ANZ Hernia Society Committee
Rod Jacobs
Chairman
- Group:Committee, Subcommittee - Industry
Rod Jacobs
Chairman
Rod Jacobs is an Australian-trained general surgeon who mostly played rugby at the University of Melbourne and in his spare time studied Science, graduating with first class honours and then a Master’s degree before taking on Medicine. Clinical training, residency and surgical training at The Royal Melbourne Hospital followed. After attaining his surgical fellowship in 1993, Rod moved to Bankstown Hospital, Sydney then onto Kingston-upon-Thames and Kings College Hospitals, London working as a consultant surgeon before returning to Melbourne in 1997.
Public health appointments in Melbourne include senior surgeon in the Upper GI unit at Western Health and lead consultant surgeon in the Complex Hernia Clinic at the Alfred Hospital, while his private practice now mainly focuses on open and minimally invasive hernia surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction.
Rod is a member of the Epworth Hospital Gastrointestinal and General Surgery Clinical Institute executive; the inaugural President of the ANZ Hernia Society; active on the International Hernia Collaboration; often called upon to lecture and run workshops on hernia repair, recently being on the faculty for the AHS meeting and the AWR-Deep Impact conference. He is a reviewer for the journal Hernia; and the author of peer-reviewed publications from his time as a scientist and surgeon. His research and clinical interests revolve around management of the open abdomen, preoperative optimisation of patients and minimising post hernia repair wound complications.
David Wardill
Vice chair
- Group:Committee, Subcommittee - Education
David Wardill
Vice chair
David Wardill is a general and colorectal surgeon who has appointments at University Hospital Geelong and Epworth Geelong. His main interests are in open, laparoscopic and robotic approaches to groin and abdominal wall hernias. He is also involved with teaching medical students and junior medical doctors as part of his role on the colorectal surgical unit at University Hospital Geelong.
Harsha Chandaratna
Treasurer
- Group:Committee, Subcommittee - Industry
Harsha Chandaratna
Treasurer
Bio coming soon.
Subcommittees
Education
David Wardill
Vice chair
- Group:Committee, Subcommittee - Education
David Wardill
Vice chair
David Wardill is a general and colorectal surgeon who has appointments at University Hospital Geelong and Epworth Geelong. His main interests are in open, laparoscopic and robotic approaches to groin and abdominal wall hernias. He is also involved with teaching medical students and junior medical doctors as part of his role on the colorectal surgical unit at University Hospital Geelong.
Kellee Slater
- Group:Subcommittee - Education
Kellee Slater
Associate Professor Kellee Slater is a General Surgeon at The Princess Alexandra Hospital where she is the Director of one of Australia’s first Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Unit. She works in private practice at Greenslopes Private Hospital. A/Prof Slater works as a Hepatobiliary specialist and was a member of the Queensland Liver Transplant Service for 20 years. Her full time focus is now ventral hernia and abdominal wall reconstruction and the care of patients who have suffered with various abdominal complications.
A/Prof Slater did her General Surgery Training in Queensland and her Solid Organ Transplantation Fellowship in Colorado, in the United States. She now trains surgeons from all over the country in the principles of Abdominal Wall Reconstruction.
From 2017-2019 A/Prof Slater was the Chair of the Australian Board in General Surgery responsible for training of General surgeons in Australia. She is the current Vice President of General Surgeons Australia and on the executive committee for the Australian and New Zealand Hernia Society.
In 2014 Kellee released her first book called “How to Do A Liver Transplant – stories of my surgical life” and was the winner of Queensland Book of the Year. She also runs a successful You Tube Channel – The Surgeon Not the Surfer.
David Moss
- Group:Subcommittee - Education
David Moss
David Moss is a General Surgeon from Auckland.
He was awarded FRACS in 2003 and has been a Consultant at Middlemore Hospital since 2004.
He is interested in all aspects of hernia including complex Abdominal wall reconstruction, MIS repair, and assessment of outcomes.
He has a passion for education and training including educational seminars and hosting clinical immersions.
Research
Anita Jacombs
- Group:Subcommittee - Research
Anita Jacombs
Anita Jacombs completed her Surgical Training in 2019 and has done an Advanced Hernia and Abdominal Wall Reconstruction Fellowship with A. Prof Nabeel Ibrahim, Hernia Institute Australia and Macquarie University Hospital.
