Professor Richard Bittar is a highly qualified Australian neurosurgeon, spinal surgeon and researcher.

Professor Bittar is a neurosurgeon at Precision Brain Spine & Pain Centre, Royal Melbourne Hospital and also operates at numerous private hospitals in Victoria, including St Vincent’s Private, Melbourne Private, Epworth, Peninsula Private and The Valley Private. His consulting locations are numerous, and include metropolitan and regional locations in Victoria.

Professor Bittar’s main areas of interest and expertise are complex and keyhole spinal surgery, surgery for brain tumours, and deep brain stimulation. He also established the first and largest contemporary (deep brain stimulation) Psychosurgery program in Australia.

Professor Bittar completed an elective in neurosurgery at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Houston, USA, and undertook his internship in Sydney. After a further 12 months of medical and surgical rotations he enrolled as a PhD student at the University of Sydney. Most of his research was conducted at the prestigious Montreal Neurological Institute, Canada, and he graduated with a PhD in functional brain mapping in 2001. During this time, Professor Bittar underwent formal postgraduate training in Neurosurgery, culminating in his admission to the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He has been appointed a Clinical Professor at Deakin University.

Professor Bittar travelled to Oxford, UK to undertake a fellowship in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, where he also received further training in Complex Spinal Neurosurgery. His time in Oxford was extremely productive.

Professor Bittar has published around 50 clinical and scientific papers in peer-reviewed medical journals. He has presented his work in Australia, as well as at international conferences in North America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. He has been awarded several scholarships, fellowships, and other prizes, reflecting the value and quality of his academic and patient-orientated endeavours. Professor Bittar is a member of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia, the American Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, European Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, the World Society for Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, and the Australian Pain Society.

Learn more about Professor Bittar’s recent patient with Parkinson’s and his remarkable brain surgery journey.