A/Prof. Michael Hii is an Oesophago-Gastric and Bariatric (weight loss) surgeon. He works as a consultant at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, St Vincent’s Private Hospital and Epworth Healthcare. He is the deputy director of the Hepatobiliary and Upper GI unit at St Vincent’s Hospital and the Pre-SET co-supervisor.

Michael completed medical school at the University of Melbourne and then surgical training at St Vincent’s Hospital and Eastern Health. He was awarded his surgical fellowship in 2009 and underwent subspecialty training in Melbourne and Brisbane.

Michael enjoys a busy clinical workload - in addition to clinical work, he maintains an interest in research and education. He is a clinical Assoc. Professor at the University of Melbourne, and he is the chair the St Vincent’s Upper GI and Hepatobiliary research group. He has published widely in Upper GI and bariatric literature. He is involved in surgical education from medical student level up to and including post fellowship training.

Mr. Hii's clinical areas of interest include the treatment of oesophageal and gastric cancer, hiatus hernia repair, anti-reflux surgery, surgery for achalasia and obesity surgery (including gastric bypass, sleeve gastrectomy and revision procedures). Research areas of interest include enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) programs, the role of exercise in cancer treatment and understanding the mechanisms behind weight loss surgery.

Michael is also the inaugural chair of the HOPE fund, a philanthropic foundation supporting research and the provision of care for patients undergoing major upper gastro intestinal surgery.

Outside of work Michael is passionate about his family time, he loves spending time with his daughters, collecting old guitars and fetching balls out of the rough during a the game of golf.

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Associate Prof Peter Nottle is a general surgeon who performs weight loss surgery and other upper GI surgeries.

A/Prof Nottle’s major areas of interest are bariatric (weight loss) surgery, upper GI cancers, hiatus hernia and anti-reflux surgery. He has been performing weight loss surgery for more than 30 years and providing laparoscopic (keyhole) gastric bands for past 15 years as well as a full range of other weight loss procedures.

He is one of Australia's pioneers in keyhole surgery, having introduced the French technique of laparoscopic cholecystectomy at The Alfred hospital in the early 1990s.

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Mr Matthew Read is a general and upper gastrointestinal surgeon with a special interest in minimally-invasive surgery.

After completing his general surgical fellowship in 2016, Dr Read was accepted by the Australian and New Zealand Gastro Oesophageal Surgery Association for subspecialty training in the field of upper gastrointestinal surgery. This was undertaken at both St Vincent's and the Alfred Hospitals in Melbourne. Following this, Matthew undertook a surgical oncology fellowship with a special focus on robot-assisted surgery at the University Medical Center in Utrecht, the Netherlands.

Matthew has also recently completed a PhD through the University of Melbourne and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, which focused on the development of preclinical models to better understand oesophageal cancer and its precursor, Barrett’s oesophagus. This work has led to numerous publications, awards and international collaborations. Most recently, Matthew was awarded the senior lecturer fellowship from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

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Dr Salena Ward is an oesophago-gastric, bariatric (weight loss) and general surgeon consulting at St Vincent’s Private Hospitals. She performs general abdominal operations but has had specialised training and experience with stomach and oesophagus surgery.

Dr Ward has a special interest in the investigation and treatment of patients with cancer of the stomach and oesophagus. She performs gastroscopy, resection of oesophagus, resection of stomach, hernia repair, spleen removal, gall bladder removal, weight loss surgery and anti-reflux surgery.

Salena graduated from the University of Melbourne and attained a post-graduate diploma in surgical anatomy from the same university. Her upper gastrointestinal surgical training was conducted at Box Hill Hospital and she received international training in the UK for oesophago-gastric surgery. In 2013 she received the higher degree of Master of Surgery from Monash University regarding the role of enzyme supplementation following oesophagectomy and gastrectomy.

Salena is involved in teaching as well as being is actively involved in surgical research. Read Less

Nicole completed her medical degree at the University of Melbourne in 2007. She was awarded her fellowship in general surgery by RACS in 2016. Nicole subsequently completed subspecialty training in upper gastrointestinal surgery through ANZGOSA. This was undertaken at Box Hill Hospital in Melbourne and Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. Nicole completed a further bariatric fellowship at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and at St Vincent's Hospital Northside with renowned bariatric surgeon Dr. George Hopkins.
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