She is a hernia surgeon in private practice in Edgecliff Sydney and Macquarie University Hospital and deals with all aspects of hernia conditions including: groin hernias, groin pain, other abdominal wall hernias, incisional and recurrent hernias and complex abdominal wall conditions. She has a keen interest in Surgical and Hernia Research in the areas of bacteria biofilm infection of surgical implants and the use of Pre-operative Abdominal Wall preparation with Botulinum A toxin to facilitate hernia surgery and defect closure. Currently she is part of the Research Committee for the ANZHS and is passionate about developing areas of excellence in Hernia Research in Australia.
Outside of the operating theatre and research lab she loves to cook, having fun in her veggie patch, watching her stingless bee and snow skiing.
Ross Roberts
- Group:Subcommittee - Research
Ross Roberts
Qualifications:
MBChB (Cape Town), FRACS
Specialist Training:
Dr Roberts specialised in General Surgery gaining Fellowship of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) in 1995 followed by international post Fellowship experience in Upper Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary Surgery at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa.
Areas of Specialisation:
- Gastrointestinal Surgery
- Gastroesophageal reflux
- Gallstones
- Bowel resection and screening for bowel cancer
- General Surgery
- Endoscopy including colonoscopy and gastroscopy.
- Hernia Surgery including laparoscopic repair and repair of complex herniae including hiatus hernia
Positions and Memberships:
- Specialist General Surgeon, Christchurch Hospital. Past Clinical Director of General Surgery.
- Currently Deputy Clinical Director.
- Senior Lecturer, University of Otago Medical School
- Visiting Surgeon at St George’s Hospital and Southern Cross Hospital Christchurch
- Past Chair of Upper, HPB and Obesity Surgery Section of Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
- Inaugural member and Past President of Australian and New Zealand Gastric and Oesophageal Surgery Association (ANZGOSA)
- Member of New Zealand Medical Association
- Member of New Zealand Association of General Surgeons
- Inaugural member of Australian and New Zealand Hepatic, Pancreatic and Biliary Surgery Association (ANZHPBA)
- Editorial Board Member of Int J Abd Wall and Hernia Surgery
- Editorial Board Member for the World Journal of Surgery
- Member of the International Society for the Diseases of the Esophagus
Hairul Ahmad
- Group:Subcommittee - Research
Hairul Ahmad
Industry
Rod Jacobs
Chairman
- Group:Committee, Subcommittee - Industry
Rod Jacobs
Chairman
Rod Jacobs is an Australian-trained general surgeon who mostly played rugby at the University of Melbourne and in his spare time studied Science, graduating with first class honours and then a Master’s degree before taking on Medicine. Clinical training, residency and surgical training at The Royal Melbourne Hospital followed. After attaining his surgical fellowship in 1993, Rod moved to Bankstown Hospital, Sydney then onto Kingston-upon-Thames and Kings College Hospitals, London working as a consultant surgeon before returning to Melbourne in 1997.
Public health appointments in Melbourne include senior surgeon in the Upper GI unit at Western Health and lead consultant surgeon in the Complex Hernia Clinic at the Alfred Hospital, while his private practice now mainly focuses on open and minimally invasive hernia surgery and abdominal wall reconstruction.
Rod is a member of the Epworth Hospital Gastrointestinal and General Surgery Clinical Institute executive; the inaugural President of the ANZ Hernia Society; active on the International Hernia Collaboration; often called upon to lecture and run workshops on hernia repair, recently being on the faculty for the AHS meeting and the AWR-Deep Impact conference. He is a reviewer for the journal Hernia; and the author of peer-reviewed publications from his time as a scientist and surgeon. His research and clinical interests revolve around management of the open abdomen, preoperative optimisation of patients and minimising post hernia repair wound complications.
Harsha Chandaratna
Treasurer
- Group:Committee, Subcommittee - Industry
Harsha Chandaratna
Treasurer
Bio coming soon.
Hugh Mcgregor
- Group:Subcommittee - Industry
Hugh Mcgregor
Dr Hugh McGregor is a Brisbane based surgeon who has been in mixed public and private practice for the past 16 years.
A major focus of his practice is routine and complex hernia surgery including complex abdominal wall reconstruction, robotic revisional and complex abdominal wall surgery and surgery for chronic post-operative hernia related pain. He also has a significant experience and interest in managing cutaneous nerve entrapment syndrome.
He has been an invited speaker and chairperson at both local and international hernia conferences. He is a keen early adapter of technology in advancing surgical care.
Engagement
Elan Kaplan
- Group:Subcommittee - Engagement
Elan Kaplan
Dr Elan Kaplan is a Melbourne based general surgeon. After extensive training in Australia, Elan Kaplan has come to learn that each patient is unique requiring tailored individualised treatment. With the skill and experience he has acquired from years of training, practice, and mentorship under some of Australia’s finest surgeons Elan Kaplan strives to provide the best possible outcomes for all patients. He has been working in the private sector for the last 10 years following working in the public system.
