Edward Byrne

Professor Ed Byrne is currently Global Chief Medical Officer for Ramsay health care group having succeeded Prof. John Horvath in February 2021. He is also vice-chancellor's distinguished fellow at ANU and serves as a non executive director on a number of boards and is a trustee of the Ian Potter foundation. Ed Byrne was President & Principal at King’s College London and Chairman of King’s Health Partners board from 1st August 2014 until early 2021.

He began his career in Adelaide after graduating with first class honours from the University of Tasmania in 1974. He was made Neurology Registrar at Royal Adelaide Hospital in 1978. He finished his neurology training and completed his doctorate at the Institute of Neurology Queen Square and in 1982 was awarded the Queen Square prize for neurological research. In 1983, he was appointed Director of Neurology at St Vincent's Hospital and Professor of Clinical Neurology at the University of Melbourne in 1992.

Professor Byrne was a founding director of the Melbourne Neuromuscular Research Unit and the Centre for Neuroscience in 1993. He was also made Professor of Experimental Neurology at the University of Melbourne in 2001. His major research contributions have been in the field of mitochondrial medicine and neuromuscular disorders. More recently he has worked on changes in universities and health systems to meet societal needs.

He first came to Monash University as the Dean of the Faculty of Medicine Nursing and Health Sciences, a role he held from 2003 until 2007.

Professor Byrne was then appointed the Vice Provost (Health) at University College London (UCL). He held that position until becoming the eighth University President and Vice-Chancellor at Monash University in 2009.

In the commercial world, Ed Byrne served for many years as a non executive director at Cochlear Ltd and also as a director of Bupa both in the UK and Australia. He has served on a number of research institute and charity boards.

The University of Melbourne awarded him a Doctor of Science, a higher degree conferred in recognition of a demonstrated record of research excellence. He completed a Masters of Business Administration in 2005. He has honorary professorships from UCL, Warwick University and Peking University and Honorary Degrees from the University of Adelaide, Warwick University, Western University and University of Sydney. He is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and Technology and the Australian Academy of Health and Medicine and is a fellow of the American Academy of Neurology and the American Neurological Association. He is a fellow of the Royal Australian College of physicians and the Royal Colleges of physicians of London and Edinburgh. He is emeritus professor of medicine at Monash University and neurology at King’s College London.

Professor Byrne was admitted as an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2006 and a Companion of the Order of Australia, Australia’s highest honour, in 2014.

He was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in the UK in 2019. He was awarded a Knighthood in the Queen’s Birthday Honours in October 2020 for contributions to higher education and healthcare.

He has wide interests in the arts and has published four books of poetry through Melbourne University Press and has recently co-authored with Charles Clarke, a former senior UK Cabinet Minister, a book “The University Challenge : Changing universities in a changing world”.