
Dr Michal Szczesniak is a Research Fellow at the St George & Sutherland Clinical School, located on the grounds of St George Hospital.
Research Interests:
Assessing the impact of radiotherapy treatment for head and neck cancer on the physiology of swallowing with eventual goal to optimise radiotherapy treatment and minimise the incidence of swallowing dysfunction.
Developing and validating techniques to measure biomechanics of swallowing function.
Visualisation of pressure/flow and sensory data from various regions of the gut such as colon, gastroesophageal junction and the pharynx.
Measurement of tissue compliance in the upper digestive tract.
Broad Research Areas:
Gastroenterology and Hepatology
Qualifications:
PhD. in Medicine, University of NSW
Bachelor of Biomedical Science (honours), University of Newcastle
Society Memberships & Professional Activities:
St George Hospital Human Research Ethics Committee Member – 2010 – 2012
University of New South Wales Post Doc Advisory Committee Member – 2011- 2013
Specific Research Keywords:
Swallowing function, motility, radiotherapy
Thesis topics for current UNSW Medicine Postgraduate research students:
Teng Zhang: Influence of altered pharyngoesophageal biomechanics on swallowing function and voice following total laryngectomy surgery.
Peter Wu: Clinical utility of Endoluminal Functional Imaging Probe in diagnosis and management of patients with Eosinophilic Oesophagitis
ILP/Honours research projects available for 2016: