• About Chris O’Brien

    Chris O'BrienProfessor Chris O’Brien AO

    MS MD FRCS (HON) FRACS

    3 Jan 1952 – 4 June 2009 

    Chris O’Brien was a man of leadership, vision and courage.  He inspired people, both through his work as a cancer specialist and through his own three year battle with an aggressive brain tumour.

    Chris transformed his personal adversity into a national opportunity, using his experience to fight so much harder for cancer patients and their families.  Chris’s vision was for an integrated cancer treatment centre so that patients would no longer have to navigate their way through all the different elements of dealing with their illness alone. His vision will be realised with the completion of The Chris O’Brien Lifehouse at RPA in 2013.

    Born in 1952, Chris grew up in the western suburbs of Sydney and was educated at Marist Brothers Parramatta and went on to study medicine at the University of Sydney graduating in 1976.  After completing his residency and surgical training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney (RPAH), Chris specialised in head and neck and completed clinical fellowships in England and the USA before returning to Australia in 1987 to join the staff at RPAH as a consultant head and neck surgeon.

    There he contributed to the expansion of the clinical service, making it one of the largest in the country, and also established a comprehensive head and neck database, now the largest in Australia with clinical data on over 8,000 patients and detailed results of over 5,000 operations.

    He also established a basic research program and an international clinical fellowship program under the umbrella of the Sydney Head and Neck Cancer Institute which he founded in 2002.

    Chris O’Brien held two postgraduate degrees from the University of Sydney – a Masters of Surgery for his basic research in microvascular surgery and a Doctorate in Medicine for his internationally recognised work on the management of metastatic cancer involving the parotid gland and neck, particularly cutaneous melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer.

    He authored over 110 scientific papers and 17 book chapters. He was honoured with invitations to many countries and institutions as a visiting professor and guest lecturer, including invitations to give prestigious named lectures including the Hayes Martin Lecture in Washington in 2004, the Eugene Myers International Lecture in Los Angeles in 2005, the inaugural Jatin P Shah Lecture in Prague in 2006 and the Semon Lecture in London in 2008. He was made an Honorary Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England in recognition of his contribution to the training of young British surgeons.

    In 1998 Chris founded the Australian and New Zealand Head and Neck Society, a multidisciplinary society comprising surgeons of all disciplines, radiation and medical oncologists and allied health professionals and was President in 2004.

    He was a member of the American Head and Neck Society and was recognised by that body when invited to join the Council in 2005 and he was further recognised by the inauguration of a lecture and a travelling fellowship named in his honour.

    In 2003 Professor O’Brien became Director of the Sydney Cancer Centre based at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the University of Sydney while maintaining all of his clinical, teaching and research responsibilities. He developed a proposal to transform the Sydney Cancer Centre into a $250 million world class comprehensive cancer centre - Lifehouse at RPA - and the project was officially launched by Prime Minister Kevin Rudd in April 2009.  The now named Chris O’Brien Lifehouse at RPA is under construction and will open its doors in 2013.

    On Australia Day 2005 he was made a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for his services to medicine and on the eve of his death (4 June 2009) he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia by the Prime Minister Kevin Rudd. He was posthumously awarded AO by the Governor General, Her Excellency Quentin Bryce.

    He was a devoted husband to Gail and father of three children Adam, Juliette and James with many interests including running, skiing, reading and playing guitar.

    Unfortunately, in November 2006 he was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumour and stepped down from all of his clinical and administrative positions to focus on his therapy and treatment.
     
    Chris maintained a positive and confident outlook throughout the following few years undergoing numerous operations and a variety of treatments including complementary therapies to ease the symptoms and side effects he was experiencing.  He continued to work tirelessly on the promotion and future construction of an integrated cancer centre (Lifehouse at RPA) which would focus on the needs and support cancer patients, their families and carers.

    In October 2008 he published his autobiography, ‘Never Say Die’, which has become a national best-seller. 

    Links to video clips of Chris O'Brien can be found below. 

    Purchase the 'Never say Die' Chris O’Brien autobiography.  

  • Message from Gail O'Brien

    Chris had a vision in 2003 for transforming care for cancer patients in Australia and he crusaded for integrated cancer care until his death on June 4, 2009. He had seen when he worked in the United States that comprehensive cancer centres where research and treatment are integrated, improve patient outcomes and transform the experience of the cancer patient. Chris’ watchwords were “discovery, innovation, excellence, and leading edge clinical care.” He emphasised that the whole place should “burn on discovery”.

    “It was his compassion and professionalism and care for patients and staff alike that made him so loved by his peers, patients and the TV watching public alike.
    It was an attitude that made his peers want to better themselves, and his patients place their trust in him.”   Prime Minister Kevin Rudd November 18, 2009

    Chris said that he gained his greatest insights into the way people with cancer are treated through his own illness. He recognised that medical care of patients needs to be holistic, and that a person needs to be considered as a functional unit, mind and body.
    He crusaded for a new model of care designed around the needs of patients and their families and where treatment is underpinned by research, with access to clinical trials.

    During the course of his own illness with brain cancer, Chris relied on the brightest medical minds to deliver the latest in surgery, radiation and chemotherapy.  In addition to conventional medicine, Chris sought additional complementary therapies to try to activate the body’s ability to heal itself. He learnt the power of meditation and he emphasized the importance of survivorship to ease the psychological fears and scars associated with cancer.

    We at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse at RPA hope to transform the experience of the cancer patient through uncompromising care and achieve this sense of the spirit and soul of a beautiful, courageous and determined man, my husband, Chris O’Brien.

    Gail O’Brien  

    Chris and Gail O'Brien