MR BRETT KNOWLES, MBBS FRACS

Hepatobiliary & Upper Gastrointestinal Surgeon

BIOGRAPHY

Mr Brett Knowles completed training in General Surgery at Royal Melbourne Hospital Melbourne in 2007. He then completed a year-long Australian fellowship in Upper Gastrointestinal and Hepatobiliary surgery at Box Hill Hospital before heading to the United Kingdom for two years.

The first year was spent as a clinical fellow in Hepatobiliary and Transplantation Surgery at the Royal Infirmary of Edinburgh working for Regius Professor James Garden. The second year was spent as the clinical and research fellow in the Hepatobiliary unit at Basingstoke NHS working for Mr Myrddin Rees. Basingstoke NHS is one of the leading European centres for liver and cytoreduction surgery in Europe.

Upon returning to Australia in late 2010, Brett commenced specialist practice in Melbourne with public appointments at St Vincent’s Hospital, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Brett has an active involvement in teaching, surgical training and research and is committed to providing the highest standards of patient care.

CLINICAL AREAS OF INTEREST

Brett Knowles is a consultant surgeon at The Royal Melbourne Hospital, St Vincent’s Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. His clinical areas of interest include:

  • Liver, biliary and pancreatic surgery including ERCP
  • Cancer surgery
  • Advanced laparoscopic surgery
  • Hernia surgery
  • Therapeutic and diagnostic upper GI endoscopy and stenting
  • Trauma Surgery
  • General Surgery

MEMBERSHIPS

Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS)
International Hepatopancreaticobiliary Association (IHPBA)
Australian and New Zealand Hepatopancreaticobiliary Association (ANZHPBA)
Australian and New Zealand Association for the Surgery of Trauma (ANZAST)

RESEARCH

Detailed liver specific imaging prior to pre-operative chemotherapy reduces intra-hepatic recurrence and need for repeat hepatectomy
Principle author/researcher
Completed in Basingstoke under editing review

PUBLICATIONS

PEER REVIEWED JOURNALS

Knowles, B., Bellamy CO, Oniscu A, Wigmore SJ. Hepatic resection for metastatic endometrioid carcinoma. HPB (Oxford). 2010 Aug; 12(6): 412-7.Knowles, B., Corcoran, N.M., Usatoff, V. Reading the Signs: Occult Metastatic Cholangiocarcinoma Detected by Full Body Screening in Dermatomyostitis. ANZ Journal of Surgery. (Accepted for publication as letter to Editor).Knowles, B., Serpell, J. Extranodal Lymphoma Presenting as a Mimic of Soft Tissue Sarcoma. ANZ Journal of Surgery, Issue 73, pp 26-30, 2003.

BOOK CHAPTERS

Chapter 30: The Surgical management of Bile duct Cysts in Atlas of Hepatobiliary and Pancreatic Surgery Editor: Professor Reid B. Adams Author(s): Mr B Knowles & Professor O.J. Garden. Edinburgh: Elsevier Saunders submitted Nov 2009. Publish date to be 2011.
The Indications and Timing for Resection of Liver Metastases in publication for the 2009 United European Gastroenterology/World Gastroenterology Organisation week (UEGW/WGO) London 2009 Authors(s): Mr B Knowles & Professor O.J. Garden.
Chapter 24: A Minimally Invasive Open Approach for Reconstruction of the Anterior Column of the Thoracic and Lumbar Spine in Minimally Invasive Spinal Surgery 2nd Edition, 2005
Author(s): Knowles B., Freeman I., Malham G., Kossmann T.

JOURNAL REVIEWER

HPB Official Journal of the International Hepato-Pancreato-Biliary Association; Wiley Blackwell Publishers 2009 onwards.
World Journal of Surgery; Springer Publisher 2010 onwards

ABSTRACTS & PRESENTATIONS

Knowles, B, Miller J, Judson R. Management of blunt liver and spleen injuries The Royal Melbourne Experience ANZ Journal of Surgery 2008; Issue 78: A141. Presented at RACS congress 2008 in Hong Kong.
Knowles B, Tasevski R, Henderson M, Lynch C, Mackay J, Heriot A. Does surgical approach influence outcome in anal melanoma. ANZ Journal of Surgery 2008; 78: A31. Present in poster form as RACS congress 2008 in Hong Kong.
Knowles B, Welsh F, John T, Rees M. Detailed liver specific imaging prior to pre-operative chemotherapy prevents liver recurrence. Oral presentation EHPBA congress 2011 in Cape Town South Africa.
Knowles B, Banting S, Thomson B. Microwave ablation of liver tumours. Accepted for oral presentation at the APHPBA congress 2011 in Melbourne Australia.