Meet Prof Mukherjee

Prof Payal Mukherjee is one of Sydney’s leading adult and paediatric Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) surgeon with special skills in advanced ear surgery. Following her ENT training in Sydney, she attained further subspecialty post-fellowship training in otology, Cochlear implantation and lateral skull base surgery in Oxford and London. As well as treating general ENT diseases such as glue ears, tonsillitis, snoring and rhinosinusitis, her areas of expertise include hearing and balance disorders such as Meniere’s disease, Otosclerosis, Vestibular Schwannoma, Cochlear implantation and chronic ear diseases. She is also trained in middle ear endoscopy.

Prof Mukherjee is a leader in surgery and research. She is the current head of department on ENT at the Sydney Adventist Hospital. She was also the youngest surgeon and the first ENT Surgeon to hold the chair of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) NSW committee (2020-2022). During this time, she led the state through pandemic induced crisis on surgery. For her leadership during this crisis, she was awarded the Michael Donnellan prize in 2022 by RACS NSW.  She is passionate about setting high standards in surgical services as well as building respect in surgery. To advocate for these values, she contributes as a member on several committees (government and hospital based) and continues her work both at a local and system level to achieve excellence in surgical services in NSW hospitals. For this she received an award for Outstanding service to RACS NSW in 2024.

Prof Mukherjee is passionate about innovation in Surgery. She has been awarded several research grants as Chief Investigator and has completed a PhD in personalised medicine and 3D technologies in ENT. Her special interest is in medical devices from development, evaluation to responsible implementation in the health system. She is also passionate about the global translation of Australian innovation in biotechnology. She is a Clinical Professor of surgery at Macquarie University and a Clinical associate Professor The University of Sydney. She works at the Sydney Adventist Hospital, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Macquarie University Hospital, and Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. She has many committee roles such as being the innovation lead for research at the RPA Institute of Academic Surgery, Deputy Chair of Section or Academic Surgery of RACS, chair of ASERNIPS (the health technology assessment branch of RACS) as well as being the co-founder and co-director of the  Beyond Science Initiative, a state wide training and mentorship program for young researchers in translational research in ENT, an Australian first initiative by any college. Additionally, she is a member of the TGA’s Advisory Committee on Medical Devices (ACMD) and a member of the Expert Panel for the Medical Devices Fund of NSW Health. In 2022, she was a finalist for the Australian Museum Eureka Prize for excellence in interdisciplinary research and was awarded the Australia India Science, Research and Development award in 2024.

Prof Mukherjee  places particular importance on research and teaching. As a leader, she is an advocate for social change with a passion for diversity and equity in surgery. As an innovator, she embraces thinking outside the square. As a mother, she is very passionate about education and literacy development in young children. She is committed to mentoring children and junior doctors, especially females into pursuing STEMM careers in surgery and medical technology. For this work, she was selected as a finalist for the NSW Premier Women of the year 2019 and also awarded the Women in Leadership prize, RACS NSW in 2022