Associate Professor Michael Back is a Conjoint Associate Professor in the Northern Clinical School, Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney. He holds the qualifications MBBS, FRANZCR, GradDipPsyOnc, MBA, and PhD, which he completed in 2020 through the University of Sydney with the thesis titled ‘Optimising the Management of Anaplastic Glioma in the era of Molecular Classification’. With over 25 years of interest in brain tumour management, he has served as Director of Radiation Oncology for the Northern Sydney Cancer Centre at Royal North Shore Hospital since February 2010. Previously, he worked as a specialist radiation oncologist in Newcastle, NSW from 1996 to 2000, and in Singapore from 2001 to 2007, where he was appointed Honorary Consultant for Neurosurgery at the National Neuroscience Institute. He currently acts as a visiting consultant in radiation oncology at the Central Coast Cancer Centre at Gosford Hospital, Western NSW Cancer Centre at Orange and Dubbo Hospitals, and GenesisCare private centres across Sydney, including North Shore Health Hub, Frenchs Forest, St Vincent’s Clinic, Macquarie University Hospital, Mater Hospital, and Waratah Medical Centre Hurstville.

A/Prof Back subspecialises in neuro-oncology, with clinical and research interests centred on improving outcomes for brain cancer patients through sophisticated tumour targeting and radiation therapy delivery. His research programme develops protocols to optimise radiation dosing to tumours while minimising exposure to normal brain tissue, with benefits translated directly into clinical practice. He has produced over 100 peer-reviewed publications, more than 30 in the past five years, and supervises three PhD candidates. Key publications include ‘Reflecting on survivorship outcomes to aid initial decision-making in patients managed for IDH mutated Anaplastic Glioma’ (Cancer, 2019), ‘Early pattern of failure involving distant brain sites and ventricular spread in patients with Anaplastic Glioma and IDH mutation’ (Strahlenther Onkol, 2020), ‘Focal radiation therapy for limited brain metastases is associated with high rates of local control and low subsequent whole brain radiation therapy’ (ANZ J Surg, 2019), ‘Survival improvements with adjuvant therapy in patients with glioblastoma’ (ANZ J Surg, 2018), and ‘Short-Course Radiation with Temozolomide in Elderly Glioblastoma Patients’ (N Engl J Med, 2017). In 2019, he established the Brain Cancer Imaging Laboratory with neuroradiologist Dr James Drummond to support imaging-based research and clinical trials. He has been a Board Director of The Brain Cancer Group since 2009 and Cancer Council NSW from 2011 to 2014, contributing to research coordination for brain tumours across NSW and Australasia.

Professional Email: michael.back@sydney.edu.au