Previously Certified Practitioners
We want to acknowledge the contribution of the following practitioners’ service to the INR speciality and their contribution to training and research.
Dr Mark Brooks
Dr John Clouston
Professor Alan Coulthard
Dr Kenneth Mitchell
Associate Professor Will McAuliffe FRANZCR
For more information about the practitioners’, please see below;
Dr Mark Brooks
I graduated from Monash medicine in 1985 and after internship and residency at the Alfred hospital I spent 4 years as a radiology registrar at the Austin Hospital. A large part of my 3rd and 4th years were spent in the angio lab. My first involvement in neurointervention was performing intraarterial thrombolysis as an investigator in stroke research studies. After a fellowship year at Hammersmith Hospital in 1994/5 I returned to Austin as head of interventional radiology from 1995 to 2012. As an IR consultant I contributed to a limited neurointervention service mainly comprising thrombolysis for posterior circulation strokes and intra arterial vasospasm treatment for subarachnoid haemorrhage patients.
In 2009 I undertook a 12-month neurointervention fellowship at Monash Medical centre and returned to Austin to start a comprehensive neurointervention service. In 2012 I joined St Vincents hospital. In 2016 working with Ash Jhamb from St Vincents Hospital we developed a combined Austin St Vincents neurointervention service. This produced a neurointervention team with volumes sufficient to meet CCINR requirements across the range of neurointervention practice, a shared on call roster and a neurointervention fellow training position.
Having developed ECR services at Austin as an extend IA investigator I worked to establish its recognition as the comprehensive stroke centre for the North East of Melbourne and Victoria. This met with some resistance but eventually the evidence for including Austin in a geographically distributed ECR service for Victoria prevailed.
From 2020 to 2023 I worked with Hamed Asadi to establish and support a team based neurointervention service at Royal Hobart Hospital.
I have found neurointervention a tough but rewarding career including the clinical, technical, academic and political aspects. While I slowly came to recognise the importance of politics at multiple levels, I can say without doubt I would have preferred to have spent more time engaged in clinical practice. In developing neurointervention services I have attempted to focus on patient interest, scientific evidence and neurointervention team building as guideposts to navigating politics and dealing with power. I encourage current and future CCINR members and officeholders to do the same.
A/Prof William McAuliffe
Working with an incredible bunch of colleagues across the spectrum of Interventional Neuroradiology, Neurosurgery, Neurology, Plastic Surgery, ENT, Dermatology, ICU Anaesthesia, Paediatrics, Royal Flying Doctor and Emergency Physicians.
Setting up a standalone dedicated neurovascular department at NIISwa, allowing
laser-like focus on service delivery and innovation. The department has a dedicated team of INR, Anaesthetists, junior Doctors, Medical Imaging Technologists, Nurses, Administrative Assistants and Ward staff. A privilege and rewarding experience with a highly motivated, skilled and enthusiastic workforce.
Being lucky enough to see the spectrum of
- aneurysm devices evolve from 1992 to the current cutting-edge technologies form the first target 18 coils to WEB and pipeline
- Stroke rescue from IA urokinase (1993) to Mechanical thrombectomy (2010).
Successful integration of seven-day transcranial doppler service (1996- present) despite the many hurdles to doing so, largely due to cooperation of Sonographers, Medical Imaging Technologists, Neurosurgery, ICU and INR colleagues. This transformed the evaluation and prompt effective treatment of vasospasm with a protocolised formal approach. This is despite the number of clinicians involved and the changes of staff over the years. A durable team effort over the decades!
Setting up an effective statewide acute stroke rescue and Mechanical Thrombectomy unit with INR colleagues, Emergency physicians, Royal Flying Doctor Service, St John of God Statewide Paramedical Team and Professors Blacker and Hankey.
Revolution of treatment Intracranial Hypertension, transforming the lives of many young women with a distressing, psychologically damaging disease process.
Meeting and training (and learning a lot from!!) young dedicated Interventional Neuroradiology Fellows who went on to work across Australasia, USA, Germany, UK, Ireland, India, Switzerland and Germany. Many are now highly respected talented senior operators that I am very proud of.
Meeting and treating people, some of whom I can still remember their names and faces after two decades. These were patients (and their families) who, when confronted with hyperacute life-threatening processes, did so with calm, bravery and trust. This was a very humbling experience and taught me a lot about how incredible humans often are when the chips are down.
Dr John Clouston
General medical and radiology training Brisbane Australia 1983 -1991.
Two fellowships at the University of Maryland, Baltimore, USA, in interventional radiology and neuroradiology, including neuro intervention,
Commenced full time private and public intervention and neuro intervention at The Wesley Hospital, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital in 1994.
Full-time public intervention and neuro intervention RBWH from 2010.
Medical Director RBWH Department of Medical Imaging 2011 - 2018.
Member of the Medicare Services Advisory Committee (MSAC) 2018.
Member of the Metro North Health Service Value Based Healthcare Unit 2018-2021.
Retired from medical practice 2021.
Professor Alan Coulthard
Diagnostic and Interventional Neuroradiologist
Royal Brisbane and Womens Hospital
Professor of Neuroradiology
University of Queensland
Trained in Radiology UK, Consultant in Newcastle upon Tyne UK 1993-2003. Mainly diagnostic neuroradiology and diagnostic angio. Started INR involvement at RBWH in 2003, there were no official fellowships, main mentor and teacher was Dr Ken Mitchell. By 2007/8 I was considered by Drs Mitchell and Clouston to be competent enough to ‘go solo’. Training was complemented by workshops, conferences and visits to international labs. KM, JC and I provided INR services at RBWH between us until we added a 4th consultant in 2016.
I stopped hands-on INR in October 2022. My main INR research interest has been procedural outcomes, with a focus on ’silent’ as well as not so silent complications.
Re ANZSNR I was Qld rep from 2005, President 2012-2016 and on exec until 2024. As you know I chaired the tripartite working group that morphed into CCINR and was inaugural Chair. I stepped back from CCINR when I joined RANZCR Board in 2020.
Dr Kenneth Mitchell
University of Queensland, Medical Degree MBBS, 1982
Hospital Attachments, 1983 to 1985
Medical Registrar, Princess Alexandra Hospital Brisbane, 1985 to 1986
Radiology Registrar, Princess Alexandra Hospital, 1986 to 1990
Senior Registrar Neuro Radiology and Intervention, Newcastle General Hospital, Newcastle upon Tyne, England, 1991 to 1992
FRANZCR, 1992
Assistant Director Neuro Radiology, Princess Alexandra Hospital Brisbane, 1992 to 1994
Private Practice, Queensland Diagnostic Imaging, 1994 to 2008
Visiting Interventional Radiologist, Royal Brisbane Women’s Hospital, 1992 to 2008
Senior Specialist Recognition, 2002
Full-Time Senior Medical Officer, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, 2008 to 2025
INR practice
Commenced INR service Princess Alexandra Hospital on return to Brisbane 1992.
Also commenced INR practice RBWH 1992 due to ill health of the existing practitioner. Since 1994 I have supplied the INR service at RBWH, initially part time and then full time since 2008 . I was joined by Drs John Clouston and Alan Coulthard. PAH then Gold Coast then Townsville services have all grown.
Initial procedures were only glue embolisation and detachable balloons. Some pushable coils then IDC mechanical detachable coils from 1992. GDC coiling methods arrived 1998.
It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be involved with progression of the service across Queensland and involved with the training, research and ongoing education and improvement with my colleagues