Dr Robyn Sayer

Dr Robyn Sayer is a fellowship-trained gynaecologic cancer surgeon.

While Australian born, Dr Sayer underwent all of her higher education, medical training and early consultant work in the United States. She  received her university degree in biology from Boston University in 1993. Following university, she spent several years pursuing basic science research interests at the University of Pennsylvania before attended medical school at Drexel University School of Medicine in Philadelphia. Her general obstetrics and gynaecology training was completed at Duke University in North Carolina in 2003 followed by 3 years of advanced gynaecologic oncology fellowship training at the University of South Florida / H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr Sayer received several awards for research in ovarian cancer during her training including the Berlex Foundation Faculty Development award, 10th Annual Helen Harris Memorial Trust, and the ASCO Foundation Merit Award. Following training, she stayed on as an assistant professor at the University of South Florida before joining a private practice gynaecologic oncology group in nearby Clearwater, Florida.  

Dr Sayer returned home to Australia in 2010 taking up a staff specialist appointment in the Gynaecologic Cancer Centre at the Royal Hospital for Women and The Canberra Hospital. In 2014 she took up a staff specialist role at Westmead Hospital and commenced her private practice in Canberra, operating at the National Capital Private Hospital.  In 2018 she joined the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse Gynae Oncology team as a senior staff specialist and continues to consult privately both in Sydney and Canberra.

Her interest and expertise are in the surgical management and aftercare of women with gynaecologic malignancies (ovarian, peritoneal, uterine, cervical, vaginal and vulvar cancers).  Her surgical expertise encompasses radical pelvic surgery including radical tumour resections, bowel surgery, urologic surgery and cancer-associated reconstructive procedures. She has extensive experience in minimally invasive surgical techniques including laparoscopic and robotic-assisted surgery.  Dr Sayer also has an interest in complex benign gynaecologic surgery including patients with extensive abdominal surgical histories and obesity.  She also performs minimally invasive risk-reducing surgeries for patients at an increased risk of ovarian, tubal and/or uterine cancers due to a hereditary disposition (BRCA, Lynch Syndrome, etc).