Prof Laurence Weinberg

Professor Laurence Weinberg is Director of the Department of Anaesthesia at the Austin Health, with clinical and research expertise in anaesthesia for cardiac and thoracic surgery, major hepatobiliary surgery, including liver transplantation, and major vascular and abdominal surgery. He has dual academic appointments as a Professor in the Department of Critical Care, The University of Melbourne, and in the Department of Surgery, Austin Health, The University of Melbourne. He works at Warringal and Knox Private Hospitals, and at Epworth Healthcare (Epworth Eastern, Richmond, and Freemason campuses).

Commitment to patient wellbeing: Professor Weinberg has a specific interest in caring for patients undergoing high-risk anaesthesia and surgical procedures. His approach in providing support for his patients (and their families) extends beyond their physical well-being, and includes their emotional, social and spiritual wellbeing. He believes that each person will have a different experience to their surgery and that anaesthesia should be individualized by providing a holistic approach that focuses on the person’s wellness, and not only on their illness or surgical condition.

Community involvement: Professor Weinberg is Chairperson of the Human Research Ethics Committee at Austin Health and serves on the scientific Board of the PANCARE Foundation, a non-for-profit organisation that supports research into pancreatic, liver, biliary, oesophageal and stomach cancers to increase patient survival and wellbeing. In his clinical and academic roles at Austin Health, Professor Weinberg is proactively committed to improving patient safety, quality, and governance of anaesthesia services. He has been an innovator for delivery of numerous patient and hospital strategic drivers, such as advanced information technology systems, new models of anaesthesia care, and enhanced recovery after surgery programmes.

Professor Weinberg serves on several patient safety committees and boards including the National Intravenous Fluid Advisory Board and Patient Care Review Committee at Warringal Private Hospital. At Austin Health he also serves on the following hospital leadership and governance committees: Austin Health Life Sciences Board, Safety Quality & Risk Committee, Clinical Outcome Review Committee, Trauma Committee, and Heads of Unit Committee. In 2013 he served on the Australasian & New Zealand College of Anaesthetists Annual Scientific Committee and he is the founder and convener of the Austin Health Annual Anaesthesia Symposium. In 2017 he was a key champion in supporting the set-up of a Liver Transplant programme at the Tribhuvan University Teaching Hospital in Nepal.

Contributions to research: Professor Weinberg has been an investigator on several large- scale national and international multi-centre clinical trials. He has published >200 articles in international peer-review journals, >40 research abstracts, and has authored book chapters on fluid intervention, hospital costs after surgery, and acute pain management. He has presented his clinical work and research at more than 100 international and national conferences and academic meetings. He serves as a reviewer for numerous international anaesthesia journals.

Professor Weinberg Principal has been the investigator for over 35 randomised clinical trials that focus on fluid intervention, patient optimization, goal directed therapy, postoperative kidney injury and hospital costs. He has been the Chief Investigator for numerous research grants, including a $1.1M NHMRC Grant – (BEST-Fluid Study) evaluating fluid intervention in renal transplant recipients, and a $1.8M NHMRC Grant – (CLIP-II Trial) studying cryopreserved platelets in cardiac surgery. He is an associate Investigator for VAPOR C ($4.9M NHMRC Grant) and has been the beneficiary of numerous other research grants (>$300K), which have supported anaesthesia and surgery research in fluid intervention, goal directed therapy, and perioperative outcomes.

Passion for teaching: Professor Weinberg is passionate about teaching. He is a student educator, mentor and coach. He supervises PhD, honours and medical students, in addition to anaesthesia residents and registrars. He conducts regular lectures at the University of Melbourne and the Australian New Zealand College of Anaesthetists. He learns more from his students than his students learn from him.

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