An extensive variety of neurosurgical conditions are treated including both cranial and spinal conditions. Conditions treated include neuro-oncology, neurovascular, functional neurosurgery including deep brain stimulation, endoscopic pituitary and skull base surgery, CSF circulation disorders and spinal surgery including complex spine and instrumentation.

Clinical achievements have included:

Development of Endoscopic Transnasal Odontoid Resection for Basilar Impression

Until recently patients with basilar invagination, particularly those with osteogenesis imperfecta were referred to the United Kingdom for surgery. Development of a combined neurosurgical/ENT endoscopic skull base surgery service has allowed us to develop a new technique for the treatment of basilar invagination through a transnasal route. A report of the first case using this technique has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Neurosurgery: Spine.

Establishment of Deep Brain Stimulation for Movement Disorders

The movement disorders clinic at Westmead Hospital has been a centre of excellence for the treatment of Parkinson ’s disease and other movement disorders. However no surgical service was available for movement disorder surgery at Westmead. We have now developed the technique of DBS surgery with excellent results in almost 20 patients. This service is to be extended to provide DBS surgery for paediatric movement disorders such as dystonia. A RCT is currently being developed for the treatment of cerebral palsy using DBS surgery.

Venous Sinus Stenting for Pseudotumour Cerebri

Through research undertaken at the Academic Neurosurgery Unit and in Sydney, I have had a leading role in the development of a new treatment for pseudotumour cerebri (idiopathic intracranial hypertension). Cases refractory to medical treatment were previously treated with shunting or optic nerve sheath fenestration. Through publications in the Lancet, Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry, Journal of Neurosurgery as well as Advances and Technical Standards in Neurosurgery, venous sinus stenting has gained popularity in many centres around the world resulting in numerous publications from other groups. It is now accepted as a new and valid alternative treatment for this condition.

Conferences and Courses

Scientific Committees

• World Federation of Neurosurgeons: Hydrocephalus Committee, 2011
• Hydrocephalus 2009: International Scientific Advisory Board, Baltimore, USA, 2009
• Hydrocephalus 2006: International Scientific Advisory Board: Goteborg, Sweden
• Hydrocephalus 2005: International Consensus Meeting: Chair Scientific Committee, Queenstown, New Zealand

Invited Speaker

• United Nations Decade of Action on Road Safety Symposium, NSW Parliament House, 2011
• Hydrocephalus 2009: 1st Annual Conference for the ISCSFR, Baltimore, US, 2009
• Hydrocephalus 2006: International Consensus Conference, Goteborg, Sweden, 2005
• STARS Symposium on Hydrocephalus, Detroit, United States, 2004

Patient Group and Community Presentations

• Osteogenesis imperfecta 2011
• Hydrocephalus Association of NSW 2010
• Brain Tumour Support Group
• Stroke Symposium

Attendance

• Australian Medical Association, National Conference, NSW Delegate, Brisbane 2011
• American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Conference, Denver, CO, USA, 2011
• Australian Medical Association, National Conference, NSW Delegate, Sydney 2010
• 5th International Hydrocephalus Workshop, Crete, Greece, 2010
• Postgraduate Supervisors Course; Discipline of Paediatrics and Child Health, USyd, 2009
• Hydrocephalus 2009: 1st Annual Conference for the ISCSFR, Baltimore, US, 2009
• Society for Hydrocephalus and Spina Bifida Research, Belfast, Northern Ireland, 2009
• Australian Medical Association, National Conference – NSW Delegate, Melbourne, 2009
• American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Conference, Chicago, USA, 2008
• 5th International Aquaporing Workshop, Nara, Japan, 2007
• American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Conference, Washington DC, USA, 2007
• Hydrocephalus 2005: International Consensus Conference, Queenstown NZ, 2005
• Cerebrovascular Neurosurgery Training Course, Sydney, Australia, 2005
• Glioma 2005: The Future, Sydney, Australia, 2005
• Spine Neurosurgery Training Course, Brisbane, Australia 2004
• DePuy Elevating Best Practice Meeting, Melbourne, Australia, 2004
• Australasian Neuro-ophthalmology Society Conference, Melbourne, Australia, 2004
• World Congress of Skull Base Surgery, Sydney, Australia, 2004
• American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Conference, Orlando, United States, 2004
• Neurooncology Neurosurgery Training Course, Melbourne, Australia 2004
• Neurosurgical Society of Australasia Annual Conference, Queenstown, New Zealand, 2003
• Neuroanatomy Neurosurgery Training Course, Perth, Australia 2003
• Stealth Neuronavigation Training Course, Melbourne, 2003
• American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Conference, San Diego, USA, 2003
• Neuropathology Neurosurgery Training Course, Adelaide, Australia 2003
• Neurosurgical Society of Australasia Annual Conference, Broome, Australia, 2002
• Peripheral Nerve Surgery Training Course (CTEC), Perth, Australia 2002
• RACS Annual Scientific Conference, Adelaide, Australia, 2002
• Pediatric Neurosurgery Training Course, Auckland, New Zealand 2003
• World Congress of Neurological Surgeons, Sydney, Australia, 2001
• Brain ’01 & Brain PET ’01: International Society for the Study of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Taipei, Taiwan, 2001
• International Symposium on Neurochemical Monitoring of the Brain, Cambridge, England, 2000
• ICP 2000: XIth Meeting of Society for ICP & Brain Monitoring, Cambridge, UK, 2000
• Hydrocephalus: Beyond 2000 Consensus Conference on Hydrocephalus, Sydney, Australia, 2000
• POPUMET Course (Protection of Patients required for Persons Directing Medical Exposures), Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK, 2000
• Consensus Conference on Pediatric Neurosurgery, Complex Hydrocephalus and Hydrocephalus Complications, Assisi, Italy, 1997
• Neurosurgical Society of Australasia Annual Conference, Cairns, Australia, 1996
• Australian Neuroscience Society Annual Conference, Sydney, Australia, 1994
• International Association for the Study of Pain 7th World Congress, Paris, France, 1993
• Australian Medical Association, Leadership and Public Relations Course, Coolum, Australia, 1994
• Australian Medical Association, National Conference, Canberra, Australia, 1996, 1997

International Visitations

• Department of Neurosurgery, National Children’s Hospital, Washington, 2009
• Department of Neurosurgery, Leeds General Infirmary, Leeds, UK, 2008
• Department of Spinal Surgery, Royal Orthopaedic Hospital, Birmingham, UK, 2008
• Department of Neurosurgery, Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada, UK, 2006
• Department of Neurosurgery, Toronto Western Hospital, Toronto, Canada, UK, 2006
• Department of Neurosurgery, Great Ormond Street, London, UK, 2006

Work for Peer Review Journals

I have performed peer reviews of articles for the following journals:

• Journal of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism
• Journal of Neurology
• British Journal of Neurosurgery
• Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery and Psychiatry
• Acta Neurologica Scandanavica
• Neurology India (Review panel member)
• European Journal of Neurology
• Clinical Neurology and Neurosurgery
• Cerebrospinal Fluid Research

Research Grants

• Madeline Foundation Foundation for Neurosurgical Research Grant $50000 2010
• Madeline Foundation Foundation for Neurosurgical Research Grant $50000 2009
• Brain Foundation Grant: $40,000 2009
• Brain Tumour Australia Ben Donoghoe Grant $40,000
• Georgia Douglass Foundation $65000
• Madeline Foundation Foundation for Neurosurgical Research Grant $50000 2008
• Madeline Foundation Foundation for Neurosurgical Research Grant $75000 2007

Prizes and Scholarship

• Spinal Cord Injuries and Other Neurological Diseases NSW Health Travel Scholarship, 2004
• John Segelov Memorial Travelling Fellowship, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, 2003
• Codman, Johnson & Johnson, RACS Annual Scientific Conference Presentation Prize, 2002
• Award for Excellence in Teaching: Central Clinical School, University of Sydney, 2002
• International Society for the Study of Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, Bursary, 2001
• Brain (Journal) Travel Grant, 2001
• Gordon Holmes Prize for Trainees in Neuroscience, Finalist, Royal Society of Medicine, 2001
• Wood Scholarship, Medical Foundation, University of Sydney, 2000-2001
• Madeline Foundation, Conference Grant, 2000
• Grand Rounds Presentation: Best presentation, 1998
• Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, National Student Essay Prize in Neurosurgery, 1996
• Douglas Cohen Prize in Pediatric Surgery, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, 1995
• Peter Bancroft Prize (Best BSc(Med) thesis), Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, 1994
• BSc(Med)(Hons) Scholarship, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, 1993
• Dept of Anatomy Summer Scholarship, Faculty of Medicine, University of Sydney, 1993
• CAMDO-AMSA, Research Fellowship 1993

Publications

Books
Book Publications

Book Chapters
Book Chapters Published

Theses
Theses Published

Articles in Referred Journals
Articles in Referred Journals

Abstracts
Abstracts in Conference Proceedings