Brian is the Director of Palliative Care at The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and The Royal Melbourne Hospital. He is a physician specialist in both Palliative Medicine and Medical Oncology, and a Professor (Clinical) in the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology and the Department of Medicine at The University of Melbourne.

Brian is co-chair of the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative, the largest international clinical trials group researching a range of treatments for palliative care symptoms. He is a past Chair of the Training Committee of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, responsible for the training of all Palliative Medicine specialists in Australia and New Zealand.

Brian is involved with many other Commonwealth and State Government and not-for-profit organisations concerning palliative care and is a past chairperson of Palliative Care Victoria. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters and is actively involved in research in the areas of palliative and supportive care, including clinical trials of novel therapies and research into palliative care integration and its benefits for patients and carers. He has received over $8.2 million in competitive research funding from bodies such as the National Health and Medical Research Council.