Professor Mark Mackay

Medical Lead, Department of Neurology, Royal Children’s Hospital

Team leader, Paediatric stroke research, Murdoch Children's Research Institute
Professor, University of Melbourne Department of Paediatrics.

Biographical Sketch

Prof. Mackay is paediatric neurologist. He received his medical degree from Monash University, Melbourne. He trained in general paediatrics at the Children’s Hospital Westmead, Sydney and at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne. He completed advanced physician training in paediatric neurology at the Royal Children's Hospital and a further year in adult stroke at the Austin Hospital. This was followed by paediatric neurology and epilepsy fellowships at the Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada from 1999-2021. He returned to the Royal Children's Hospital in July 2001. 

Prof. Mackay received his PhD on the topic of childhood stroke and was awarded the prestigious Dean’s Award and Chancellor’s prize for excellence in the PhD thesis. He is past president and a current board member of the Australia and New Zealand Child Neurology Society. He is a founding board member of the International Pediatric Stroke Organization and a member of the Stroke Foundation of Australia Clinical Council.

Clinical Interests

A/Prof. Mackay sees all types of paediatric neurological problems. He has particular interests in paediatric stroke and epilepsy. He established and leads the RCH Paediatric Stroke program and is the neurologist in charge of the Dietary Therapies for Epilepsy service.

Research Interests

Prof. Mackay’s current research focuses on paediatric stroke, with a particular emphasis on understanding the causes of and consequences of childhood stroke and improving accuracy and timeliness of stroke diagnosis. He has authored over 230 publications and has secured more than 7 million dollars in research funding.

Prof. Mackay chaired the development of the Australian best-practice guideline for the diagnosis and acute management of childhood stroke. He is the lead investigator on the MRFF funded Australian multi-centre PACS study to implement paediatric code stroke protocols in all tertiary children’s hospital. This study aims to bridge the gap between children and adults in accessing treatments that save viable brain by restoring blood flow.

Prof. Mackay is also leading the multicentre NIMBUS study of stroke in newborns looking at blood signatures and using advanced MRI imaging to study brain networks in 50 babies with stroke. This study aims to answer the two most important questions that parents ask their doctors: Why did my baby have a stroke and how will the stroke affect my baby’s future development?

Prof. Mackay is a major contributor to the International Pediatric Stroke Study. 

Selected Publications

1. Mackay MT, Lee M, Yock-Corrales A, Churilov L, Monagle P, Donnan GA, Babl FE. Stroke and nonstroke brain attacks in children.

NEUROLOGY 2014 22;82:1434-40. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000000343

2. Mackay MT, Yock-Corales A, Churilov L, Monagle P, Donnan GA, Babl F.

Differentiating childhood stroke from mimics in the emergency department.

STROKE 2016;47:2476-81. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.116.014179

3. Mackay MT, Slavova N, Pastore-Wapp M, Grunt S, Stojanovski B, Donath S, Steinlin M. Pediatric ASPECTS predicts outcomes following acute symptomatic neonatal arterial stroke.

NEUROLOGY. 2020;94:e1259-e1270. DOI:10.1212/WNL.0000000000009136

4. Medley TL, Miteff C, Andrews I, Ware T, Cheung M, Monagle P, Mandelstam S, Wray A, Pridmore C, Troedson C, Dale RC, Fahey M, Sinclair A, Walsh P, Stojanovski B, Mackay MT. Australian Clinical Consensus Guideline: The Diagnosis and Acute Management of Childhood Stroke.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STROKE. 2019;14:94-106.

DOI: 10.1177/1747493018799958.

5. Steinlin M, Bigi S, Stojanovski B, Gajera J, Regényi M, El-Koussy M, Mackay MT. Focal cerebral arteriopathy: do steroids improve outcome?

STROKE. 2017;48:2375-2382. DOI: 10.1161/STROKEAHA.117.016818.

6. Greenham M, Knight S, Rodda J, Scheinberg A, Anderson V, Fahey Mackay MT.

Australian clinical consensus guideline for the subacute rehabilitation of childhood stroke.

INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF STROKE. 2021;16:311-320.

DOI: 10.1177/1747493020941279

7. Babl FE, Herd D, Borland ML, ........, Zhang M, Velusamy K, Sullivan F, Oakley E, Davidson A, Hopper SM, Cheek JA, Berkowitz RG, Hearps S, Wilson CL, Williams A, Elborough H, Legge D, Mackay MT, Lee KJ, Dalziel SR, Pediatric Research in Emergency Department International Collaborative (PREDICT).

Efficacy of Prednisolone for Bell Palsy in Children: A Randomized, Double-Blind, Placebo-Controlled, Multicenter Trial.

NEUROLOGY. 2022; 99: e2241-e2252. DOI: 10.1212/WNL.0000000000201164

8. O’Callaghan FJK, Edwards SW, Alber FB, Hancock E, Johnson AL, Kennedy CR, Likeman M, Lux AL, Mackay MT, Mallick A, Newton RW, Nolan M, Pressler R, Rating D, Schmitt B, Verity CM, Osborne JP, participating investigators.

Safety and effectiveness of hormonal treatment versus hormonal treatment with vigabatrin for infantile spasms (ICISS): a randomised, multicentre, open-label trial.

LANCET NEUROLOGY. 2017;16:33-42. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(16)30294-0

9. Johnson CO, Nguyen M, Roth GA…….. Mackay MT,…..Murray CJL.

Global, regional, and national burden of stroke, 1990-2016: a systematic analysis for the Global Burden of Disease Study 2016.

LANCET NEUROLOGY. 2019;18:439-458. DOI: 10.1016/S1474-4422(19)30034-1.

10. GBD 2016 Lifetime Risk of Stroke Collaborators, Feigin VL, …., Mackay MT, …Roth GA.

Global, Regional, and Country-Specific Lifetime Risks of Stroke, 1990 and 2016.

NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE. 2018; 379:2429-2437.

DOI: 10.1056/NEJMoa1804492

Link to all publications:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/myncbi/1PsYv6wmY9hAO/bibliography/public/

Contact information