Background
Silagy was the son of Hungarian-born parents and went to school at Wesley College, Melbourne.
Silagy was the son of Hungarian-born parents and went to school at Wesley College, Melbourne.
He then studied Medicine at the University of Melbourne.
Where he was involved in debating, dramatic productions, and served as editor of the School Magazine in 1977. During this time he was also actively involved within the Scout Association of Australia, later becoming a Commissioner. Silagy spent two years at Oxford University as Sir Robert Menzies Memorial Scholar in medicine before returning to Australia in 1993 to take up the foundation chair of general practice at Flinders University at the age of 33.
He was actively involved in supporting the development of the Cochrane Collaboration both in Australia (where he was director of the Australasian Cochrane Centre from 1994 to 2001) and internationally (where he was chair of the international steering group from 1996 to 1998).