Dr Chris Schwindack was born in Southern Africa and grew up in what is now known as Namibia. He obtained his medical degree at the University of Free State, South Africa, in 1997. After completing 2 years of rural community service, he moved to the United Kingdom where he completed his basic surgical training in Edinburgh, Scotland. There he undertook a research year in Neuro-oncology at the Western General Hospital Edinburgh, publishing on the imaging characteristics of brain tumours.   

He trained as a Neurosurgeon at Addenbrooke's Hospital in Cambridge and completed his UK Specialist Neurosurgical training in 2007, becoming a Fellow of the Royal College Surgeons of Edinburgh in 2008. He moved with his family to Australia in 2009, undertaking a neurosurgical fellowship in Perth at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. He sat the Australian examination and obtained Australian specialist registration in 2010.

Chris has been a specialist neurosurgeon at Gold Coast hospital since 2012, he established his private practice at Pindara in 2015. He chairs the neuro-oncology multi-disciplinary team meeting every Friday. He is also actively involved in the neurosurgery training programme. Chris regularly presents and teaches practical skills sessions at both Griffith and Bond Universities. He is involved in audit at both the Gold Coast University and Pindara Private Hospitals. 

His particular interest is in neuro-oncology with a focus on a compassionate, holistic and multi-disciplinary cancer care. He maintains a close network with other oncology colleagues. Apart from this oncology interests, he is a proponent of minimally invasive techniques in spinal surgery.