John Chen

John Chen is a podiatrist with a passion for improving diabetes-related foot disease outcomes for people living in regional and rural Australia. He is appointed as a Specialist Podiatrist at Latrobe Community Health Service in Gippsland and is the clinical lead and founding member of the Gippsland interdisciplinary High Risk Foot Service, which is a National Association of Diabetes Centres (NADC) core-level accredited service between Latrobe Community Health Service and Latrobe Regional Health. After completing his basic training in 2018 at La Trobe University, Melbourne, he moved abroad and worked as a podiatrist at the National University Hospital, Singapore, from 2019 to 2022. Upon returning to Australia, he co-founded a novel collaborative high risk foot service in Gippsland working closely with his colleagues Dr Scott McNeil (Endocrinologist) and Ms Alison Lang (Wound Clinical Nurse Consultant) to establish the service. In 2023, the Gippsland High Risk Foot Service won the health category at the Gippsland Primary Health Awards and in that same year, John was the recipient of the ‘Dr Ian Griffiths Best Oral Abstract’ award at the Diabetes Feet Australia conference for showcasing the power of collaborative care and the efforts of his team. Through active engagement in research, he frequently presents at national conferences. In 2024, he was an invited speaker at the 20th Asia Pacific Association for Diabetic Limb Problems conference in Singapore. In 2025, John completed his Masters Theory of Podiatric Surgery with distinction from Glasgow Caledonian University, Scotland. Furthermore, he holds a position on the Allied Health Advancing Practice Advisory Group, reporting directly to the Victorian Department of Health and he is also a clinical educator within La Trobe University’s Podiatry department.