Rate My Professor Spencer Beasley

Clinical Professor Spencer Beasley is Professor of Paediatric Surgery at the University of Otago, Christchurch, within the Faculty of Medicine, and serves as Clinical Director of the Department of Paediatric Surgery at Christchurch Hospital. He earned his MB ChB from the University of Otago, MS from the University of Melbourne, FRACS in Paediatric Surgery, and FAICD, and received the Officer of the New Zealand Order of Merit (ONZM) in 2018. Prior to his current roles, Beasley worked as a consultant paediatric surgeon and paediatric urologist at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne and as a senior lecturer at the University of Melbourne until 1996. He has been instrumental in developing a regional paediatric surgery service across the South Island of New Zealand, conducting regular outreach clinics and operating sessions in every South Island public hospital. Beasley is a founding member of the Child Cancer and Developmental Genetics Research Group, a former board member of the Rainbow Children's Trust, and a current trustee of the Children's Cancer Research Trust in Canterbury.

Beasley's research interests encompass oesophageal atresia and its embryogenesis, control of foregut and hindgut development, induced pluripotent stem cell differentiation into contracting smooth muscle, surgical education and assessment, neonatal thoracoscopic simulation models for technical skills training, unconscious bias in surgical selection, and impediments to gender equity in surgery. He has authored or edited nine textbooks on paediatric surgery and related subjects and is currently editing the Oxford University Press textbook on Paediatric Surgery. Notable recent publications include Tinawi et al. (2026) on a portable neonatal esophageal atresia simulator in the Journal of Laparoendoscopic & Advanced Surgical Techniques; Wells et al. (2025) on benefits and barriers of thoracoscopic simulators in Pediatric Surgery International; Beasley (2024) chapter on undescended testes in Essential Paediatric Surgery; Liddy et al. (2023) on longitudinal force measurement in esophageal anastomosis in the Journal of Pediatric Surgery; and Elliott et al. (2023) on appendicitis severity in the ANZ Journal of Surgery. In leadership, he has served as former Vice-President of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Chair of its Governance and Advocacy Committee and Board of Surgical Education and Training, Deputy Censor-in-Chief and Chair of the Court of Examiners, former New Zealand Censor and Chair of the Board of Paediatric Surgery, Senior Examiner in Paediatric Surgery, past President of the Australia and New Zealand Association of Paediatric Surgeons, current President of the New Zealand Society of Paediatric Surgeons, member of the Board of Governors of the Pacific Association of Pediatric Surgeons, and member of the Male Champions of Change STEM group. He recently retired as specialty editor for Paediatric Surgery of the ANZ Journal of Surgery and remains a Senior Editor of the Journal of Paediatrics and Child Health.