A major focus of his practice is hernia repair. He performs hundreds of hernias repairs each year. His practice involves routine and complex hernia repairs. These are repaired both via minimally invasive and open techniques
Elan Kaplan provides support and teaching to other consultant surgeons. He has had presentations at a number of international meetings and has a number of scientific papers published.
Ramana Balasubramaniam
- Group:Subcommittee - Engagement
Ramana Balasubramaniam
Ramana Balasubramaniam is a Senior Medical Officer and Staff Specialist General
Surgeon at Goulburn Valley Health, Shepparton, Victoria. He has recently relocated to Australia after spending 3 decades as a surgeon in India. He is known to be a thought leader in the field of abdominal wall reconstruction, and a practising bariatric and general surgeon since many years.
Dr. Ramana has been at the forefront of advanced laparoscopic surgery for nearly 3 decades and has done over 25,000 cases, including laparoscopic biliary-enteric anastomoses, foregut surgeries, Whipple’s and other pancreatic surgeries, colorectal, endoscopic neck surgery, retroperitoneoscopic urology and other advanced procedures. He is now sharply focused on teaching hernia surgery. He is well versed in open, laparoscopic and robotic platforms..
He is currently working on advanced abdominal wall reconstructive
techniques in ventral hernias including fascial traction in the management of giant incisional hernias. He was part of the historic first global study on the eTEP approach to ventral hernias, and is considered the pioneer of the AWR (Abdominal Wall Reconstruction) revolution in India. He has described the signs and landmarks of retromuscular anatomy in eTEP procedures and studied the outcomes of complex hernia repairs involving drains.
He is involved in research on the use of a novel artificial intelligence system in CT scans to predict outcomes in complex AWR patients. He teaches hernia workshops and courses throughout the world.
He has founded the AWR Surgeons’ Community that has around 5500 members currently. He mentors over 1000 surgeons who constitute a community called YT Surgeons.
He is an invited faculty for European Hernia Society, American Hernia
Society and for Harvard Medical School Minimally Invasive and Novel Therapeutics (MINT) events, among many others. He is a member of the executive committee of the ANZ Hernia Society and the International Advisory Board of Hernia journal.
He has multiple publications including editorials in surgical journals and chapters in international surgical books. He enjoys operating privileges in hospitals in every major city in India.
He has multiple interests in life, including mentoring and coaching, strength training and rehab, outdoor activities, wildlife photography and travelling.
ANZH CQR/Database
Chrys Hensman
- Group:Subcommittee - ANZH CQR/Database
Chrys Hensman
- Chris Hensman is a Melbourne surgeon with interests in Advanced laparoscopic surgery, Robotics, Metabolic and Weight loss surgery, Reflux monitoring and hernia management. He recently completed a masters in clinical leadership and management. He has published extensively on a variety of topics including several original articles on hernia surgery. He holds conjoint senior lecturer positions at Monash and the University of Adelaide. His research interests are in Quality improvement in Hernia repair, Ergonomic benefits of Robotic surgery, and research into sympathetic overactivity in hyperhidrosis.
Alex Karatassas
- Group:Subcommittee - ANZH CQR/Database
Alex Karatassas
Alex Karatassas is a General Surgeon with special interests in minimally invasive surgery applied to hernia and colorectal. He has been an advocate for MIS and undertakes both laparoscopic and robotic procedures. He is an Associate Professor at the Masters of Minimally Invasive Surgery course, University of Adelaide and a Senior Surgeon on the Colorectal Unit The Queen Elizabeth Hospital.
His current interests include establishing a Multidisciplinary Hernia Unit, developing a national Clinical Quality Registry for hernia and utilising the robotic platform for treatment of complex hernia. Research interests include developing a Mesh Tissue Integration Index and investigating the effects of effective porosity and biofilm on mesh. He is actively involved in teaching laparoscopic, robotic and hernia surgery to both senior registrars and surgeons.
Outside of surgery, he is an active cyclist and enjoys riding the high mountains of Europe.
Anders Olsson
- Group:Subcommittee - ANZH CQR/Database
Anders Olsson
Dr Olsson is a Swedish Surgeon with specialist training in Sweden and South Africa. Appointed specialist in General Surgery by the Swedish Surgical Society 2008. Post Fellowship training in open and laparoscopic Abdominal Wall Reconstruction in Stockholm, Europe and US. Founder of the clinic, Stockholm Hernia Center. Since 2023 based in Whanganui, New Zealand.
Doug Fenton Lee
- Group:Subcommittee - ANZH CQR/Database