Professor Fiona Wood AO has been a plastic and reconstructive surgeon and researcher for almost 30 years and is Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia (BSWA). She is a Consultant Plastic Surgeon at Fiona Stanley Hospital (previously at Royal Perth Hospital) and Perth Children’s Hospital ( previously Princess Margaret Hospital for Children), Winthrop Professor in the School of Surgery at The University of Western Australia, and co-founder of the Fiona Wood Foundation (formerly The McComb Foundation).
Professor Fiona Wood’s dedication to improving outcomes for burns patients and expanding the knowledge of wound healing began in 1991 when she trained as West Australia’s first female plastic surgeon. Professor Wood’s ability to lead a team and direct innovation for future clinical care was recognised as she quickly became a leader in her field becoming Director of the Burns Service of Western Australia at an early point in her career. In this position, Professor Wood has led the Burns Service of Western Australia to be recognised internationally as a leader in burns care.
Professor Wood’s greatest contribution and enduring legacy is her work pioneering the innovative ‘spray-on skin’ technique (Recell), which greatly reduces permanent scarring in burns victims. Professor Wood and Marie Stoner assigned their intellectual property to the not for profit foundation in the 1997 such that the commercialisation of the device has supported the sustainability of research foundation.
In October 2002, Fiona was propelled into the media spotlight when the largest proportion of survivors from the 2002 Bali bombings arrived at Royal Perth Hospital. She was privileged to lead the team in the burns disaster response in WA based on the prior planning of the National Burns Disaster response approved by the Australian Health Ministers Advisory Council.
Fiona was named a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2003. In 2005 she won the Western Australia Citizen of the Year award for her contribution to Medicine in the field of burns research. She was honoured to share the Australian Academy of Engineering and Technologies Clunies Ross award recognising people who have shared their vision and knowledge to apply technology for the benefit of Australians with Marie Stoner in the same year. That same year her contribution to burns care was recognised through Australia’s highest accolade when she was named Australian of the Year for 2005 by Australian Prime Minister John Howard at a ceremony in Canberra to mark Australia Day.
In 2024, Fiona was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguised service to plastic and recontructive surgery, to medical research, and as a clinician scientist and mentor.
She is an Australian Living Treasure.
