As the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons convenes its Annual Research Conference (incorporating the Developing a Career and skills in Academic Surgery (DCAS) course and Surgical Research Society (SRS) from 13 to 15 November 2025 in Melbourne, a distinguished group of international academic surgeons will take the stage. Their collective expertise spans transplantation immunology to oncologic surgical innovation—fostering cross-disciplinary inspiration and robust scientific exchange.

Professor Vikas Dudeja (USA), president-elect of the Association for Academic Surgery and recently appointed Chair and Department Executive Officer (DEO) of the Department of Surgery at the University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine, is a leading surgeon-scientist in pancreatic and hepatobiliary oncology. Previously, he was a tenured professor and director at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, USA. His National Institute of Health, Department of Defence, and Department of Veterans Affairs-funded laboratory explores pancreatic cancer and pancreatitis pathobiology and translational therapies.

Professor Dudeja will be presenting Which meetings should I target to present my work? Writing an abstract that will stand out at the November conference.

 

 

Professor Timothy R. Donahue (USA) is Professor of Surgery at the David Geffen School of Medicine at University of California, Los Angeles UCLA. He serves as Chief of Surgical Oncology, Vice Chair for Cancer Care, and Director of the Agi Hirshberg Center for Pancreatic Diseases. He holds the Garry Shandling Chair in Pancreatic Surgery and is medical director for Cancer Services at UCLA Health. A high-volume pancreatic surgeon and NIH-funded investigator, Dr. Donahue leads a translational research program focused on novel therapies and diagnostics for pancreatic cancer. 

He has initiated multiple investigator-led clinical trials grounded in laboratory discoveries. Nationally, he is a past president of the Society of University Surgeons and former chair of the ACS Surgical Research Committee. He currently serves as co-Chair of the NIH Advancing Therapeutics A Study Section, where he continues to advocate for surgeon-scientists as critical leaders in translational research. 

 

 

Associate Professor Juliet Emamaullee (USA) is the Developing a Career in Academic Surgery Course Liaison for the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) in the USA. She is a liver and kidney transplant surgeon and serves as the Associate Chief of the Division of Clinical Research in the Department of Surgery at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. Her laboratory applies systems immunology to personalise diagnostics and therapies in liver transplantation and rejection.

 

 

 

 

The AAS/RACS Younger Fellows Leadership Exchange is a prestigious program designed to foster international collaboration between emerging surgical leaders in the Association for Academic Surgery (AAS) and the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS). Associate Professor Joseph Phillips (USA) was awarded the AAS/RACS Younger Fellows Committee Leadership Exchange for 2025.

An Associate Professor at Dartmouth’s Geisel School of Medicine and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Centre, he is a thoracic surgeon excelling in minimally invasive and robotic oncologic surgery. His research focuses on tumour immunology in non–small cell lung cancer, particularly the role of immune cells and tumour-draining lymph nodes—knowledge that may translate into future cell-based immune therapies. He also serves on leadership committees for the AAS.

 

 

 

Dr Alice King (USA) trained as a biomedical engineer at Cornell University before completing her general surgery residency at the University of Cincinnati and a paediatric surgery Fellowship at Washington University in St. Louis. As the co-director of the Texas Children's Foetal Centre, Dr. King works closely with a multidisciplinary care team to create the best possible treatment plans and advocate for patient centred care.

She provides comprehensive neonatal and paediatric surgical care, with a focus on minimally invasive thoracic and abdominal procedures for children of all ages. Her clinical interests include neonatal and foetal surgery, particularly conditions such as congenital diaphragmatic hernia, omphalocele, gastroschisis, and the use of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO).

Dr. King's research focuses on advancing foetal surgery techniques and improving healthcare access, surgical needs, and outcomes for patients with congenital anomaly.