Joe Dusseldorp’s journey

Dr Joe Dusseldorp is a Reconstructive Plastic Surgeon. He completed his specialist training through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, and graduated with Honours from University of Sydney Medical School. 

Joe didn’t always know he wanted to be a surgeon, but when he unexpectedly discovered more about his family history, you can see it’s not so surprising that he has found a deep sense of purpose in medicine.

Joe provides reconstructive plastic surgery services at numerous Private Hospitals across Sydney and has public hospital admitting rights at Concord Hospital. He enjoys managing a wide range of adult and paediatric plastic surgical conditions. Joe completed two years of international fellowship training in innovative centres including Mass Eye and Ear, Mass General Hospital and Harvard University, Boston, USA in order to learn both medical and surgical aspects of treating patients with facial nerve disorders, skin cancers and facial deformities including congenital and post-traumatic conditions.

He spent a year in Paris, France, learning the complete management of ear deformities, both congenital and acquired and has co-authored a definitive text on the subject entitled “Auricular Reconstruction”. He also has an interest in nerve decompression to improve sensation in diabetic feet, an area that has received little attention in Australia until now. 

Joe offers a range of innovative treatments for microtia, facial palsy, diabetic feet and peripheral nerve disorders such as migraine, and nerve entrapment. For many of these techniques, this is the first time they have been offered in Australia, representing a wonderful opportunity for patients to now seek treatment at home and not have to travel overseas to seek care. He performed Australia’s first custom 3D printed ear implant procedure for a child with microtia in early 2019 and now offers this option combined with the bone anchored hearing implant for children that also have atresia.

Joe also collaborates with cancer specialists to offer early advice and concurrent reconstructive treatments for patients affected by many different forms of cancer. He regularly offers DIEP flap breast reconstruction for women who have undergone mastectomy.

His commitment to providing his patients with options that are not just up-to-date, but are at the leading edge of surgical practice, is reinforced by strong collaborations with innovators in all of these fields, locally and internationally. Ultimately, he is passionate about striving towards better treatments that offer a patient the opportunity to receive personalised treatments.

Joe has a strong research focus and works with other scientists and clinicians through his role as a Clinical Senior Lecturer at University of Sydney, and in his PhD research. See Joe’s research. He is passionate about removing the stigmata of disease and deformity of people with facial disfigurement to give them opportunities for normal social interactions, relationships, and rewarding lives. His research is focused on solving some of the difficult problems in plastic surgery: particularly, malformations of the ear, facial palsy, cerebral palsy, and peripheral neuropathy in diabetic feet. He believes the key to advances in surgical management of disease will come from the integration of emerging technologies with modern medical practice. In 2021 he was elected member of the NSW State Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons where he is working to ensure new techniques and technologies can be more safely and easily advanced.

From a young age Joe has been encouraged to make a contribution and has established a strong social conscience. His father and both grandfathers have each been recognised with Order of Australia commendations for their contributions to Medicine, Industry, Commerce, Education and to the Community. His grandmothers, mother, sisters and twin brother have also influenced and guided him to become the caring person he is today. 

Joe is the grandson of G.J. (Dick) Dusseldorp, the founder of Lendlease, and a pioneer who literally “built” Australia during the post WW2 era. He takes seriously the legacy of his grandfather, who had a reputation for innovation and collaboration. The foundation set up in Dick’s name and lead by Joe’s father Tjerk, and his sister Teya, aims to improve the educational and life opportunities of children and young people throughout Australia. Joe joined the Board in 2020. In his own field of medicine, he is equally inspired by his maternal grandfather, Dr Sandy Robertson, an amazing paediatrician who performed countless blood transfusions in children with leukaemia in the days when this had to be done by hand. In fact, Joe is the 5th generation in his family to become a doctor, and he hopes to leave a similar legacy of making a real difference in people’s lives, by applying his skills to challenging surgical needs, and by encouraging innovation in surgery.

Joe’s hobbies include travelling with his growing young family. He also enjoys training specialists in developing nations and undertakes mission trips annually to countries such as Haiti, Ecuador and Honduras. Read about his trip to Vietnam in early March 2019 to deliver surgical education in ear reconstruction techniques to local surgeons. He is completing a PhD in the clinical translation of emerging biotechnology and also developing a novel medical device that aims to improve spasticity in cerebral palsy patients.