PHYSICIANS

Assoc. Professor Andrew Fon

MBBS FRACP

Dr Andrew Fon’s experiences drive his belief that a solid understanding of physiology is at the heart of good clinical medicine. For his patients, students and clinicians, understanding is the key to empowerment.

Dr Fon is a respiratory and sleep medicine physician with special interests in:

• cardiopulmonary physiology

• disorders of the small airways (COPD, Asthma, Interstitial Lung Disease)

• sleep disordered breathing

• unexplained breathlessness

• complex interventional pulmonology (EBUS, Lung Volume Reduction)

Dr Fon obtained his fellowship in Respiratory and Medicine in 2018, following his years of training at The Royal Adelaide Hospital. He currently holds a consultant position at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, where he leads the Respiratory Department Interventional Pulmonology Division and is also the clinical lead for the Department of Applied Physiology.

Demonstrating his keen interest in research, Dr Fon is a current PhD candidate at the University of Adelaide, investigating the physiological changes following lung volume reduction therapies for emphysema. He is also involved as a senior clinical consultant in research at the University of South Australia, School of Physiotherapy. He has undertaken further educational secondments at the Australian Institute of Sport, Canberra and at the Harbor-UCLA Medical Centre in Los Angeles. He has presented papers at local, national, and international conferences.

Passionate about building a greater understanding of respiratory physiology, Dr Fon has held a Senior Clinical Lecturer position at the University of Adelaide since 2010. He is active in his teaching of the next generation of doctors, teaching and examining for both the University of Adelaide and The Royal Australiasian College of Physicians.

Committed to furthering cross-discipline understanding of respiratory physiology, he is also active in the further education of General Practitioners, Physicians and Allied Health professionals.

Dr Thomas Altree

MBBS FRACP

Dr Altree is a respiratory and sleep medicine physician. He cares deeply about the impact of his patients’ symptoms on their health and wellbeing.

He is a specialist in all respiratory and sleep disorders, with specific expertise in:

• breathlessness

• chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

• obstructive sleep apnea

• disorders of sleepiness (such as narcolepsy)

• complex sleep disorders

Dr Altree completed specialist respiratory training at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, followed by sleep medicine Fellowship training at the Woolcock Institute for Medical Research and the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

Dr Altree is heavily involved in cutting edge medical research. He strongly believes that the best care is delivered when doctors are also abreast of the latest research. His current research investigates:

• the links between sleep and breathlessness

• new drug therapies for obstructive sleep apnea

• control of breathing in lung disease

He has received awards for research excellence from the Lung Foundation Australia, the Flinders Health and Medical Research Institute, the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand and the Australasian Sleep Association.