Professor Simon Brown

Professor Simon Brown Heads the Centres for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine at the University of Western Australia (UWA) and at the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR).

Having graduated in Medicine from the University of Tasmania in 1988, Professor Brown worked in a variety of clinical posts in New Zealand, Western Australia, Queensland and England, completing specialty training in Emergency Medicine (FACEM) in 1996. He returned to Tasmania to work as a Staff Specialist at the Royal Hobart Hospital in Tasmania from 1997-2003 where he was Director of Emergency Medicine from 1999. During this time he also completed a PhD in Clinical Immunology as an extramural student of Flinders University. He moved to Perth in 2003 and was appointed to an academic post with UWA in 2004, initially based at Fremantle Hospital and then transferred to Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) to establish the Centre for Clinical Research in Emergency Medicine in 2008.

Professor Brown's main research interests are the pathophysiology and management of critical illnesses including life-threatening allergy (anaphylaxis) and severe sepsis, immunotherapy for preventing anaphylaxis, and the clinical use of antivenoms for snake and spider envenoming. He works clinically as a Consultant in Emergency Medicine, Royal Perth Hospital. He is an examiner for the Australasian College for Emergency Medicine and assists with the postgraduate clinical training program in Emergency Medicine at RPH.

Working within a team of clinical and basic researchers from WAIMR and RPH, Professor Brown is now heading an NRP project looking at the role of the immune system in neurotrauma. Following a traumatic brain injury (TBI), the immune system releases inflammatory proteins that contribute to ongoing neuro-inflammation. The aim of the project is to identify proteins that may provide future targets for therapeutic interventions, since a treatment to reduce neuro-inflammation has the potential to greatly improve the recovery of individuals with acute brain injury.

Current NRP Co-investigators:
Professor Steven Webb; Professor Sudhakar Rao; Professor Daniel Fatovich; Associate Professor Glenn Arendts; Assistant Professor Shelley Stone; Dr Niall Henry