Declan G. Murphy, FRACS, FRCS, is a

urologist Urology (from Greek οὖρον ''ouron'' "urine" and ''-logia'' "study of"), also known as genitourinary surgery, is the branch of medicine that focuses on surgical and medical diseases of the urinary system and the reproductive organs. Org ...

, director of the unit for genitourinary oncology and

robotic surgery Robot-assisted surgery or robotic surgery are any types of surgical procedures that are performed using robotic systems. Robotically assisted surgery was developed to try to overcome the limitations of pre-existing minimally-invasive surgical ...

at the

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, also known as the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and commonly abbreviated as Peter Mac, is an Australian oncology research institute, cancer treatment and professional oncologist training centre located in ...

Melbourne Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...

, Australia, professor at the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

, and associate editor of the ''

British Journal of Urology International ''BJU International'' (or ''BJUI'', formerly known as the ''British Journal of Urology'') is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal that was established in 1929. The editor-in-chief is Freddie Hamdy and the journal is published by Wiley-Blackwell ...

''. In 2010 he introduced

for urology to the public sector health services in

Victoria Victoria most commonly refers to: * Queen Victoria (1819–1901), Queen of the United Kingdom and Empress of India * Victoria (state), a state of Australia * Victoria, British Columbia, Canada, a provincial capital * Victoria, Seychelles, the capi ...

, Australia. Murphy's early career began in Dublin before taking up training in the specialty of urology in England. After completing a

fellowship A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned or professional societies, the term refers ...

in laparoscopic and robotic surgery in Melbourne, he returned to London and was appointed consultant urologist at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospital in 2009. The following year he moved to Australia and took up a consultant post at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He is a regular blogger on topics pertaining to men's health. In May 2018, his tweet became a popular

meme A meme (; ) is an idea, behavior, or style that Mimesis, spreads by means of imitation from person to person within a culture and often carries symbolic meaning representing a particular phenomenon or theme. A meme acts as a unit for carrying c ...

after he demonstrated the use of the da Vinci robot in performing surgery on a grape, with the purpose of introducing children to the topic. In 2019 he was appointed full professor. The following year he was senior author on the team that published their results on an imaging technique that uses gallium-labelled prostate specific membrane antigen in a PET/CT scanner (PSMA PET-CT), for detecting the early spread of

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is the neoplasm, uncontrolled growth of cells in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system below the bladder. Abnormal growth of the prostate tissue is usually detected through Screening (medicine), screening tests, ...

Early life and education

Declan Murphy is from

Portumna Portumna (- meaning 'the landing place of the oak') is a market town in the south-east of County Galway, Ireland, on the border with and linked by a Portumna bridge, bridge to County Tipperary. The town is located to the west of the point where ...

County Galway County Galway ( ; ) is a Counties of Ireland, county in Republic of Ireland, Ireland. It is in the Northern and Western Region, taking up the south of the Provinces of Ireland, province of Connacht. The county population was 276,451 at the 20 ...

, in the West of Ireland, where his father and sister are general practitioners. In 1996 Murphy graduated in medicine from

NUI Galway The University of Galway () is a public research university located in the city of Galway, Ireland. The university was founded in 1845 as "Queen's College, Galway". It was known as "University College, Galway" (UCG) () from 1908 to 1997 and as ...

and subsequently completed early medical training at the

University Hospital Galway University Hospital Galway () is a major acute hospital in Galway, Ireland. It is managed by Saolta University Health Care Group. UHG and Merlin Park University Hospital (in the east of Galway city) comprise Galway University Hospitals. Histor ...

, Mullingar Hospital, Meath & Adelaide Hospital, Our Lady of Lourdes Hospital and

St. James's Hospital St. James's Hospital ''Confirms spelling of name as "James's" and Irish name'' () is a teaching hospital in Dublin, Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Its academic partner is Trinity College Dublin. It is managed by Dublin Midlands Hospital Group. ...

, Dublin, before moving to England to take up training in the specialty of urology, first in Brighton, Worthing and Redhill, and then at

Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust is an NHS foundation trust of the English National Health Service, one of the prestigious Shelford Group. It runs Guy's Hospital in London Bridge, St Thomas' Hospital in Waterloo, Evelina London Child ...

, London.

Career

In 2006 he was awarded the

FRCS Fellowship of the Royal Colleges of Surgeons (FRCS) is a professional certification, professional qualification to practise as a senior surgeon in Republic of Ireland, Ireland or the United Kingdom. It is bestowed on an wikt:intercollegiate, ...

Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) is a not-for-profit medical professional and educational institution, which is also known as RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences. It was established in 1784 as the national body ...

Urol and subsequently completed a one-year

under Anthony J. Costello in laparoscopic and robotic urology in Melbourne, which changed his opinion of operating on the prostate using a robot.Declan G Murphy - "Curriculum Vitae"
June 2020 Between January 2009 and December 2009, he was consultant in urology at Guy's and St Thomas', London. He is a reviewer and is on the editorial board for urology related publications including ''

European Urology ''European Urology'' is a monthly peer-reviewed medical journal covering urology. It was established in 1975 and is published by Elsevier. It is the official journal of the European Association of Urology. The editor-in-chief is Alberto Briganti (V ...

'', ''Nature Reviews Urology'', ''

The Journal of Urology ''The Journal of Urology'' is a peer-reviewed medical journal covering urology published by Elsevier on behalf of the American Urological Association. It was established in 1917. A special centenary issue was released in 2017 to celebrate 100 yea ...

'', the '' BJU International'' , ''Prostate Cancer and Prostatic Diseases'', and the ''

Journal of Sexual Medicine ''The Journal of Sexual Medicine'' (''JSM'') is a peer-reviewed medical journal published on behalf of the International Society for Sexual Medicine. Besides the latter society, it is also an official journal for the International Society for th ...

''.

Robotic surgery

In 2010 he returned to Melbourne and introduced

for urology to the public sector health services in

, when he took up a consultant post at the

, where he later became director of robotic surgery. In 2011 he was awarded the FRACS. In 2015 he performed a live robotic prostatectomy which was broadcast as part of the "World Robotic Surgery Event". By 2019 he had performed near 2000 robotic prostatectomies.

Social media

He is a regular blogger on topics pertaining to men's health. His blog on skills of a surgeon in robotics in 2016 titled "It's not about the machine, stupid", won the 2018 ''

's'' social media award for most commented upon blog. In May 2018, to demonstrate to children how robotic procedures were carried out with precision, he successfully performed surgery on a grape using a da Vinci robot. A few months later, his twitter feed was picked up and the resulting social media attention led the story to become a popular

Prostate cancer detection

He has been an advocate of early PSA testing, and has argued that it saves lives through early detection of

. In 2013 he led the Melbourne Consensus Statement on early detection of prostate cancer. In 2018 he revealed in the '' Medical Journal of Australia '', his findings that three-quarters of men with low-grade prostate cancer who should have been getting regular checks, did not comply with surveillance recommendations. In 2020, the year after he was appointed full professor, he was senior author on the team that published their results on an imaging technique that uses gallium-labelled prostate specific membrane antigen in a PET/CT scanner (PSMA PET-CT), for detecting the early spread of

COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Murphy chaired the Victorian COVID-19 Cancer Network and highlighted concerns about decreasing diagnoses of prostate cancer due to social distancing measures.

Personal and family

He is married to Lisa and they have two sons.

Selected publications

* . * * . ( * * .

References

External links

Google Scholar
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murphy, Declan Living people Medical journal editors Australian urologists Year of birth missing (living people) Australian male bloggers