Tasked with treating the most severely injured children, it’s essential that the RCH remains at the forefront of great trauma care. Thanks to support from the Good Friday Appeal, Associate Professor Warwick Teague is ensuring that happens.  

A trailblazer in his field, Warwick plays an important role in trauma, burns and surgery, continuing to develop the RCH as a national and international leader ensuring the RCH can continue to provide the best care to children and young people.

Noah Seddon, aged 15, was a patient of Warwick’s after suffering burns to his arm and hand. 

“The work Warwick does changes people’s lives, especially with how confident they are and their overall mental health. People would be much worse off without Warwick and the other clinicians at The Royal Children’s Hospital.”

Noah’s dad, Glenn, spoke highly of Warwick following his sons treatment.

“At the start, when we first saw Noah’s arm, we didn’t know what was going to happen. Then as things progressed and we spoke to Warwick and saw the game plan his team had, it really helped us. What he does is amazing.”

As Director of the RCH Trauma Service, Warwick leads a team of dedicated clinicians who provide emergency treatment and ongoing care for patients. He also plays a vital leadership role in trauma prevention, education and research. 

Warwick’s recent achievements include leading the RCH Trauma Service to successfully complete the first of a two-phase project to implement a world class, evidence-based trauma quality improvement program.  

He has continued to support, grow and develop the RCH Burns Service, ensuring the team stays at the forefront of clinical care and innovation with the implementation of new tools and techniques like microneedling and the use of a fractional ablative CO2 laser. 

Warwick and his co-convener and colleague, Dr Monique Bertinetti, the RCH Burns Service hosted the 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Burn Association, which brought together the brightest and best of the ANZ and regional burn care community to Melbourne in late 2023.  

Warwick produces quality knowledge for the hospital and the community. In the last three years, Warwick has published 35 peer reviewed journal articles and four book chapters. He has also delivered 30 invited presentations to national and international conferences and seminars and made multiple media appearances.

He has also supervised a PhD student, which he described as “very exciting”.  

All of this, Warwick says, would not be possible without the Good Friday Appeal.   

“Thanks to support from the Good Friday Appeal, I am given the permission, as well as the protected time, to dedicate myself to both clinical and research work, which is really special.”
“When I think about the people who give to the Good Friday Appeal each year, knowing my role is one of the things they contribute to, I find it so humbling. I also feel an undeniable sense of gratitude. I don’t even know how to put my thanks into words.”

Associate Professor Warwick Teague, Director of Trauma, Clinical Leader for Trauma, Burns and Surgery Research, and Academic Paediatric Surgeon

Impact Milestones

2021

• Warwick led the implementation of a world standard trauma quality improvement program at the RCH, which included the establishment of a new Trauma Clinical Nurse Consultant role.  
• Warwick continued working with key RCH Burns Service colleagues to organise and commence research activities focusing on children’s burns, multi disciplinary management and long term outcomes.  
• Warwick became Co-Group Leader for Surgical Research within the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI), together with his colleague, Professor Sebastian King.  
• Warwick continued producing new, quality knowledge for the hospital and the community, including 19 peer reviewed journal publications, addressing topics including trauma, burns, COVID-19, oesophageal atresia and other clinical paediatric surgery.  
• Warwick co-authored four book chapters in 2021. He also shared knowledge with four presentations at conferences and multiple media appearances.

2022

• Warwick led the RCH Trauma Service to successfully complete the first of a two-phase project to implement a world class, evidence-based trauma quality improvement program.  
• Warwick has continued to grow and develop the RCH Burns Service, supporting recent, strategic staff appointments within surgical, clinical and nursing roles. He has encouraged an evidence based, evidence creating, and patient focused adoption of new burn treatment technologies.  
• In addition, under the leadership of Warwick and his co-convener and colleague, Dr Monique Bertinetti, the RCH Burns Service hosted the 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting of the Australian and New Zealand Burn Association, which brought together the brightest and best of the ANZ and regional burn care community to Melbourne in late 2023.  
• Warwick continued as Co-Group Leader of Surgical Research, together with his colleague, Professor Sebastian King. One new development in this space has been the engagement of surgical research as a key contributor to a new MCRI research flagship program, the High-Risk Infants Flagship. 
• Warwick continued producing quality knowledge for the hospital and the community, including eight peer reviewed journal articles and three invited book chapters. He also shared knowledge with 12 presentations at conferences and seminars, and multiple media appearances.