Dr Chris Varghese is a clinician-scientist and is completing his PhD in Surgery and translational gastrointestinal physiology at the University of Auckland. He is also an Honorary Clinical Lecturer at the University and co-leads the Surgical Recovery and Safety Laboratory with a research focus on surgical artificial intelligence, postoperative recovery, and data-driven approaches to improving surgical outcomes. He also serves as a Data Scientist at the SurgicalAI2 Lab at Mayo Clinic, where his work centres on AI methods and implementation of machine learning models in surgical oncology care.

Dr Varghese completed his medical degree at the University of Auckland and completed his junior doctor years in Auckland, New Zealand. Alongside his clinical work, he contributes to teaching and supervision within the medical programme.

His research spans a wide range of topics, including AI, gastrointestinal physiology, colorectal surgery, digital health, and surgical data science, and surgical recovery. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed articles. He is also interested in large-scale collaborative research, establishing research networks, and delivering high-quality, prospective studies.

Dr Varghese has been awarded multiple competitive research grants as a principal investigator, particularly in the field of artificial intelligence in healthcare. He is also a member of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons Advisory Group on Artificial Intelligence in Surgery.