Charlie Teo was born to Chinese-Singaporean parents who immigrated to Australia.
22 Facts About Charlie Teo
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Charlie Teo attended The Scots College and the University of New South Wales, graduating with a Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery in 1981.
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Charlie Teo started in general neurosurgery at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital before moving to the United States.
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Charlie Teo completed a fellowship in Dallas, Texas, where he became the only Australian neurosurgeon certified by a US medical board.
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Charlie Teo spent almost ten years in the United States where he was an associate professor of Neurosurgery and Chief of Pediatric Neurosurgery at the Arkansas Children's Hospital.
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Charlie Teo has been an invited speaker and visiting professor in more than thirty-five countries, associated with institutions such as Johns Hopkins University, Stanford University, Albert Einstein University, Marburg University and the Barrow Neurological Institute in Phoenix, Arizona.
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Charlie Teo has written more than thirty book chapters and numerous scholarly papers.
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Some elements of the media have claimed Charlie Teo has worked miracles.
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Notable patients of Charlie Teo include Jane McGrath, Dr Chris O'Brien, and Stan Zemanek.
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Sally White, a patient of Charlie Teo's, wrote of her experiences in Three Quotes From A Plumber: How a Second Opinion Changed the Life of a Woman with a Brain Tumour.
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Charlie Teo appeared first or in the Top 5 for several years; and was rated most trusted Australian in 2012,2013, and 2014.
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In 2011, Charlie Teo was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia for service to medicine as a neurosurgeon through the introduction of minimally invasive techniques, as a researcher, educator and mentor, and through the establishment of the Cure for Life Foundation.
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Charlie Teo gave the 50th Anniversary Errol Solomon Meyers Memorial Lecture at the University of Queensland in August 2007.
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Charlie Teo gave the 2012 Australia Day speech on 23 January 2012.
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In 2022, it was reported that Charlie Teo is performing surgeries in Spain, which is beyond the regulatory powers of the NSW Medical Council.
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On 23 October 2022, the Sydney Morning Herald described how Charlie Teo charged families extraordinary amounts of money and gave hope for a cure for ultimately futile operations that have catastrophically injured his patients.
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Charlie Teo had operated twice on the patient, who had a grade 3 anaplastic astrocytoma.
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Charlie Teo has limited life expectancy, possibly less than a year.
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In March 2025, Charlie Teo agreed to pay an undisclosed settlement amount to the family of a patient who died soon after he operated on her incurable brain tumour.
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Charlie Teo had previously been found guilty of professional misconduct over the operation in question.
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Charlie Teo was married to Genevieve Charlie Teo ; the couple have four daughters.
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Since 2009, Charlie Teo has been a patron of Australian animal welfare group Voiceless.