Dr Tomás Corcoran

Dr Tomás Corcoran is Director of Research in the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Medicine at Royal Perth Hospital.

He studied medicine at the University College Cork in Ireland, joining Ireland's Royal College of Physicians in 1995 and then the College of Anaesthesia (Royal College of Surgeons, Ireland) in 1998. Since completing a doctorate in 2003, Dr Corcoran has pursued training in Intensive Care Medicine. Now based at Royal Perth Hospital, he holds the Joint Faculty of Intensive Care Medicine, ANZCA, as a recognised Specialist in this field.

Dr Corcoran has received Medical Research Foundation and ANZCA research grants, including support for neurotrauma-related projects. He is interested in oxidative stress and inflammation following central nervous system injury - how these factors together might promote secondary injury, as well as the modulatory impact of general anaesthesia. He is also a reviewer for a number of medical journals.

A major problem clinicians face when managing traumatic brain injury in intensive care is the lack of a marker of brain injury that is sensitive and specific enough to be clinically useful. Neuroprostanes are a group of compounds that reflect oxidative stress, which is a common endpoint of many of the mechanisms that injure the brain. The NRP has therefore provided funding for a project led by Dr Corcoran assessing whether neuroprostanes in the blood reflect ongoing neurological injury, thus more accurately guiding appropriate therapies.

Current NRP (Chief) Co-investigators:
Prof Michael Paech, King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women
Prof Stephan Schug, Dr Trevor Mori, Dr Steven Honeybul, Dr Kwok Ho, Royal Perth Hospital