Dr Michal Szczesniak is a Research Fellow at the St George & Sutherland Clinical School, located on the grounds of St George Hospital.

Research Interests:

• Assessing the impact of radiotherapy treatment for head and neck cancer on the physiology of swallowing with eventual goal to optimise radiotherapy treatment and minimise the incidence of swallowing dysfunction. 

• Developing and validating techniques to measure biomechanics of swallowing function.

• Visualisation of pressure/flow and sensory data from various regions of the gut such as colon, gastroesophageal junction and the pharynx.

• Measurement of tissue compliance in the upper digestive tract.

Broad Research Areas:

Gastroenterology and Hepatology

Qualifications:

PhD. in Medicine, University of NSW

Bachelor of Biomedical Science (honours), University of Newcastle

Society Memberships & Professional Activities:

St George Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee Member – 2010 – 2012

University of New South Wales Post Doc Advisory Committee Member – 2011- 2013

Specific Research Keywords:

Swallowing function, motility, radiotherapy

Thesis topics for current UNSW Medicine Postgraduate research students:

• Teng Zhang: Influence of altered pharyngoesophageal biomechanics on swallowing function and voice following total laryngectomy surgery.

• Peter Wu: Clinical utility of Endoluminal Functional Imaging Probe in diagnosis and management of patients with Eosinophilic Oesophagitis

ILP/Honours research projects available for 2016: