Former Fulbright Scholar with a PhD in rehabilitation of neuromuscular disorders, Professor Burns is Head of School & Dean of the Sydney School of Health Sciences in the Faculty of Medicine and Health.

Professor Burns is a world authority on inherited neuropathy of childhood who has worked in hospitals and universities in Australia and the United States conducting clinical trials to identify and implement rehabilitative, surgical and disease-modifying treatments.

Following Early Career and Career Development Fellowships from the National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, Prof Burns now Heads the Neuropathy Research Group at the Children’s Hospital at Westmead and is state-wide Director of the Paediatric Gait Analysis Service of New South Wales.