Specialist anaesthetist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH), Professor Kate Leslie AO FAHMS has been appointed editor-in-chief of the prestigious British Journal of Anaesthesia (BJA).
The BJA is the number one international medical journal in anaesthesia and pain management, and Professor Leslie has become the first Australian, and second woman, to be named as its editor-in-chief – a position she is honoured to hold.
“I’m thrilled,” Prof Leslie says.
“The British Journal of Anaesthesia has been leading anaesthesia publishing for more than 100 years. It’s a journal steeped in tradition, but it’s always been innovative and a very generous and fair journal.
“We have a global reach, with a diverse editorial board that publishes work from all over the world.
“I am looking to continue to engage with diverse researchers from across the world and to use the journal to support emerging researchers that are producing excellent work.”
In a full-circle moment, Professor Leslie’s first ever research paper was published in the paper she is now the editor-in-chief of.
“My first research paper was actually published in the British Journal of Anaesthesia back in 1990, covering a small study into the use of propofol,” Prof Leslie says.
“Since then, I’ve published more than 50 papers in the BJA alone.
“After a while, one becomes involved in reviewing. Then I was invited to join the associate editorial board of the journal, before becoming a handling editor.
“I was also a guest editor of a special edition on women in anaesthesia research published earlier this year before now being named editor-in-chief.”
Professor Leslie begun her journey at the RMH as a medical student in 1983, becoming a specialist anaesthetist in 1994, before being inducted into the RMH Research Hall of Fame in 2025.
In her time at the RMH, Professor Leslie has led research focussing on helping patients recover safely from surgery, particularly older and vulnerable patients.
Most recently, she led an international study published in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine, which found that the types of medications used at the end of surgery can reduce the risk of pneumonia and other lung complications.
As she continues to balance her clinical, research, and now editorial roles going into the future, Professor Leslie said all three areas can help inform the other.
“To me, it’s really important for an editor-in-chief to be an active clinician and active researcher,” Prof Leslie says.
“You have to be in touch with what real people are doing to ensure the contents of the journal are relevant and will stimulate more research or help more patients.
“I think editing work has given me incredible insight into how to care for my patients better too.
“It keeps me in touch with the hot topics in anaesthesia and pain medicine, such as the use of drugs like Ozempic that are having an impact on the way patients are taking anaesthesia.
“I’ve also been very lucky to have the support of the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management at the RMH, particularly the head of department Professor Daryl Williams.
“This is a role that I’m really going to enjoy.”
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