Assoc. Prof Bruce MacKinnon trained in Nephrology and General Medicine in the UK and Australia. During his training he did post-graduate research into the progression of chronic kidney disease for which he was awarded the degree of MD. In 2008 he was appointed as a Specialist Nephrologist in Glasgow, Scotland where he worked until relocating to Newcastle in 2019. He is a Senior Staff Specialist at the John Hunter Hospital, department of Nephrology & Transplantation.

Bruce has maintained an active interest in both teaching and research and is a Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of Newcastle. While in Scotland he was Chair of the National Dialysis and Transplant Registry and sat on the National New Drugs Assessment Committee. His clinical interests include chronic kidney disease, hypertension, glomerulonephritis, vasculitis and cystic kidney disease.