prof. Vijayaragavan Muralidharan

Prof V Muralidharan (Murali) is an academic hepato-pancreato-biliary (HPB) surgeon with a focus on collaborative clinical and translational research as well surgical educational research. Murali is the Professor of Surgery at the University of Melbourne Austin Precinct and Director of the HPB & Liver Transplant Surgery Unit at Austin Health.

He graduated from Monash University (MBBS Hons) in 1991, completed surgical training in 2000 (FRACS) and his PhD in 2003. He was awarded the prestigious Paul McMaster Fellowship in HPB surgery and LT to further his training at the Birmingham Liver Unit, UK. He was appointed as a full-time lecturer at The University of Melbourne Department of Surgery, Austin Health in May 2004.

Murali established the BEACON (Biomarker EnhAncement for Clinical Outcomes & translatioN) research collaborative in 2020 to bring together scientists, academics and clinicians for collaborative translational research towards individualised (patient-specific) management for HPB diseases. He also established VERITAS, the trainee led research collaborative in Victoria which has successfully participated in state (SOS, PROTECTinG, POPPIES), national (PROTECTinG, POSTvenTT) and international (SUNRRISE Aus, COVIDSURG) collaborative research.

His commitment to scientific, clinical and educational research is evident from his supervision of research students, research grants and more than 120 peer-reviewed publications despite clinical commitment to HPB surgery and surgical training.

He was deputy chair of the Board in General Surgery and intimately involved in the development of the new General Surgery Training (GSET) Program being implemented in 2022. He is the inaugural chair of GSET Program Evaluation Committee. He remains the Director of General Surgery Training for the Austin Northern General Surgery Training Hub supporting more than 50 trainees.