Professor Fiona Woods
PP Pettine-Anne Croul MBE introduced Professor Fiona Wood by identifying the multitude of achievements of this remarkable person. I was unable to scribe the achievements mentioned by Pettine-Anne Croul so I have included some copy taken from some of the hundreds of web sites about her life, quotes, achievements, awards and activities.
Western Australia's only female plastic surgeon is a mother of six, Head of Royal Perth Hospital's Burns Unit and Director of the Western Australia Burns Service. She is also co-founder of Clinical Cell Culture, a private company recognised in medical circles for its world-leading research and breakthroughs in the treatment of burns.
She has become world renowned for her patented invention of spray on skin for burns victims, and for leading a courageous and committed team in the fight to save 28 Bali bombing patients suffering from between two and 92 per cent body burns, deadly infections and delayed shock.
A graduate of St Thomas's Hospital Medical School in London, Fiona worked at a major British hospital before marrying Western Australian born surgeon Tony Keirath and migrating to Perth in 1987.
Fiona was named Australian of the year in 2005, West Australian of the Year in 2004 and a National Living Treasure and Australian Citizen of the Year in 2004.
Fiona humbly acknowledged these achievements however she identified that nothing is achieved in isolation and she had been assisted by great mentors and committed teams of people.
Fiona is a practical visionary and one of her guides to life is “we do our best today, how could tomorrow be better”. And “how can I contribute to the whole”. Her remedy is by sharing with others that which is of usefulness.
Fiona identified Trevor Rulands role as the CEO of the Australian Day Council who awarded her the Australian of the Year for 2005.
She stated that with recognition of achievement comes the responsibility to continue to give to society. Fiona feels very fortunate to be able enjoy feedback and share with the Australian and global community.
We need to contribute more to society than we take from society to achieve sustainability.
The health system is great but could be better in terms of health wellness and education.
During science week Fiona has been delivering information sessions to groups about burn treatment and used the analogy of cooking asparagus. When you remove the asparagus from the boiling water you can place it in cold water and terminate the cooking process (and have crisp asparagus) or just leave it to cool with the cooking process continuing (and have soggy asparagus). The same applies to burns the priority is to cool the burnt area to prevent continuing tissue damage.
We all came from one cell to amazingly what we are now. Fiona’s mission is about keeping the body cells in the best condition. She finds it shocking that the emergency sections of hospitals on the weekend are filled by people who are making poor choices and destroying their cells.
“How can we think ourselves whole?”
In the evolution of homo sapiens we have forgotten how to regenerate like a lizards who lose their tail.
During Fiona’s studies she spent time in the London Museum which has the largest brain collection in the world and also time with the leakey’s in South Africa. Her first research paper was on “how nerves change when skin expands”
A common Myth is that nerves never grow and when skin expands sensitivity is reduced. This has not been the experience and research result of Fiona. The research identifies that nerves are plastic. Her initial identification of this phenomenon was when she was pregnant and her skin expanded it did not lose any sensitivity.
If we get a burn on our right arm this will affect a pattern on the left side of the brain. The brain becomes too involved with the pain and there is no nerve growth. Fiona is currently exploring brain training to reprogram the brain to heal the burnt areas.
Can this idea be extended to other areas like cancer? Burns often result in early death. There may be a link between burns and cancer.
Fiona has a dream for a better future and we can all take responsibility for this. We are in a special place and time and WA is a great place to be. Fiona loves WA.
