Dr Leung is a staff Specialist Anaesthesiologist with a specialty in surgical oncology. She completed her post-graduate anaesthetic training at the Alfred Hospital and undertook a fellowship in oncoanaesthesia at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She has also worked at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. She has been a full-time specialist at Peter Mac since 2018 and is a current supervisor of training. Dr Leung has a clinical interest in perioperative medicine and prehabilitation. Through her work in this area, she started and leads the Shared Decision Making for high-risk surgical patients pathway. This is a patient-centred pathway that aims to empower patients and support clinicians in the multitude of difficult decisions around the time of surgery.

In addition to this clinical interest, she is currently undertaking a PhD exploring the role of Shared Decision Making in major surgery through the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology based at the University of Melbourne. She also runs workshops to upskill perioperative clinicians in Shared Decision Making for high-risk surgical patients. Debra is a trained facilitator in communication skills for healthcare workers and teaches on healthcare communication workshops and residential retreats. Through this work, she holds an affiliate senior lecturer position with the Centre for Organisational Change in Person-Centred Healthcare based at Deakin University.