Professor Barry McGrath

Personal Details: Professor of Vascular Medicine & Medicine
Southern Clinical School, Monash University.

Education: MB BS (Hons) 1969; MD (University of Sydney) 1978; FRACP (Royal Australasian College of Physicians) 1975.

Experience: Barry McGrath has been a full-time clinical academic at Monash University for 27 years. In 2000 he was appointed the first Chair of Vascular Medicine in Australia. He heads a vascular sciences clinical research group including 3 PhD students undertaking research in arterial and venous diseases. His research leadership is reflected in higher degree student and post-doctoral supervision, grants obtained, invited international and national presentations, journal editorial boards (4), invited journal editorials (including Lancet, Clinical Science), service on NHMRC Grants Committees (past chair of RGICs) and other research bodies, and awards (NHF, International Society of Hypertension, Universities of Sendai, Nanjing).He hassupervised 9 PhD students to successful completion, including research leaders in Australia, and 10 postdoctoral research fellows (8 internationals from Japan, France, China), BMed Sci and MSc students.  In 1999 he received a Monash University PhD Supervisor’s award.

He is a member of the Executive of the Australian Medical Council, head of Medicine on its committee for examination and the editorial board. He has served on NH&MRC Projects Grants Committee and chaired RGICs and program reviews, the NSW Cancer Council Grants Committee and is a reviewer for a number of other scientific bodies (NHF, NZ Research Council). Awards for research excellence include an International Society of Hypertension investigator’s award (1994) and a Heart Foundation award (1999). He has been an invited speaker at numerous international meetings, including International Society of Nephrology, Asia-Pacific Congress of Cardiology, British Hypertension Society, the South African Hypertension Society, the 1st Asean Conference on Medical Sciences, the Franco-Australian Meetings on Hypertension, Nanjing University School of Medicine, the Japanese Society of Physiology and Hypertension, and the Great Wall International Congress of Cardiology, China.

A leader in medical education in Australia, he was the inaugural chair of the Postgraduate Medical Council of Victoria (1999-2004). Under his guidance PMCV established key committees in Accreditation, Education, Workforce and IMGs; a network of Medical Education Officers in Victoria; produced key papers on AMC Candidates in Victorian Hospitals, Clinical Skills Training for Health Professionals in Victoria, Welfare and Personal Health of Students and Junior Medical Staf; and established a research program. He is Chair of the Confederation of Postgraduate Medical Education Councils of Australia (2005-7), and has overseen the development of National Training and Assessment Guidelines, the Australian Prevocational Curriculum Framework and an national program of professional development of junior doctors in their early registrar years. He serves on the Specialist Advisory Committee for Cardiology and served on the Executive of the High Blood Pressure Research Council of Australia.