Professor Kate Leslie is a specialist anaesthetist and head of research in the Department of Anaesthesia and Pain Management, Royal Melbourne Hospital, and professorial fellow at the University of Melbourne and Monash University in Australia.

Kate’s research interests include anaesthetic depth monitoring and awareness, major perioperative outcomes, sex/gender equity and building the next generation of research leaders.

She was a leader of B-Aware, ENIGMA 1-2, POISE 1-3, RELIEF, Balanced and PADDI, and is a chief investigator of ROCKet, LOLIPOP and SNaPP. Kate is a former president of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists, the Council of Presidents of Medical Colleges and the Australian Medical Council.

She is an editor of the British Journal of Anaesthesia, Miller’s Anesthesia and TopMedTalk.

Kate was appointed as an Officer in the Order of Australia in 2016, the second highest national honour in Australia, and is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. She was awarded the ASA Excellence in Research Award in 2025.