Peter Fook Meng Choong is an Australian doctor and professor who specializes in

orthopaedics Orthopedic surgery or orthopedics ( alternatively spelt orthopaedics), is the branch of surgery concerned with conditions involving the musculoskeletal system. Orthopedic surgeons use both surgical and nonsurgical means to treat musculoskeletal ...

. He is the Director of Orthopaedics at St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne and the Hugh Devine Chair of Surgery at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne is a public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in Victoria. Its main campus is located in Parkville, an inner suburb nor ...

. In 2014, he became the first surgeon to perform a

3D-printed 3D printing or additive manufacturing is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer co ...

heel transplant.

Early life and education

Choong was born in

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = '' Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , su ...

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

. He was a non-resident student of Trinity College from 1979 onwards while completing his undergraduate studies at the

, which he did in 1984, before continuing with his advanced surgical training at St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne. After earning his MD, he was appointed to orthopaedic fellowships at University Hospital in

Lund Lund (, , ) is a city in the southern Swedish provinces of Sweden, province of Scania, across the Øresund, Öresund strait from Copenhagen. The town had 91,940 inhabitants out of a municipal total of 121,510 . It is the seat of Lund Municipali ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

and the

Mayo Clinic The Mayo Clinic () is a nonprofit American academic medical center focused on integrated health care, education, and research. It employs over 4,500 physicians and scientists, along with another 58,400 administrative and allied health staff, ...

in the

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

state of

Minnesota Minnesota () is a state in the upper midwestern region of the United States. It is the 12th largest U.S. state in area and the 22nd most populous, with over 5.75 million residents. Minnesota is home to western prairies, now given over to ...

Career

Choong was named the Director of Orthopaedics at St. Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne in 1996. He also established the Sarcoma Service 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 M ...

at that time. Between 2005 and 2008, he served as Chief Medical Officer at St. Vincent's. In 2009, he was named the Hugh Devine Chair of Surgery at the University of Melbourne. In 2013, Choong was appointed President of the

Australian Orthopaedic Association The Australian Orthopaedic Association (AOA) is a not for profit organisation that represents over 1800 Australian orthopaedic surgeons. History The association was formed over several meetings in 1936. At the first, 6 October 1936, a subcommi ...

. Together with Gordon Wallace of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Electromaterials Science, Choong also began working with the BioPen, a handheld 3D printer used by surgeons to deliver cells and other materials to repair damaged tissue. He helped develop concepts for use in clinical trials. Choong and Wallace's work with the BioPen appeared in a 2016 issue of the journal, ''

Biofabrication Biofabrication is a branch of biotechnology specialising in the research and development of biologically engineered processes for the automated production of biologically functional products through bioprinting or bioassembly and subsequent ti ...

''. In October 2014, Choong performed the first 3D-printed heel transplant using a titanium heel replica. As of 2018, Choong is the head of the musculoskeletal research program at St. Vincent's Hospital, the Chair of the Bone and Soft Tissue Sarcoma Service at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and has contributed to over 360 peer-reviewed articles. He is also a leader in the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...

's Centre for Research Excellence. In June 2022, Choong was appointed

Officer of the Order of Australia The Order of Australia is an honour that recognises Australian citizens and other persons for outstanding achievement and service. It was established on 14 February 1975 by Elizabeth II, Queen of Australia, on the advice of the Australian Gove ...

in the 2022 Queen's Birthday Honours for "distinguished service to orthopaedic medicine, to research and tertiary medical education, and to professional associations".

References

External links

Choong at the Peter MacCallum Cancer CentreChoong at the University of Melbourne
{{DEFAULTSORT:Choong, Peter Living people Malaysian emigrants to Australia Officers of the Order of Australia People from Kuala Lumpur People educated at Trinity College (University of Melbourne) University of Melbourne alumni Year of birth missing (living people)