The Surgeons

Anthony D Holmes

“Early in my career the favourite part of my job was achieving a good surgical outcome for a challenging deformity. However, as each individual matured, I was able to follow their development and almost become part of their family. Watching and repairing a deformed child develop from a baby to an adult and see them become socially competent and successful probably gives me the most satisfaction of all.”

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Heather Cleland

Heather has extensive experience in general and reconstructive plastic surgery for adults and children. Her primary paediatric areas of interest are in cleft, lip and palate and the management of congenital melanocytic naevi.

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David Chong

“I love being able to see something I can do something about. To alleviate the pain of facial deformity, to understand the scars I don’t see, are the ones that are hardest to heal. To bring to another human life a gift of positive change, and watch them blossom with it; to bring them a smile, and have others smile back at them.”

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Andrew Greensmith

“One of the earliest founders of plastic surgery Gaspare Tagliacozzi gave a nice definition of what plastic surgery is – ‘it is not to beautify for the eye of the beholder but for the comfort of the afflicted’.”

Born in New Zealand, Andrew completed his degree and plastic surgical training there. He went on to receive further subspecialty training in craniofacial surgery at the Necker Hospital for Sick Children in Paris, France. It was there that he trained with two pioneers in craniofacial surgery: Professor Daniel Marchac and Dr Eric Arnaud in the paediatric craniofacial unit with the largest experience worldwide.

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Andrew A. C. Heggie

“Donations to the Foundation will secure the future of our service by enabling us to fund research into areas of craniofacial treatment and ultimately give us the possibility of appointing a full-time Chair of Craniofacial Research. It will enable us to teach surgeons from other countries to take techniques back to their own people and to fund some of the necessary technology that is outside government budgets but will enhance our service.”

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Christopher Coombs

Christopher trained in Melbourne in plastic and reconstructive surgery after completing his medical degree through Monash University graduating with Honours. He completed training in Plastic Surgery in 1992 and then was the craniofacial fellow at the Royal Children’s Hospital. Following this he did further postgraduate studies at Harvard University in Boston and Toronto Sick Kids in the field of Paediatric hand and microsurgery. He has particular interests in Paediatric Hand surgery and microsurgery, Ear reconstruction and Facial palsy. He currently is Chief of Hand and Microvascular surgery and Head of the Microtia clinic at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and the past chairman of the Victorian Board of Plastic Surgery Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

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Bruce Johnstone

Bruce Johnstone trained in plastic surgery in Melbourne. A further two years of subspecialist fellowships were completed in Atlanta Georgia and Salt Lake City Utah, USA. Areas of expertise developed in these centres included microsurgery, paediatric plastic surgery, and in particular during his year in a Salt Lake City, hand and upper limb surgery with training in both the Departments of Plastic and Orthopaedic surgery.

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Tony Penington

Associate Professor Tony Penington trained in Plastic surgery in Melbourne and Brisbane qualifying in 1996. Following a period as a research fellow at the Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery in Melbourne he travelled to Oxford in the U.K. to work for 18 months as a clinical and research fellow. On returning to Melbourne Tony took up positions as Consultant Plastic Surgeon at the Royal Children’s Hospital and St. Vincent’s Hospital. He also held the positions of Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne, Department of Surgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital.

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