Dr Osamu Yoshino – recipient of the Small Research Project Grant 2020

Dr Osamu Yoshino – Small Research Project Grant 2020 recipient

Hepato-Pancreatico-Biliary (HPB) and robotic surgeon Dr Osamu Yoshino was the recipient of the Small Research Project Grant from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) in 2020. “I think I was very lucky,” Dr Yoshino said. The reason Dr Yoshino considers himself lucky is because apart from it being a coveted grant, it came just before his American HPB Fellowship program at Medical College of Wisconsin and Robotic HPB fellowship at Carolinas Medical Centre, USA. “So, I had 12 to 15 months to complete my research. I really appreciate that I got that grant and managed to publish the data,” he said. Dr Yoshino’s research topic was on the role of mitochondrial DNA (cmtDNA) and damage associated molecular patterns (DAMPs) in liver transplantation. The Small Research Project Grant is designed to help new researchers, Dr Yoshino said. And given that researching into mitochondria DNA is very difficult, he is happy to have done this study. “It was very good laboratory study for a team to learn and work together. It was a good start-up and worked very well in that limited timeframe.”

Dr Yoshino moved to Australia in 2007 after completing his Doctor of Medicine (MD) from Tohoku University, School of Medicine in Sendai, Japan. It was here that he became interested in the HPB surgery unit. But it was an intense student life. “We would start at 7 am, the operation would happen after lunch break and would go on until midnight. We would grab dinner by 2 am and start the rounds again after a few hours,” he said. That’s when he decided not to become a surgeon, opting for a more flexible, rostered life in emergency medicine and surgery. “So, my training in Japan was to be a physician.” But Dr Yoshino felt he was getting detached from patient care. “You know you try to help the patient but, in the end, you hand over the patient to the next one on the roster. I didn’t like it.”

When the opportunity to work with Dr Zsolt Balogh, a well-known trauma surgeon and professor at the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, came up, Dr Yoshino took it. “I was a trauma specialist in trauma surgery, I was young, and this was a good opportunity. “Coming to Australia, the memory of those earlier days came back, and I said let’s go back to surgery. That’s how I became a surgeon.” Dr Yoshino completed his surgical residency with Austin Health, Melbourne, and obtained his fellowship in General Surgery from RACS. He completed his HPB/transplant training in the US and Australia. “I am in the same field I started,” Dr Yoshino said, who currently divides his time between Austin Hospital, Melbourne, as a visiting medical officer, and Epworth Richmond and Warringal Private Hospital as a HPB surgeon. Despite the workload on medical professionals, Dr Yoshino believes research is very important. “Research and medicine should go together. Medicines are established based on numerous efforts from scientists, medical practitioners, and specialists around the world. That’s why we know how to treat cancers. Any research can potentially contribute to the future. “The surgical community is aware of the importance of research, but research is very complex. You need finance to start research, and if you get the opportunity, you should take it because you might see the different views of medicine and science.

“Today we use evidence, based on what has been done in the last 100 years. We should contribute to that path so that the evidence we create today can be of use in the future. Retrospectively, research means working potentially towards providing better care for patients.” Dr Yoshino lives with his wife and three sons. The family enjoys outdoor activities such as hiking—a challenge he enjoys with his boys as a form of teaching them appreciation, adaptability and coping with trouble.

With a job that keeps him on his toes, Dr Yoshino said, “I am still trying to get that work-life balance.”

RACS offers more than 70 scholarships and grants valued at more than $2 million annually through its Scholarships and Grants Program. To learn more, visit www.surgeons.org/scholarships