Dr. David Clark, Breast Surgeon

Dr. David Clark established The Breast Centre in 1988 at Christo Road Private Hospital with a vision to provide a “one-stop shop” for patients with breast problems. In 2011, this expanded into a comprehensive breast cancer clinic in new purpose-built rooms in Lake Macquarie, and is now the largest single practice involved in the management of breast cancer in the Hunter. 

Graduating with a BSc in Biochemistry in 1972, Dr. Clark completed an MBBS at the University of Sydney in 1977 and obtained his fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 1986. He has been a member of The Breast Section Royal Australasian College of Surgeons since 1998 and in 2012 was appointed Deputy Director and Clinical Director Centre for Magnetic Resonance in Health at University of Newcastle.

Dr. Clark is committed to breast cancer research and was awarded the Florance Cancer Fellowship in 1986 and an NHMRC grant in 1987. He was active in the development of the National Breast Cancer Audit and is the largest single contributor to the Breast Cancer Tissue Bank, established to provide breast cancer tissue for future research. He is a member of the ANZ Breast Cancer Trials Group and is currently a Principal Investigator on four treatment trials. He has also conducted trials in intra-operative ultrasound and pre-operative axillary ultrasound, and has collaborated with researchers at Royal North Shore Hospital and HMRI Newcastle, providing FNA samples of breast cancers for spectroscopy. This research is ongoing and is now being conducted in conjunction with TRI in Brisbane. 

In 2011, Dr. Clark was an investigator in a study of ultrasonographically and cytological benign papillary lesions. It concluded these lesions were always benign and did not need to be removed, contrary to current international practice. Over the past two years he has recruited over 120 patients to MR spectroscopy trials examining chemical changes in the breasts of women at high risk of developing breast cancer, including BRCA +ve women.

Dr. Clark was appointed examiner for the fellowship examinations at the RACS in 2019, a position he held for 10 years. He continues to attend, and contribute to, weekly multidisciplinary meetings to discuss the management of patients with breast cancer. He was awarded a Certificate of Community Service by the RACS in 2015 and is regularly invited to review manuscripts prior to possible publication. 

He plans to continue his interest in managing patients with breast problems.