Rate My Professor Patrick McNeil

Professor Patrick McNeil serves as Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Medicine and Health) and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences at Macquarie University. In this capacity, he provides strategic leadership for both the clinical and academic arms of MQ Health, pioneering Australia’s first fully integrated university-led academic health sciences centre. Since joining Macquarie in November 2014 as the inaugural Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences—subsequently renamed—he has driven the establishment of the Macquarie MD program in 2018, marking the launch of the university’s newest medical school. His vision emphasizes patient-centered care, prioritizing safety, quality, and the recruitment of top clinicians and researchers. McNeil also oversees Macquarie University Hospital, clinics, MindSpot, Macquarie University Hearing, and fosters partnerships across education, research, and clinical practice.

McNeil’s distinguished academic and clinical career spans research, teaching, and healthcare leadership. He earned his MBBS and BMedSc from the University of Tasmania in 1980 and 1977, respectively, followed by rheumatology specialty training in Sydney, making him a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He completed a PhD in immunology at the University of New South Wales in 1991 on the immunology and clinical importance of antiphospholipid antibodies, and undertook a postdoctoral fellowship at Harvard Medical School. He also holds a Graduate Diploma of Higher Education from UNSW. Previously, at UNSW Medicine, he served as Associate Dean for Education from 2001 to 2005, leading the transformation to an innovative outcomes-based curriculum. From 2005, he held a Chair in Rheumatology at Liverpool Hospital and served as Executive Clinical Director from 2012 to 2014. He chaired Arthritis Australia from 2010 to 2014. His research focuses on the role of mast cells in arthritic and autoimmune diseases, resulting in over 100 peer-reviewed publications cited more than 7,000 times. Notable publications include “Predicting adherence to therapy in rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis or ankylosing spondylitis: a large cross-sectional study” (2019), “Differential expression and regulation of the non-integrin 37/67-kDa laminin receptor on peripheral blood leukocytes of healthy individuals and patients with rheumatoid arthritis” (2019), “Safety and efficacy of vertebroplasty for acute painful osteoporotic fractures (VAPOUR): a multicentre, randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial” (2016), and medical education contributions like “A transparent curriculum design and capability-based assessment portfolio facilitates self-directed learning” (2024).