Surgery Staff

|Prof Kenneth A Johnson|Associate Professor Max Zuber|Dr Deepa Gopinath|Dr Soo Kuan|Dr Ben Landon |Dr Chris Tan|Dr Katja Voss|Dr Sonya Wasik|

Professor Kenneth A Johnson

MVSc PhD FACVSc Diplomate ACVS and ECVS
Clinical Professor of Orthopaedics
Director of Orthopaedic Surgery

Professor Johnson recently returned to The University of Sydney as a Clinical Professor, Director of Orthopaedics and Chief of Surgery. He has specialist qualifications in surgery as a Diplomate of American College of Veterinary Surgeons, a Diplomate of European College of Veterinary Surgery, as well as being a Fellow of Australian College of Veterinary Scientists.

More information..

Associate Professor Max Zuber

BVSc FACVSc

Max graduated from Sydney University in 1969 and qualified as specialist animal surgeon, and a Fellow of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in 1985. Max has a part-time appointment at the University Veterinary Teaching Hospital, Sydney as Honorary Associate Professor of Surgery with responsibility for teaching surgery to final year students and developing computer based learning programmes for medical and surgical teaching. Max, has a particular interest in orthopaedics, oncology and nuclear medicine and is a partner at the Gladesville Veterinary Hospital in suburban Sydney.

Dr Deepa Gopinath

BVSc MACVSc
Senior Registrar in Soft Tissue Surgery Skills Teaching
Deepa Gopinath graduated from the University of Sydney in 2003. After spending 3 years in small animal practice in both Sydney and in the UK, she undertook a Clinical Training Scholarship (Internship) in Small animal Medicine, Surgery and Anaesthesia at the University of Glasgow. Deepa returned to Sydney in 2008 and obtained an Australian College of Veterinary Scientists membership qualification in Small Animal Surgery. She spent a further year in small animal practice and emergency practice before she joined the Faculty of Veterinary medicine in the field that she enjoys the most, small animal soft tissue surgery. Her role is in undergraduate teaching and involves the establishment and management of desexing clinics to improve student opportunities for learning in surgery.

Deepa has a dog of her own, an extremely demanding little Jack Russell Terrier Cross called Cookie.

Dr Soo Kuan

BVSc MACVSc
Senior Registrar in Small Animal Surgery
Soo graduated from the University of Sydney in 2000. Since graduation, Soo has worked in zoos, and in several busy small animal practices. In 2004, whilst in private practice Soo obtained her membership in small animal surgery with the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists. She then completed a surgical internship at the Northern Sydney Veterinary Specialist Centre. In 2006, Soo returned to the University Veterinary Centre Sydney as a small animal surgery resident, under the supervision of Associate Professor Geraldine Hunt. Soo completed her residency in April 2008, and currently sees consultations for referral and second-opinion cases under the supervision of our surgery specialists. Soo aims to sit her Fellowship examinations in Small Animal Surgery in July 2010.

Soo is interested in all aspects of small animal surgery, but has a keen interest in soft tissue surgery, particularly liver shunt surgery, reconstructive surgery and oncologic (cancer) surgery. Soo shares her life with 3 dogs and 3 cats, all of whom are spoilt, badly behaved, and on some sort of long-term medical and dietary treatment for one disease or another.

Dr Ben Landon

[[i||BVSc FACVSc (Small Animal Surgery)
Registered Specialist in Small Animal Surgery
Ben Landon graduated from the University of Sydney in 1994 and then worked in private emergency and surgical practices for a number of years. He undertook a surgical residency at the University of Melbourne from 2003. During this time he commenced a Masters in scintigraphic evaluation of portal circulation of dogs undergoing cellophane banding of portosystemic shunts. He was also involved in a study on the development of a novel axial pattern flap for closure of facial defects in dogs. He gained Fellowship of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists in Small Animal Surgery and specialist registration in 2009. He enjoys all aspects of soft tissue, neurologic and orthopaedic surgery but has particular interests in minimally invasive surgery such as laparoscopy, thoracoscopy and interventional radiologic techniques (with particular application to portosystemic shunts).

Dr Chris Tan

BVSc BSc (Vet) MACVSc
Resident in Small Animal Surgery
Chris graduated from The University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Science (Veterinary) in 1999 and Bachelor of Veterinary Science in 2000. Chris comes with six years experience in general practice as an Associate and Senior Veterinarian. He has worked extensively throughout Sydney and England Veterinary clinics and hospitals, and in 2007 he was admitted as a member of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists by examination in Small Animal Surgery.
Amongst his other interests and duties at UVTHS, Chris hopes to deliver an improved understanding of the needs of a general practitioner to our referral service.

Dr Katja Voss

Dr med vet Diplomate ECVS
Small Animal Surgery Specialist
Katja graduated 1994 in Switzerland at the University of Zurich. After obtaining her doctoral thesis, she gained experience in general practice for 4 years. She then went back to the University of Zurich to complete an internship and a surgical residency. In 2004, she obtained the ECVS Diploma, which is the European Small Animal Surgery Specialist title. The following years Katja occupied a leading position in the Small Animal Surgery team of the University of Zurich as Assistant Professor, which included duties in the clinic of the University, in research, and in education. Katja’s research activities focused on orthopaedic surgery topics, in particular trauma surgery and gait analysis, but she has also experience in spinal surgery. Within the last years has developed a large interest and knowledge in feline orthopaedic surgery while working on a text book on feline orthopaedics as co-editor and author. Katja is regularly invited to speak at international courses and meetings.

Katja started working as a Staff Specialist Surgeon at the UVTHS in 2009. She still has a Swiss accent, but is hoping that that will resolve with time.

Dr Sonya Wasik

BVSc (Hons) BSc (Hons) MACVSc
Small Animal Surgery Resident
Sonya graduated from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Veterinary Science with first class honours in 2003. She spent 2 years as an associate in mixed private practice in Queensland before commencing a small animal internship at the University of Melbourne. At the completion of her internship, Sonya spent an additional year working as a research surgeon with the University of Melbourne’s Biomaterials and Surgical Research Unit. Sonya achieved Membership of the Australian College of Veterinary Scientists (Small Animal Surgery) in 2008, and is completing a Master of Veterinary Science (research) degree through the University of Melbourne.
Sonya’s areas of interest include surgical oncology, minimally invasive surgery and thoracic surgery.