National Speakers

Helen Anderson

Gold Coast University Hospital

Helen works at the Gold Coast University Hospital as the Genitourinary Cancer Nurse Navigator (CNC). She graduated as a registered nurse (RN) in the UK in 1999 and has worked in various oncology nursing roles over the last 20+ years. Helen is passionate about supporting patients diagnosed with genitourinary (GU) cancers. She has presented at international and national conferences regarding the care and support of patients diagnosed with GU Cancers. Four years ago, she developed a specific nurse-led androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) clinic for patients receiving ADT for prostate cancer. Helen is an advocate and supporter of nurse-led clinics within the oncology setting and has developed an overarching guideline for the development and initiation of nurse-led clinics within cancer services at Gold Coast Health. She is very proud to be part of the health advisory team for the charity BEAT bladder cancer and was part of the joint development of the Genitourinary Cancer Specialist Practice Network through the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA). Helen is currently doing her PhD while continuing to work full time.

A/Prof Beata Batorowicz

University Southern Queensland

Beata Batorowicz is an Associate Professor in Sculpture and the Associate Head (Research and Research Training) in the School of Creative Arts at the University of Southern Queensland. She is a contemporary artist exhibiting nationally and internationally, and her key touring projects such as Dark Rituals (2018–2019)—partnered with the University of Sunshine Coast Gallery and University of Tasmania Gallery—have secured Australia Council for the Arts funding. Other key project funding include: the Canadian Social Sciences and Humanities Research (2015) and Arts Queensland (2011; 2004). Batorowicz's publications and creative work focus on the role of visual storytelling as a person-centred and creative catalyst for wellbeing and cultural resiliency. Her most recent research focus includes contemporary art biography, trauma-informed storytelling and personal legacy artmaking led by people with advanced cancer. Batorowicz has been appointed on the Australia Council for Deans and Directors of Creative Art Executive Board since 2022 and is an Executive Team Leader for the Centre for Heritage and Culture at UniSQ. She is also a recipient of two UniSQ citations for Outstanding Contributions to Student Learning (2016, 2018).

Prof Nikola Bowden

University of Newcastle

Professor Nikola Bowden is co-Director of the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute Centre for Drug Repurposing and Medicines Research and the Vanessa McGuigan HMRI Fellow in Ovarian Cancer Research. Prof Bowden's research investigates drug repurposing for melanoma and ovarian cancer. She leads the MRFF-funded Australian Program for Drug Repurposing for Treatment Resistant Ovarian Cancer and several Investigator-initiated clinical trials for treatment-resistant cancers in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Industry.

Dr Hayden Christie

Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service

Dr Christie is a Medical Oncologist working at Hervey Bay Hospital. He is also the Clinical Director of the Cancer Care Service and Clinical Lead of the Voluntary Assisted Dying Service for the Wide Bay Hospital and Health Service, and Chair of the Wide Bay Oncology Trials Group. He practices as a General Oncologist and works towards bringing as many aspects of cancer management as possible closer to home for regional patients.

Elisha Cole

Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Support and Pharmacy Service

Elisha Cole is an experienced pharmacist with a special interest in palliative care who is completing her Master of Palliative Care at Flinders University. She is a strong advocate for supporting pharmacists to expand their scope of practice, particularly in the fields of end-of-life care, palliative care, and voluntary assisted dying. Elisha currently holds the position of Assistant Director of Pharmacy, Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Support and Pharmacy Service.

Anita Cox

Gold Coast University Hospital

Anita has spent 10 years as Youth Cancer Nurse Consultant and Primary CNS Cancer CNC at Gold Coast University Hospital. Anita has worked in paediatric oncology, bone marrow transplant, and adult oncology departments for over 30 years in both England and Australia in tertiary hospitals, regional hospitals, and in both the public and private sectors. Anita has always had a special interest in teenagers and young adults with cancer but is also passionate about listening to consumer views and improving services and care provision accordingly.

Dr Abbey Diaz

The Australian National University

Dr Abbey Diaz is a Research Fellow in Yardhura Walani, the National Centre for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Wellbeing Research at the Australian National University. Dr Diaz is currently working with her team and collaborators to investigate cardiovascular risk, care and experiences among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people diagnosed with cancer. As part of this work Dr Diaz is working with an advisory panel of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people affected by cancer, who identified a need for the co-design of culturally responsive cardio-oncology resources.

Dr Joanne Doran

Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service

Dr Jo Doran is a doctor with over 30 years’ experience in palliative care. She currently works for the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service as a senior consultant. Originally from the UK, she trained in London and completed her post graduate training in Sydney. From 1999 to 2012, she was Area Medical Director for Palliative Care in Northern NSW. She has been involved in policy development and implementation on local, state, and national levels. She is passionate about education in end-of-life care and is highly regarded as a guest speaker. She is known for her entertaining, original and informative talks, and always aims to challenge and inspire others with compassion, playfulness, insight and generosity. In recognition of her contribution to palliative care, she was awarded the Palliative Care NSW Leadership Award, was nominated for NSW Woman of the Year and more recently was nominated as Mentor of the Year in her current role.

Nicola Du Thaler

Wesley Hospital Choices Cancer Support Centre

In her 30 plus years as a secondary school teacher Nicola has had many uncomfortable conversations but none of them compare to the conversations she has experienced around cancer. Nicola has been a patient, a survivor, a carer for a terminally ill cancer patient and a supportive best friend to a ‘teaching bestie’ with ovarian cancer. Diagnosed in 2018 with a rare cancer, she has undergone radio and chemotherapy and later surgery to treat her cancer. She is now in the process of rebuilding her life post cancer surgery. She is addicted to pilates and building miniatures. In the future Nicola hopes to volunteer for Survivors Teaching Students to help improve outcomes for women affected by cancer.

Shona Edwards

Cancer Voices South Australia

Shona Edwards is an enthusiastic advocate for youth cancer and disability. Shona has been a student leader, peer facilitator and community organiser in universities and in the health sector. As the Deputy Chair of Cancer Voices South Australia, provides representation that is compassionate, conscientious, and informed at all times by the value of lived experience and peer support.

Karen Elliott

Queensland Children's Hospital

Karen Elliott has been a Registered Music Therapist for almost 30 years and is currently Senior Music Therapist at the Queensland Children's Hospital, Brisbane. Karen established the inaugural music therapy program at The Children's Hospital at Westmead in 1998 and has specialised in paediatrics throughout her career. Over the past 20 years, Karen has worked for Children's Health, Queensland; holding clinical caseloads in oncology, rehabilitation, burns, and PICU, developing resources, participating in research and providing clinical education. Karen sings with the QPAC Chamber Choir and is a published composer, having had several choirs purchase and perform her songs.

Prof Jacinta Elston

Cancer Australia

Adjunct Professor Jacinta Elston, an Aboriginal woman from North Queensland. Former roles include inaugural Pro Vice Chancellor (Indigenous) at Monash University, Professor of Indigenous Health at James Cook University, inaugural chair of Cancer Australia's Leadership Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cancer Control, a board member who has served as chair of both the Townsville Aboriginal and Islander Health Service, and the North Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Legal Service. As a Breast Cancer survivor, she is also a board member and the Deputy Chair of the Breast Cancer Network of Australia. Her current professional focus is as a consultant assisting Cancer Australia's efforts in strengthening engagement and cancer care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people nationally.

Dr Katherine Francis

Wollongong Hospital

Dr Katherine Francis is a medical oncologist who currently works at Wollongong and Shoalhaven hospitals on the beautiful south coast of NSW. She considers clinical trials a core aspect of delivering optimal cancer care and currently also works part-time for the University of Sydney NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, supporting the conduct of current and future clinical trials for gynaecological cancer and for difficult-to-manage cancer symptoms. An active cancer researcher, Katherine holds a second degree in Electrical Engineering and is using her skills in biostatistics and computer programming to develop innovative ways to better evaluate and communicate the potential harms from cancer treatments to clinicians and patients. She is finalising her PhD at the University of Sydney, where she has developed novel tools that focus on overlooked aspects of cancer treatment side effects, including lower-grade but persistent or recurrent harms, and their impact on treatment adherence, and outcomes. Beyond her clinical and research work, Katherine has a long-term love of art, particularly music and visual arts. She plays both the piano and cello and many evenings, once her daughters are asleep, will be found with brush or pen in hand, creating into the night. Art brings her joy, was a source of sanity during the challenges of medical training, and continues to be her happy place.

Prof Gail Garvey AM

University of Queensland

Professor Gail Garvey (AM) is a proud Kamilaroi woman, an NHMRC Research Leadership Fellow, and Professor of Indigenous Health Research in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Queensland. Professor Garvey has established an extensive and targeted research program focused on cancer and the wellbeing of Australia's First Nations people.

Professor Garvey was among the first researchers to recognise the substantial impact of cancer on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and her work has contributed greatly to key policy and practice changes to improve their cancer outcomes. Professor Garvey currently leads a Centre of Research Excellence Targeted Approaches to Improve Cancer Services (TACTICS) for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians. The TACTICS CRE focuses on emerging priorities in cancer-related health services research and actively promotes the translation of research knowledge into Australian public health policy and practice. The CRE also focuses on building research capacity through training the next generation of researchers in cancer control.

Gail leads work in psychosocial aspects of cancer care for First Nations Australians. Her research into the psychosocial aspects of cancer care for First Nations cancer patients, is a critical component to improving their cancer outcomes. Professor Garvey and her team developed and validated a new tool to measure the unmet support needs of Indigenous cancer patients, which is now a recommendation in the Optimal Care Pathway guidelines.

Professor Garvey's research program also focuses on understanding and measuring the dimensions of wellbeing important to and valued by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the life course, which is important for developing/evaluating health interventions.

Originally trained as a teacher, Gail began her research career at the University of Newcastle in the 1990s where she was one of the first researchers to examine issues around the recruitment and retention of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander medical students. Since then she has been involved in a wide array of research collaborations both within Australia and overseas spanning three decades.

Along with her research expertise, Gail's strengths lie in her leadership and her collaborative approach to bringing key stakeholders – Indigenous consumers, researchers, and clinicians – together to achieve common goals. Career highlights include conducting the first Roundtable to identify research priorities in cancer for Indigenous Australians (2010); establishing the National Indigenous Cancer Network (2013) in collaboration with Cancer Council Australia, the Lowitja Institute, the Indigenous Health InfoNet and Menzies School of Health Research; instigating and convening the inaugural World Indigenous Cancer Conference in 2016 (Brisbane); and co-hosting the 2nd conference in 2019 (Canada).

Since 2011 Gail has received over $50 million in grant and government funding, including a NHMRC Investigator Leadership Grant. Over the same period Gail has published more than 180 papers in peer-reviewed journals.

Sandra Gleaves

Queensland Youth Cancer Service

Sandra Gleaves is a highly experienced Clinical Nurse Consultant with over 15 years dedicated to cancer care in Queensland. Currently, she serves as the Survivorship & Transition Care Clinical Nurse Consultant for the Queensland Youth Cancer Service's ARCHWAYS survivorship program.

Dr Christelle Greeff

Queensland Health

Christelle was born in Cape Town, and obtained her medical degree in Pretoria, South Africa, where she also spent time serving in the South African Army, both as medical student and as a medical officer. She relocated to Australia almost 25 years ago, making the Sunshine Coast Hinterland in Queensland her home. Christelle has always had an interest in palliative care, and was thankful for the opportunity to complete the PEPA course (Program of Experience in the Palliative Approach) in 2021, introducing her to the specialist palliative care unit at the Sunshine Coast University Hospital (SCUH). Christelle is currently employed by Queensland Health as a GP with Special Interest (GPwSI). She divides her time between the Radiation Oncology Rapid Access Clinic at SCUH for the assessment and management of patients in need of urgent palliative radiation therapy, and in the Palliative Care Day Unit (PCDU) at the Caloundra Hospital Specialist Palliative Care Unit. The remainder of the work week is spent as a rural GP in beautiful Maleny.

Outside of work you will find Christelle outside: pedal-ing (hiking), pedalling (cycling), or paddling (double ocean kayak). She loves the performing arts, a great movie, a good book or to cook up a storm in the kitchen with local produce.

Maree Grier

Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital

Maree Grier is a Clinical Psychologist and Psychology Clinical Education Coordinator at Royal Brisbane & Women's Hospital, and has provided psychological services to people affected by cancer for more than 18 years. Maree also enjoys teaching roles, which include guest lectures on Psycho-Oncology for postgraduate psychology university courses, and being a tutor with the Faculty of Medicine, University of Queensland for over 16 years, facilitating clinical communication skills modules. Maree also highly values working within multidisciplinary teams for the benefit of patients.

Grace Hallewell

Women's Legal Service Queensland

I am a family and domestic violence lawyer at Women's Legal Service Qld. I work in our Gold Coast Domestic Violence Unit, and in partnership with Gold Coast Health to support patients experiencing domestic violence and family law issues.

Dr David Hansen

CSIRO—Australian e-Health Research Centre

Dr David Hansen is CEO and Research Director of the Australian e-Health Research Centre at CSIRO—Australia's national science agency. The AEHRC is CSIRO's digital health research program and a joint venture between the CSIRO and Queensland Health. With over 150 scientists and engineers the AEHRC is Australia's largest digital health research centre. The AEHRC undertakes research in data semantics and interoperability, genomics, medical imaging, artificial intelligence, and machine learning across healthcare. The technology developed by AEHRC scientists is aimed at enabling digitally enabled services to improve the safety, quality, and efficiency of healthcare. David is involved in leadership positions in many national research initiatives including the Australian Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare. David is on the board of the Australian Institute of Digital Health and is a member of the Connected Care Council for the Australian Digital Health Agency. David is passionate about the role of information and communication technologies in health care and the role of digital health professionals in developing a safe, high quality efficient, and sustainable healthcare system in Australia.

Corrine Haugstetter

GCH Voluntary Assisted Dying Support Service

I have been a registered nurse for 19 years, primarily in cancer care across a variety of roles in inpatient units, day infusion units, cancer care co-ordination and clinical trial management, prior to completing my Masters of Nurse Practitioner in 2019. I have been involved in developing models of care within the cancer urgent care space, community palliative care, and most recently in the voluntary assisted dying space.

Claire Howlett

Cancer Australia

Claire is the Deputy CEO of Cancer Australia, Australia's national cancer control agency. Claire is an experienced public sector leader who has worked across a broad range of policy, program delivery, regulatory and corporate roles. Most recently, Claire led cancer policy advice for the Australian Government Department of Health, including delivering the three national cancer screening programs. Prior to that, she was responsible for delivering government services to the Indian Ocean Territories of Christmas and the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, which included overseeing one of Australia's most remote health services. Claire has advised government on issues ranging from biodiversity policy to energy efficiency. She has delivered natural resource management programs and regulated fisheries exports. Claire has also held the position of Chief Information Officer of an Australian Government department.

A/Prof George Hruby

Royal North Shore Hospital

Associate Professor George Hruby is a radiation oncologist with advanced training, research, and clinical specialty interests in both GU and GI cancers. Following a clinical fellowship at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1999, he was awarded a post-graduate fellowship at the University of Toronto specialising in GU malignancies and prostate brachytherapy. George returned to Australia in December 2000 commencing as a Staff Specialist in Radiation Oncology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. While at RPAH, he established a close working relationship with Noumean GI and GU colleagues and has treated many New Caledonians with GU and GI malignancies over the years.

George established the High Dose Rate brachytherapy program at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital performing over 300 implants since its inception in 2002. Other skills honed include trans-perineal biopsies, fiducial marker placement and inserting hydrogel spacer. George was instrumental in introducing more sophisticated techniques for the treatment of prostate cancer patients such as image-guided radiation treatment (IGRT) at RPA. Along with Susan Carroll (at RPA) and Andrew Kneebone at RNSH, George implemented IMRT (intensity-modulated radiation treatment) for anal cancer in 2009. Together they published the first internationally published series documenting this treatment in Australia. In 2014, George treated the first patient with SABR (stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy) for oligo-metastatic disease at RPA.

In 2014, George was invited to join the specialised radiation oncology (SRO) team as a staff specialist at Royal North Shore, and as a Visiting Radiation Oncologist (VRO) at Genesis Care where he currently treats patients at St Vincents Clinic, and the Health Hub. More recent areas of interest include focal re-treatment of prostate cancer, “virtual HDR,” and the introduction of state of the art imaging such as PSMA-PET for staging, targeting, mapping and assessing the response to RT in prostate cancer.

George co-leads the SRO GI service with Andrew Kneebone. They have contributed to the Australasian guidelines for the use of stereotactic RT for pancreatic cancer, and have been involved in workshops to establish contouring atlases for SBRT for pancreatic cancer (as well as previous work in rectal and anal cancer). These techniques will roll out in a National trial for the use of sophisticated RT in this disease. Further down the GI tract, George has co-authored the radiation oncology section for the Cancer Council guidelines on managing rectal cancer and over the last 20 years has treated perhaps more anal cancer than any other radiation oncologist in Sydney due to his roles in the GI teams at both RNS and St Vincents hospitals.

George has been heavily involved in national and international trials and is an active participant in AGITG, TROG (and FROGG) and ANZUP where he serves on the scientific advisory committee. He has authored well over 100 peer reviewed publications and is involved in teaching, mentoring and lecturing.

Dr Shafkat Jahan

The University of Queensland

Dr Shafkat Jahan is working as an Early Career Research Fellow in the First Nations Cancer and Wellbeing Research Program at the School of Public Health, The University of Queensland. Her expertise includes health service research, cancer research, and the impacts of climate change on chronic illnesses. Currently, Dr Jahan is actively involved in a project that quantifies health service use and associated costs for people diagnosed with cancer in Queensland, Australia, utilising linked administrative health data.

Prof Michael Jefford

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre/University of Melbourne

Professor Michael Jefford is a Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He is the Director of the Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre and leads the Survivorship and Living Well After Cancer research program with the Department of Health Services Research. He is also a Professorial Fellow at the University of Melbourne. Professor Jefford completed his medical oncology training (FRACP) in 1999 and holds a PhD (2002) and Graduate Certificate in University Teaching (2013) from the University of Melbourne and Masters’ degrees in Health Services Management (2003) and in Public Health (2006) from Monash University. He is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. His major clinical focus is on the management of people with gastrointestinal cancers. Most of his research has a cancer survivorship focus. He has been awarded $A23m in grant funding as a chief/principal investigator. He has numerous leadership roles including being a Board Member (Director) of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA). He leads the survivorship study group with the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer, and has held similar roles with COSA, the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the International Psycho-Oncology Society. He has convened multiple successful survivorship conferences. He has contributed to more than 250 publications (as of June 2024) and presented at numerous international meetings covering clinical oncology, survivorship, psycho-oncology and cancer control broadly.

Dr Lizzy Johnston

Cancer Council Queensland

Dr Lizzy Johnston is the Manager of Survivorship Research at Cancer Council Queensland. In this role, Lizzy leads a small team of researchers working to inform and improve the support available to people affected by cancer. A key focus of her work is supporting the health and wellbeing of cancer survivors and their families living in rural areas. Lizzy is also an Accredited Practising Dietitian and completed her PhD at the Queensland University of Technology and QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute on dietary intake, care, and communication after primary treatment for ovarian cancer.

Prof Catherine Jones

I‑MED Radiology Network / Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital

Professor Catherine Jones is a cardiothoracic radiologist based in Brisbane in both private and public practice. She has extensive experience in developing, validating, and deploying AI solutions in radiology and other areas of health care, and has an academic background in diagnostic test methodology. She is an adjunct professor at the University of Sydney. She has clinical interests in occupational lung disease and lung cancer and is the radiology representative for the design of the upcoming National Lung Cancer Screening Program. Catherine recently was awarded the Women in AI Asia Pacific award for the health care sector.

Dr Georgina Kennedy

Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research

Dr Kennedy is a multidisciplinary engineer and researcher whose career spans industry and academia, with a proven history of delivering large-scale technical research infrastructure projects. She is the Maridulu Budyari Gumal (SPHERE) Cancer Clinical Academic Group Senior Research Fellow for the theme Unwarranted Variation in Care.

Her research focus is on making observational clinical data available to research and health system end-users in a way that is principled, repeatable and results in high-quality insights.

This includes the modernisation of research data infrastructure to bring these systems in line with industry best-practices, innovation in machine-learning and natural language processing methods, as well as their effective delivery and implementation. She is an active and contributing member to open science oncology data standards, a contributor to multiple open-source libraries in the areas of natural language processing and data pipeline development in Python, an experienced data researcher and engineer and has been the lead developer and architect of the CaVa (Cancer Variation) data platform since 2020.

Dr Mary Kennedy

Edith Cowan University

Dr Mary Kennedy, PhD, FACSM is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Implementation Science at Edith Cowan University in Australia. Dr Kennedy's research focuses on the integration of exercise into clinical healthcare. She is specifically interested in identifying strategies to support the widespread implementation of exercise into standard oncology care.

Dr Ganessan Kichenadasse

SA Health

Dr Ganessan Kichenadasse is a medical oncologist and a clinical pharmacologist from Flinders Medical Centre and Flinders University. His focus in clinical practice is caring for people with different solid tumours especially rare cancers. He is a clinical trialist with active role in early phase drug development and other later phase trials. He is passionate about optimising cancer therapies for their quality use through precision dosing and appropriate governance.

A/Prof Nicole Kiss

Deakin University

Associate Professor Nicole Kiss is an advanced accredited practising dietitian with a focus on oncology nutrition through clinical, research and health service management positions. Nicole is a Clinical Associate Professor in the Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition at Deakin University and co-leads the Exercise and Nutrition for Cancer research group. Nicole's research interests include interventions to optimise nutritional and functional outcomes during and after cancer therapy with a particular focus on body composition. Nicole led the development of the position statement on cancer-related malnutrition and sarcopenia for the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia.

Dr Antony Kodsi

Royal North Shore Hospital

My name is Dr Antony (Tony) Kodsi, and I am a dual-trained Specialist Palliative Care (Adult Division) Physician and Specialist Pain Medicine Physician in New South Wales, Australia. I have also a Masters in Pain Medicine with Sydney University. I hold positions in Palliative Care in Royal North Shore Hospital, and consult in Sydney Adventist, Mater Hospital and North Shore Private. I hold positions in Pain Medicine in Concord Hospital and Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and consult in Macquarie University Hospital and Chris O'Brien Life house.

I have an interest in interventional cancer pain management, and currently undergoing the endorsement program for pain interventions with the Faculty of Pain Medicine as well as the Fellowship of interventional pain practice with the World Institute of Pain. I also hold interest in cancer survivorship in my private and public clinic practice, developing multidisciplinary care as well as a focus on post-acute treatment phase rehabilitation.

Dr Michael Krasovitsky

St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney

Dr Michael Krasovitsky is a medical oncologist at St Vincent's Hospital specializing in older age oncology, along with the management of liver, breast, and lung cancers. He is passionate about optimizing the care of older patients with cancer, and is chair of a national geriatric oncology consortium (the Geriatric Oncology Emerging Experts and Researchers group). His research primarily focuses on enhancing the care of older individuals with cancer, ageism in cancer care, and addressing frailty in older individuals. Dr Krasovitsky is a senior lecturer at the University of New South Wales, where he coordinates student teaching in medical disciplines over the 6-year program.

Dr Rebekah Laidsaar-Powell

University of Sydney

Dr Rebekah Laidsaar-Powell is a Research Fellow within the School of Psychology at the University of Sydney. Her research focuses on improving the psychosocial outcomes of family carers of people with cancer. Her TRIO (TRIadic Oncology) research program has focused on improving health professional communication with carers, and has resulted in publication of clinical communication guidelines which have been adopted in policy nationally (Cancer Australia Optimal Care Pathways) and internationally. Rebekah has also led development of online interventions for carers and health professionals to improve carer engagement and empowerment in the cancer context. Rebekah currently holds a Cancer Institute NSW Fellowship and is developing a clinical pathway for recognising and managing psychological distress among family carers of people with cancer.

Dr Julia Lai-Kwon

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Dr Julia Lai-Kwon is a Medical Oncologist and Health Services Researcher at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia. Her clinical interests are melanoma and other cutaneous malignancies. Dr Lai-Kwon has research expertise in quality of life research, survivorship and patient-reported outcomes. She has presented nationally and internationally and published on the survivorship experience of people with metastatic cancers and the use of patient-reported outcomes in clinical trials and routine care. She is currently undertaking a PhD on the co-design of a remote symptom monitoring for people receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors. Dr Lai-Kwon is an active member of the EORTC Quality Life Group, the International Society for Quality of Life Research (ISOQOL), and the Multinational Association for Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC).

A/Prof Rhea Liang

Gold Coast University Hospital and Bond University

Associate Professor Rhea Liang is a general and breast surgeon on the Gold Coast, medical educator, Clinical Sub Dean at Bond University, and systems change leader. She researches, advocates and consults in breast cancer, medical education, workplace culture change, diversity and inclusion. She serves on the British Journal of Surgery editorial board and the American College of Surgeons International Relations Committee. She is the past Chair of the RACS Operate With Respect Education committee, current Chair of the Commonwealth A Better Culture Curriculum Design group, and in 2023 became the first Australian woman awarded RCSEng(Hon) for contributions to surgical education and diversity over the past two decades. She tweets at @LiangRhea.

Prof Matthew Links

Bond University

Professor Matthew Links is a medical oncologist and medical educator. He works in private practice on the Gold Coast and is a visiting medical officer at Alice Springs Hospital. He previously worked for 20 years as an oncologist in Sydney and has had previous positions including the Director of Clinical Education at Gold Coast Health. His role as an educator has included extensive involvement with the Royal Australasian College of Physicians as Chair of the Continuing Professional Development Committee, member of the College Education Committee and contributor to the development of the new RACP curriculum. He initiated and was the first Medical Director of the NSW Cancer Institute's program of Online learning (EviQED). Matthew has a research background which includes a PhD in Cancer pharmacogenomics and time running a cancer research group and clinical trials unit. His research spans cancer biology, drug development, psychosocial care and medical education. His recent work has focused on communication, professionalism, compassion, and improving the quality of care through learning in practice.

Dr Jenny Liu

The Kinghorn Cancer Centre/St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney

Dr Jia (Jenny) Liu (MD, PhD) is a medical oncology staff specialist and translational lead of the early phase unit at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, St Vincent's Hospital (Darlinghurst, Sydney, Australia). She collaborates with biopharmaceutical sponsors, scientists and clinicians to bring novel first in human trials to patients across solid organ malignancies, and leads investigator-led trials at the SVH campus. She also has active research interests in biomarkers, including proteomics, epigenetics and survivorship in cancer and supporting the wellbeing of oncologists through the establishment of the national oncology mentorship program.

Jenelle Loeliger

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Jenelle Loeliger is an Advanced Accredited Practising Dietitian and Joint Manager of Nutrition and Speech Pathology Department at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia. She has over 22 years of experience as a clinician, health service leader, project manager and researcher, and is passionate about implementing evidence-based care and access to high-quality dietetic and speech pathology services. Jenelle has provided state-wide leadership to the Victorian Cancer Malnutrition Collaborative (VCMC) program of work over the past 13 years and is the current COSA Nutrition Group Chair. Jenelle holds an Honorary Fellow appointment at Deakin University and the University of Melbourne and commenced her PhD part-time in 2023 investigating optimal cancer nutrition models of care.

A/Prof Brigid Lynch

Cancer Council Victoria

Associate Professor Brigid Lynch is a cancer epidemiologist whose research focuses on how physical activity is associated with cancer risk, biological mechanisms underlying risk, and health outcomes for cancer survivors. Her research interests include applying causal inference methods to help advance the field of physical activity epidemiology. Brigid is a Principal Investigator of the Australian Breakthrough Cancer Study, an ongoing cohort study of over 50,000 Australians investigating the role that genes, lifestyle and environment play in the development of cancer and other diseases.

Dr Sarah Maloney

Royal North Shore Hospital

Dr Sarah Maloney is a medical oncologist and an early career translational researcher, having completed my training at Royal North Shore, St Vincent's, and Liverpool hospitals in 2020. She is a staff specialist at Royal North Shore and a visiting medical officer at North Shore Private Hospital and GenesisCare with an interest in gastrointestinal and gynaecological malignancies. In 2024, I completed my translational PhD with the Kolling Institute at the University of Sydney titled “The identification and evaluation of predictive and prognostic biomarkers in order to personalise treatment pathways for patients diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.” This research is focused on proteomic and transcriptomic analyses of endoscopic ultrasound biopsy and surgical tissue in patients with early pancreatic cancer.

Jill Mann

Barwon Health

Jill's background is intensive care nursing. She manages the Advance Care Planning program for Barwon Health and has fulfilled the role of Barwon South West Regional VAD Care Navigator, since February 2020. Jill is passionate about person centred care, ensuring informed choice and consent. Jill has authored and co-authored publications and presented at both national and international conferences on advance care planning. She is actively engaged in working groups and committees pertaining to advance care planning, end of life care and voluntary assisted dying.

A/Prof Henry Marshall

The Prince Charles Hospital and University of Queensland

Associate Professor Henry Marshall, FRACP, PhD, is a senior staff Thoracic Physician at The Prince Charles Hospital, Brisbane and Visiting Medical Officer at St Vincent's Private Hospital Northside, Brisbane. His research, at the University of Queensland Thoracic Research Centre, aims to reduce the burden of disease caused by lung cancer by focusing on lung cancer early detection, screening and smoking cessation. He is an investigator on both of Australia's lung cancer screening trials, the International Lung Screen Trial, and the pilot forerunner, the Queensland Lung Cancer Screening Study. He holds an NHMRC Investigator Grant to develop a smoking cessation chatbot powered by artificial intelligence, and a Queensland Health Research Fellowship and a Metro North HHS Research Fellowship for his work in lung cancer screening.

Dr Carolyn Mazariego

University of New South Wales

Dr Carolyn Mazariego is a Senior Research Fellow in the i2i | Implementation to Impact team at UNSW Sydney. She specialises in implementation science and health services research. Dr Mazariego is particularly interested in implementation of routinely collected patient reported outcomes to guide cancer clinical care. Her implementation toolbox involves strategy design, process mapping, co-design/creation, and hybrid trials.

Dr Cameron McLaren

Casey Oncology Group

Dr Cam McLaren is a Medical Oncologist from southeast Melbourne and was an early adopter of Voluntary Assisted Dying (VAD) when it became legal in Victoria in 2019. He has shared his experiences to inform the development and implementation of VAD legislation across Australia and New Zealand, and has appeared internationally to speak on the issue. He is the founder of Voluntary Assisted Dying Australia and New Zealand (VADANZ), a multidisciplinary peak body dedicated to improving the safety and quality of VAD care provision.

Sarah McLean

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Sarah McLean is a Clinical Nurse Consultant in the Lung Cancer Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) and Cancer Unknown Primary team at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia.

Sarah works primarily with patients who have lung cancer and Cancer of Unknown Primary, and their families. Sarah has worked with Lung and Cancer Unknown Primary patients for 12 years. She is passionate about all aspects of patient care, supporting patients and their families through their journey. Sarah is part of a steering committee for a SUPER-NEXT Cancer Unknown Primary Study, to ensure patients all over Australia have access to care and diagnosis for their unknown primary. Sarah is a member of both national and international, nursing and lung cancer professional organisations.

Dr Jordana McLoone

UNSW Sydney

Dr McLoone is a senior research fellow and Deputy Director of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, which straddles the School of Clinical Medicine, UNSW Sydney, and the Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children's Hospital. Dr McLoone leads research focusing on the psychosocial impact of childhood cancer, particularly during the survivorship period. Her research is increasingly broadening to models of care for all complex and chronic illnesses and the challenges of transition from the paediatric to adult health systems. Dr McLoone's interventions focus on translation and sustainability, and the development of equitable, accessible, and efficient models of long-term care. Innovations in telehealth, digital technology and artificial intelligence to optimise efficiencies and scalability are key areas of interest. Dr McLoone is an active member of the ANZCHOG Survivorship and Transition committee, the ANZCHOG Psycho-Oncology committee, and the COSA Financial Toxicity Working Group. Dr McLoone is also involved in international childhood cancer initiatives, such as the development of the Papua New Guinea National Childhood Cancer Registry alongside SIOP Oceania. Dr McLoone enjoys providing supervision to both undergraduate and higher degree research students.

A/Prof Linda Mileshkin

Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

Associate Professor Mileshkin is a medical oncologist and a clinical researcher with a particular interest in the treatment of lung and gynaecological cancers, as well as the supportive care of people affected by cancer. She also runs Australia's only specialist clinic dedicated to the care of people affected by Cancer of Unknown Primary (CUP). She consults both at PeterMac in Parkville and at the Mercy Hospital for Women in Heidelberg. Subsequent to training in medical oncology, she has completed a Masters of Bioethics as well as a translational research fellowship examining the role of predictive and prognostic factors in patients treated with thalidomide for multiple myeloma. Subsequently, she has continued to expand her research portfolio and is currently involved in multiple clinical research projects involving people with gynaecological and lung cancers, plus carcinoma of unknown primary (CUP), as well as phase I trials in multiple tumour types.

She is the international study chair for an international Australia-led government funded phase 3 trial of adjuvant therapy in locally advanced cervical cancer, as well as the principal investigator for multiple local and national trials. She is the clinical trials lead for Gynae-Oncology in the Parkville Cancer Clinical Trials Unit and is the Chair of the Gynaecological Tumour Group for Cancer Trials Australia as well as a core member of the PeterMac Department for Cancer Experiences Research. She is also very involved in the Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG) as a member of the board and the current chair of their Research Advisory Committee.

Dr Genni Newnham

St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne

Dr Genni Newnham is a medical oncologist, the Director of Prevocational Training, and The Chief Medical Information Officer at St Vincent's Hospital, Melbourne. Her primary clinical interests include gastrointestinal cancers and the patient experience. In addition to her clinical role, she is passionate about medical teaching and supervision, clinical governance, and the complexities of person-centred, sustainable health care delivery.

Dr Huah Shin Ng

Flinders University

Dr Huah Shin Ng is a Cancer Council South Australia (SA) Early-Career Researcher at Flinders University, and a Pharmacist at SA Pharmacy, SA Health. Huah Shin's research focuses on cancer survivorship epidemiology. She leverages her clinical knowledge and skills as a pharmacist and her national and international research collaborations to access complex health data to: (1) understand the burden of multiple chronic diseases in cancer survivors; and (2) generate actionable, evidence-based information to guide clinical cancer care.

Dr Abhijit Pal

Liverpool Hospital

Dr Abhijit Pal is a medical oncologist who works as a staff specialist at Liverpool Hospital and Bankstown Hospital (South Western Sydney Local Health District) and specialises in Phase 1 cancer trials and thoracic malignancies. He completed a Phase 1 trials fellowship at the Drug Development Unit, Royal Marsden Hospital in London from 2019 to 2020. He was awarded a PhD in 2023 through the University of Sydney (supervised by Professor Frances Boyle), looking at informed consent for Phase 1 trials and ways to improve the representation of patients from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds on to cancer clinical trials.

Dr Dinesh Palipana OAM

Gold Coast University Hospital

Dinesh was the first quadriplegic medical intern in Queensland. Dinesh is a doctor, lawyer, disability advocate, and researcher. While in medical school, he was involved in a car accident that caused a spinal cord injury.

Dinesh has completed a Bachelor of Laws at the Queensland University of Technology, a Graduate Diploma of Legal Practice at the College of Law, Emergency Medicine Certificate at the Australasian College of Emergency Medicine, and Doctor of Medicine and Griffith University. He is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors under a Disability Leadership Scholarship.

Dinesh works in the emergency department at the Gold Coast University Hospital. He is a researcher and senior lecturer at the Griffith University. Dinesh is a researcher in spinal cord injury, co-leading the BioSpine research team. He is a doctor for the Gold Coast Titans physical disability rugby team. Dinesh was a senior advisor to the Disability Royal Commission. He is an ambassador to the Human Rights Commission's Includeability program. He is a founding member of Doctors with Disabilities Australia. He is an advisory board member to HealthyLife, a Woolworths company. Dinesh is a John Monash Scholar. He is an independent non-executive director of George Steuart & Co, one of the oldest companies in the world and oldest in Sri Lanka. Dinesh is a non-executive director of the Housing Hub, started by the Summers Foundation.

Dinesh was the Gold Coast Hospital and Health Service's Junior Doctor of the Year in 2018. He was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in 2019. He was the third Australian to be awarded a Henry Viscardi Achievement Award. He was the 2021 Griffith University Young Alumnus of the Year. Dinesh was the Queensland Australian of the Year for 2021. In 2022, Dinesh was listed as number 33 in the Courier Mail's top 100 power list for Queensland's most influential in health and wellbeing. His autobiography, Stronger, was published by Pan Macmillan in 2022.

Dr Shivanshan Pathmanathan

Townsville University Hospital

Shiv is currently working as a medical oncologist at Townsville University Hospital. He is actively involved in the tele-oncology program, providing care closer to home for patient residing in rural areas, including first-nations communities. His goals include providing equitable cancer care to vulnerable populations.

Dr Nicole Pringle

Gold Coast University Hospital

Currently the Medical Oncology Clinical and Research Fellow at the Gold Coast University Hospital. I completed my Medical Oncology Advanced Training in QLD in November 2023. My tumour stream interests are in GI and lung malignancies. I am currently undertaking a Master's Degree through the University of Sydney in Clinical Epidemiology.

Amanda Quenell

Gold Coast University Hospital

Amanda Quennell RN, BSN, MSc, is a Cancer Nurse Consultant at Gold Coast University Hospital. Amanda has an MSc in Cancer Nursing from Kings College University, London and a BSc (Nursing) degree from Griffith University, Gold Coast. Amanda commenced a second MSc in Nurse Practitioner (QUT) in 2023, however, unfortunately, was diagnosed in August 2023 with Stage 4 cancer. Amanda is a current member of CNSA. She has 32 years nursing experience, specialising in upper GI and HPB cancers over the last 20 years both in Australia and in London.

Prof Elizabeth Reymond

Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Support and Pharmacy Service

Professor Elizabeth Reymond has been a palliative care physician for over 20 years and established the largest multidisciplinary palliative care service in Queensland. Liz is currently Director of the Queensland Voluntary Assisted Dying Support and Pharmacy Service and the national caring@home projects. She is also Co-Director of the Statewide Office of Advance Care Planning and the Queensland-wide PallConsult service.

