Eugenie Kayak

Eugenie Kayak is the Enterprise Professor in Sustainable Healthcare at the Melbourne Medical School’s Department of Critical Care, Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne. A qualified consultant anaesthetist (FANZCA, MBBS, MSc, MPH), she practices at Austin Health, Alfred Health, and in private practice. Appointed to her current position in July 2022, Professor Kayak works to embed sustainable healthcare practices into research, teaching, and engagement activities across the medical school, its hospital partners, and the broader faculty. In this role, she collaborates with experts such as Professor Kathryn Bowen from the Melbourne School of Population and Global Health. Additionally, she serves as Deputy Director of the University’s Climate CATCH (Collaborative Action for Transformative Change in Health and Healthcare) Lab, where she leads the cross-faculty sustainable healthcare stream and related initiatives within the Melbourne Medical School.

Professor Kayak has been a prominent advocate for sustainable healthcare and addressing the health impacts of climate change for over a decade. Through her leadership roles with Doctors for the Environment Australia (DEA)—including as Co-convenor of the national Sustainable Health Care group, former board member, and co-chair—she has driven awareness and policy changes to mitigate healthcare’s environmental footprint. Her advocacy, in partnership with the Australian Medical Association (AMA), has united Australia’s specialist medical colleges in calling for the healthcare sector to achieve net zero emissions by 2040. She was a key member of the Chief Medical Officer’s Advisory Group that developed Australia’s inaugural National Health and Climate Strategy and continues to push for the establishment of a National Health, Sustainability and Climate Unit. Professor Kayak’s research contributions include developing practical guides for detecting and reducing nitrous oxide leaks in healthcare facilities and peer-reviewed publications such as “Leadership and governance approaches to drive environmentally sustainable healthcare in high-income countries: a rapid scoping review” (2025), “Variations of nitrous oxide procurement per public hospital bed across Australian states: an observational study” (2024), “A weighing method for measuring nitrous oxide leakage from low flow nasal cannula delivery: a benchtop study” (2023), and “Australian health sector leadership and roadmap for healthcare decarbonisation to net zero emissions”. She has presented at national conferences, contributed to ANZCA’s statement on environmental sustainability in anaesthesia, and co-authored influential reports like DEA’s “Net zero emissions: responsibilities, pathways and opportunities for Australia’s healthcare sector”.

Professional Email: eugenie.kayak@unimelb.edu.au