Associate Professor Byrne is an internationally respected respiratory physician and global health researcher based in Sydney, Australia. He is a Senior Staff Specialist Respiratory Physician at St Vincent’s Public Hospital and Head of Department at St Vincent’s Private Hospital. He is a conjoint Associate Professor of Medicine and Researcher at the UNSW Sydney.

A/Prof Byrne leads the Tuberculosis service at St Vincent’s Hospital and is the Chair of the NSW Tuberculosis Advisory Committee. Nationally, he chairs the Respiratory Infections Special Interest Group of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand. Internationally, A/Prof Byrne collaborates on interventional and observational studies across numerous countries. He serves as an expert adviser to the World Health Organization on Post-Tuberculosis lung disease and co-chairs the International Post-Tuberculosis Symposium. He is also a member of the steering committee organising the fourth international symposium, to be held in Seoul, South Korea, in 2027.

A/Prof Byrne has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, which have collectively received almost 4,000 citations. He has an h-index of 25—including 21 over the past five years—and an i10-index of 51, with 37 achieved during the same period. His research impact has grown substantially since his promotion to Conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW five years ago.

In 2017, A/Prof Byrne completed his doctoral studies in Peru, investigating the chronic respiratory consequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosis infection. This work helped establish his national and international reputation in tuberculosis-related chronic respiratory disease, which has since expanded to include research into the long-term respiratory effects of COVID-19.

His research has been published in leading medical journals, including The Lancet, The Lancet Global Health, the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease, the International Journal of Tuberculosis and Lung Disease and Respirology. He is also a Cochrane author and an Associate Editor for Cochrane Clinical Answers. A/Prof Byrne is regularly invited to present at prominent educational and scientific forums, including Harvard Medical School, the Asia Pacific Conference of the Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and the NSW Tuberculosis Advisory Committee.

A/Prof Byrne is a member of the NHMRC Tuberculosis Centre of Research Excellence, the International Union Against Tuberculosis and Lung Disease, and the Harvard Medical School Global Health and Social Medicine Tuberculosis Research Group. In recognition of his contributions to respiratory medicine, he was elected President of the NSW Branch of the Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand.

Alongside his research and academic leadership, A/Prof Byrne has extensive clinical expertise in sleep disorders, tuberculosis, chronic respiratory disease, asthma and advanced lung disease. He is a Senior Staff Specialist in Thoracic Medicine at St Vincent’s Public and Private Hospitals and consults as a Respiratory Physician at St Vincent’s Clinic Sydney and SomaHealth Sleep & Respiratory.