Natalie Roset

QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute

Natalie Roset is a holistic psychotherapist and a registered nurse with over 20 years of experience in palliative care and oncology. For the past two years, she has worked as a nurse-counsellor on the PRoCESS (Pancreatic Cancer Relatives Counselling and Education Support Service) Trial at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, where she supported family carers of people with pancreatic cancer. In addition, Natalie operates a private practice, providing care to individuals affected by serious illness, grief, and loss. Her approach blends her nursing expertise with emotional and spiritual care to deliver comprehensive, compassionate support.

Dr Darren Saunders

Office of the NSW Chief Scientist & Engineer, Premier's Department

Dr Darren Saunders is a Eureka Prize winning scientist, with over 20 years’ academic and industrial experience in cancer biology and neuroscience in Australia and North America. He is the NSW Deputy Chief Scientist & Engineer and Adjunct Associate Professor in Medical Sciences at the University of Sydney. He has held senior roles in peak professional bodies, leading policy and regulatory reforms in science and technology. Darren is a public advocate for gender equality. He has worked with former Australian Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick and Co as a senior advisor and data expert on numerous workplace cultural reviews, examining the nature and prevalence of sexual harm, bullying, racism and other forms of systemic discrimination in a range of organisations in the mining, aviation, education, arts and law enforcement sectors. Darren is a regular commentator on television and radio. When not doing science, Darren is a committed thalassophile.

Dr David Schlect

GenesisCare

Dr David Schlect is based at GenesisCare Wesley and also attends GenesisCare Chermside on a weekly basis. Recently we have started at GenesisCare Noosa. David qualified in Medicine from the University of Queensland in 1979 and completed his residency training at the Royal Brisbane Hospital. He then went to St Vincent's Hospital, Sydney, to train as a radiation oncologist. This was followed by further training at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

After attaining his qualification as a radiation oncologist, David returned to Queensland in 1990 and commenced employment at GenesisCare Wesley. David has been involved in the development of various modern radiation therapy techniques over the years.

David is highly active in his profession: advocating a multidisciplinary approach to patient care, being involved in a broad spectrum of medical and oncology organisations.

David is dedicated to helping patients throughout their cancer journey, and is passionate about educating the community about topics such as integrative cancer care. In October 2023, David was recognised for his extensive contribution to the community and received the RANZCR Inaugural “Service to the community” award at their annual College Meeting.

A/Prof Joanne Shaw

Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG)

Associate Professor Joanne Shaw is the Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group (PoCoG) Executive Director and Senior Research Fellow in the School of Psychology, The University of Sydney. She is an experienced psycho-oncology, health communication and implementation science researcher. Her specific research interests include the development and evaluation of psychological and supportive care interventions to improve the outcomes for patients and families affected by cancer and supporting the health professionals who provide their care. A/Prof has a particular interest in developing sustainable, equitable, accessible models of care, integrating telehealth and digital health interventions into psycho-oncology.

Dr Euan Walpole

Princess Alexandra Hospital

Dr Euan Walpole has had an appointment as a specialist in medical oncology at Princess Alexandra Hospital since 1990. He has been active including as a principal investigator in multiple clinical trials and has been the Chairman of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia. He has been Medical Director of the Division of Cancer Services at PAH since 2005. He led the implementation of clinical information systems in cancer in Queensland with the radiation oncology information system and pharmacy oncology information system. He is also actively involved through Cancer Alliance Queensland, which is managed within the clinical division of PAH, to investigate and measure quality of cancer care in Queensland with reporting KPIs.

Sarah Weller

Movember

Sarah is the Global Director, Prostate Cancer at Movember and oversees impact initiatives that improve prostate cancer mortality and quality of life. Sarah has spent 20 years working in cancer care across Australia and Canada in Clinical Exercise Physiology, research, leadership and strategy roles. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science (Exercise Physiology) and a Master's of Science (Rehabilitation Science). Sarah has played a key role in the creation of the British Columbia 10-year cancer plan, the international exercise guidelines for bone metastases, and public and private sector cancer survivorship programs. In her current role, Sarah provides leadership to the Australian Real World Cancer Evidence Network, in partnership with Cancer Australia, to create a national approach to patient reported measures across cancer care.

A/Prof Mei Ling Yap

Macarthur Cancer Therapy Centre, South-West Sydney Local Health District

Associate Professor Mei Ling Yap MBBS BSc PhD FRANZCR is a clinician researcher from Sydney, Australia. She is a Senior Staff Specialist Radiation Oncologist based in South-Western Sydney Local Health District and Conjoint Associate Professor at the Sydney South-West Clinical School, University of New South Wales and School of Medicine, Western Sydney University. She is the Lead of the Collaboration for Cancer Outcomes, Research and Evaluation (CCORE) and Head of the Cancer Program at the George Institute for Global Health, UNSW. A/Prof Yap's clinical focus is on the management of lung and breast cancers, areas of interest she developed following a clinical research fellowship at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto (2011–2013).

A/Prof Yap's research focus is on equity in cancer control, and she is supported by a National Health and Medical Research Council Emerging Leader Investigator Grant (2023–2027). Her PhD explored equity gaps in radiation therapy access in New South Wales, Australia. She co-leads projects supporting education and training and research capacity building in low- and middle-income countries in the Asia-Pacific as an Executive Member of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) Global Oncology Group and National Project Coordinator for the IAEA Regional Cooperative Agreement. In 2022, A/Prof Yap was awarded the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists Rouse Fellowship. A/Prof Yap currently serves on the Editorial Board of JCO Global Oncology.