SLEEP & LUNG CARE CLINIC - Key Persons

Job Titles:

• Physician
• Sleep Physician

Dr Maitri Munsif is a Respiratory and Sleep physician currently working at public clinics in Alfred Health and Austin Heath. She completed her junior training at St George Hospital in Sydney. Dr Munsif completed her specialist training in respiratory and sleep medicine, attaining her fellowship with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) through the Alfred and Austin Health. She has experience in a broad range of areas including lung transplant, non-invasive ventilation, complex respiratory and non-respiratory sleep disorders, severe asthma, interstitial lung disease, cystic fibrosis, lung cancer and pulmonary interventional procedures such as standard bronchoscopy and endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS). Dr Munsif holds a Masters of Public Health from the University of Sydney and is currently a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne and Austin Health, focussing on breathlessness and chronic obstructive lung disease. She has received several awards through her training and is currently the recipient of an inaugural MACH-Track scholarship and has recently been awarded the Sukhdev Singh Sohal COPD Research award in conjunction with the Lung Foundation of Australia. Dr Munsif has a strong penchant for quality, evidence-based patient care as exhibited by multiple peer-reviewed research publications and ongoing projects. Dr Munsif has been actively involved in several national college and specialty training committees and is a member of the writing group for oxygen guidelines. She serves as an executive member of the Victorian Branch of Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand. Dr Munsif is also an avid educator and holds teaching positions through the University of Melbourne and Austin Clinical School. She is a member of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ), European Respiratory Society (ERS) and Australasian Sleep Association (ASA). Dr Munsif is proficient and interested in managing all respiratory and sleep conditions. Maitri is caring, kind and determined to work with her patients towards the unified goal of improving quality of life and maintaining health. She is also fluent in Hindi and Gujarati. In her spare time, Maitri enjoys spending time with her young family, travelling, and learning traditional Indian dancing.

Job Titles:

• Director of the Pleural Services at the Northern Hospital
• Member of the Thoracic Society of Australia
• Respiratory & Sleep Physician

Dr Sanjeevan Muruganandan trained at the Western and Austin Hospitals and qualified as a respiratory and sleep physician (FRACP). He then moved to Perth where he did a fellowship with Prof. Martin Phillips, Dr Rajesh Thomas and Prof. Gary Lee at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. Dr Muruganandan obtained a PhD on malignant pleural diseases with Prof. Gary Lee. His research was awarded a NHMRC scholarship. He is one of a few respiratory physicians with extensive experience in the diagnosis and management of pleural diseases. His work is recognised both nationally and internationally. Dr Muruganandan has established the pleural medicine unit at The Northern Hospital. This is the only unit of its kind in Victoria. The unit admits and manages patients with all pleural diseases including pleural complications of terminal lung cancer. Dr Muruganandan is the director of the pleural services at The Northern Hospital. He also leads some of the world class cutting-edge research into pleural diseases and his research is published in some of the most prominent medical journals. He has a keen interest in diagnosing and managing pleural diseases, asbestos-related pleural disease, malignant pleural effusion and pleural infection. He is proficient in pleural procedures and thoracic ultrasound. He has a keen research focus and his goal is to translate his research work into clinical practice to help reduce the mortality, morbidity and health care costs of patients. Dr Muruganandan is a member of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ) and Australasian Society of Ultrasound Medicine (ASUM).

Job Titles:

• Medical Director of Sleep
• Respiratory & Sleep Physician

Dr Dawood is the medical director of Sleep and Lung Care which is one of the largest private respiratory and sleep medicine groups in Victoria with multiple locations around the state. Dr. Dawood has extensive experience in all facets of respiratory and sleep medicine. He manages various respiratory disorders including severe asthma, COPD, bronchiectasis and ILD. He also has a special interest in the diagnosis and management of complex sleep disorders. His major sub-speciality interests are in the early detection and surveillance of lung cancer. He is part of the lung cancer service at Northern Health. He does interventional bronchoscopic procedures including endobronchial ultrasound (EBUS) sampling of suspicious lung lesions and lymph nodes. He is a member of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ), the European Respiratory Society (ERS) and the American Thoracic Society (ATS). Dr. Dawood is fluent in both English and Arabic.

Job Titles:

• Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians
• Physician Training at Eastern Health
• Respiratory & Sleep Physician

Dr. Jibin Thomas completed his Basic physician training at Eastern Health, where he established his interest in respiratory and sleep medicine. He completed his specialist training in Respiratory and Sleep medicine at Western and Austin Health. Dr. Thomas is a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP). He likes all facets of Respiratory and Sleep Medicine with special interests in asthma and sleep disordered breathing. He sees patients with all kind of respiratory disorders including asthma, COPD, Bronchiectasis, sarcoidosis, ILD, lung nodules etc. Currently, Dr. Thomas works at the Department of Respiratory Medicine at the Northern Hospital. He also runs a severe asthma and allergy clinic at the Northern Health. Dr. Thomas is actively involved in teaching undergraduate and Physician trainees at the Northern Health. He has admitting rights at Warringal Private, Epping Private and Northpark private Hospitals. He also provides peri-operative care in these hospitals. He is also a member of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ), Australian Sleep Association (ASA), American Thoracic Society (ATS) and European Respiratory Society (ERS). Jibin likes cricket and is also an avid supporter of Geelong Football Club.

Job Titles:

• Physician
• Member of Thoracic Society of Australia
• Respiratory & Sleep Physician

Dr Wai Mun (Raymond) Wong is a respiratory and sleep medicine physician. He completed his medical degree at the University of Melbourne and underwent specialist training in respiratory and sleep medicine at Peninsula Health, Austin Health and the Victorian Respiratory Support Service (VRSS). Upon completion of specialist training, he was conferred Fellowship in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. Dr Wong has experience in managing general respiratory conditions (asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), interstitial lung disease, bronchiectasis, pleural conditions) and sleep disorders. He is also competent in providing care for patients with complicated ventilatory diseases, having obtained training at VRSS. He has special interests in lung cancer diagnosis and chronic airway diseases management and has published several articles in these fields. Dr Wong is trained in bronchoscopy and has undergone further training in Endobronchial Ultrasound (EBUS) which is pivotal in the diagnosis of lung cancer. He has completed a Certificate in Clinical Performed Ultrasound (CCPU) in pleural diseases. Dr Wong is a member of Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ), Australasian Sleep Association (ASA), European Respiratory Society (ERS) and Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine (ASUM). He currently works as a respiratory specialist at Peninsula Health and Austin Health. He also consults at Warringal Private, Northpark Private and John Fawkner Private hospitals. Dr Wong understands that every patient's journey is different. He adopts a patient-centred approach and enjoys partnering with other health professionals to deliver cohesive multidisciplinary care. Additionally, he is able to converse in both Mandarin and Cantonese.