Professor Richard G. Bittar

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Professor Richard G. Bittar
MBBS (Honours), PhD, FRACS
Neurosurgeon and Spinal Surgeon

Professor Richard Bittar is a highly qualified Australian neurosurgeon and researcher.

He is a neurosurgeon at Royal Melbourne Hospital and also operates at numerous Private Hospitals in Victoria, including St Vincent’s Private, Melbourne Private, Epworth, Cabrini and The Avenue. In addition, he operates at St Vincent’s Private in Sydney. His consulting locations are numerous, and include metropolitan and regional locations in Victoria, as well as Tasmania and Sydney.

His main areas of interest and expertise are surgery for brain tumours, complex spinal surgery and deep brain stimulation.

He was raised in the Blue Mountains, west of Sydney. He completed his secondary education at Blue Mountains Grammar School, where he was awarded the prize for Dux (highest examination score). His undergraduate medical training was undertaken at the University of Sydney, where he obtained his medical degree with Honours in 1994.

He completed an elective in neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Houston, USA, and undertook his internship in Sydney. After a further 12 months of medical and surgical rotations he enrolled as a PhD student at the University of Sydney. Most of his research was conducted at the prestigious Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada, and he graduated with a PhD in functional brain mapping in 2001. During this time, Professor Bittar underwent formal postgraduate training in Neurosurgery, culminating in his admission to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.

He travelled to Oxford, UK to undertake a fellowship in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery. He worked closely with Professor Tipu Z. Aziz, one of the world’s pioneers in this field. He also received further training in Complex Spinal Neurosurgery. His time in Oxford was extremely productive. He gained a wealth of experience in surgery for spinal disorders, brain tumours, and movement disorders and pain, and continued with his strong emphasis on scientific research and teaching.

Professor Bittar has published over 40 clinical and scientific papers in peer-reviewed medical journals. He has presented his work at international conferences in North America, Europe, and the Middle East. He has been awarded several scholarships, fellowships, and other prizes, reflecting the value and quality of his academic and patient-orientated endeavours. Professor Bittar is a member of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery.