Dr Bryan Day holds a PhD from the University of Queensland and is the Team Head of the Translational Brain Cancer Research Laboratory at the QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute. He and his team focus on the most common and aggressive form of brain cancer, Glioblastoma (GBM) in adults and the most common brain cancer in children, Medulloblastoma. He is a Director for the Australian Society of Medical Research (ASMR) and is passionate about maintaining the ongoing success and sustainability of medical research in Australia. Among his achievements have been the development of a brain tumour bank at QIMR Berghofer and the characterisation of the receptor EphA3 as a therapeutic target in brain cancer. This research has led to clinical testing of a novel EphA3 therapeutic antibody for aggressive treatment refractory brain cancers. Dr Day’s main research focus is on understanding brain cancer cell biology and identifying novel therapeutic agents to treat these aggressive diseases.

 

Ms Marcia Fleet is a Cancer Care Coordinator in the Neuro-Oncology unit at Royal Melbourne Hospital.  Trained as a radiation therapist and worked for many years in departments in Victoria and NSW. This  experience of many years in oncology works well with the care coordination position. In the CCC position I work with the medical staff to support the patients and their families from before diagnosis often to end of life.  I am the go to person within the unit.  Run a support group for patients with high grade tumours.

 

A/Prof Matthew Foote is a Staff Specialist in Radiation Oncology at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane specialising in stereotactic brain and body radiotherapy, neuro-oncology, melanoma and head and neck cancer.  He has successfully lobbied for and established the first public Gamma Knife facility in Australia and is Co-Director of the unit.  He is an accomplished clinical researcher; Study Chair for an international Phase III trial for neurotropic melanoma as well as Principle Investigator of a number of national and institutional clinical trials. He is widely published in various journals and has a number of translational research collaborations in cutaneous SCC and melanoma at the Translational Research Institute, Brisbane.  

 

A/Prof Hui Gan is a medical oncologist, currently working at the Joint Austin Ludwig Oncology Unit, Austin Health (Melbourne, Australia). He graduated from Melbourne University in 1995 with a bachelor of medicine and surgery (MBBS). He became a Fellow of the Royal Australian College of Physicians in 2003. Thereafter, he obtained his PhD from Melbourne University for translational research focusing on the development of tumour-specific anti-EGFR antibodies with improved tumour targeting capability and reduced toxicity. He completed a Fellowship in Drug Development at the Princess Margaret Hospital (Toronto, Canada) in 2009 before returning to Melbourne, Australia. Currently, he is a medical oncologist at Austin Health where he specializes in head and neck cancer, primary brain tumours and phase I/II clinical trials. He holds a concurrent appointment as a senior clinical research fellow at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research where he pursues his interest in targeted agents against cancer, particularly monoclonal antibodies against EGFR and other member of the ErbB family.

 

Dr Sam Greenall was awarded his PhD into the viral delivery of recombinant antibodies for use as animal vaccines through the University of Melbourne in 2008.  Switching to cancer research, he joined the Hudson Institute of Medical Research as the Ron Evans Cancer Research Fellow to study therapeutic targeting of the receptor tyrosine kinase receptor family in brain cancer.  In 2011 he was awarded an OCE postdoctoral fellowship at the CSIRO to study the insulin-like growth factor family in liver cancer and to continue work into analysing mutant forms of the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) in brain cancer and how these contribute to tumorigenesis.  Having recently returned to the Oncogenic Signalling Laboratory at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Dr Greenall is determining why existing therapeutics targeting the EGFR in brain cancer are not efficacious in the clinic and conducting research into the potential of precise targeting of multiple aspects of the cell cycle and transcriptional apparatus through irreversible inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinase 7 for brain cancer therapy.  This work involves analysing the in vitro and in vivo biochemical and biological responses of several patient-derived primary gliomasphere cell lines, which accurately reflect individual patient genotypes and phenotypes, to novel types of therapeutics. 

 

Dr Hovey is a Senior Staff Specialist in Medical Oncology at Prince of Wales Hospital (POWH), Conjoint Senior Lecturer at UNSW and Honorary Associate of the University of Sydney. After completing advanced training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, she completed further post-graduate training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Centre, New York, NY, USA (1998-2001) during which time she was the recipient of a full scholarship to complete a Master of Biostatistics in Patient-Oriented Research at Columbia University School of Public Health (1999-2001). Prior to her 2007 appointment at Prince of Wales Hospital she was a medical oncologist at Liverpool Hospital.
 
Liz’s main areas of expertise and research interest are neuro-oncology, genitourinary oncology and geriatric oncology. She is the current Chair of COGNO’s SAC (Scientific Advisory Committee),and is the Co-Convenor of the upcoming 2016 COGNO-ASNO ASM as well as being COGNO’s Treasurer (& previous Secretary)/Operations Executive Member. She was a previous Chair of the COSA (Clinical Oncological Society of Australia) Neuro-oncology Group after 2 elected terms (2006-2010); Co-Founder and subsequent Deputy Chair of the NSW Cancer Institute Neuro-oncology Group (elected for a second term). She was the Project Officer for the development of “Australian Clinical Practice Guidelines for the Management Adult  Gliomas:  Astrocytomas and Oligodendrogliomas” on behalf of Australian Cancer Network, and was on the Working Party and Co-Editor of the subsequent matching Consumer Guidelines. In 2014 she was the co-author of a chapter for the US textbook “Neuro-Onoclogy” (editors: Mark Bernstein/Mitchel Berger). She is an inaugural member of the Editorial Board of Neuro-Oncology Practice (published by Oxford Press) as well as being a Review editor for Frontiers in Neuro-Oncology and a neuro-oncology reviewer for Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology.

In 2013 she was an invited COSA ASM plenary speaker speaking on the topic of elderly patients with glioma; in 2014 she was the keynote speaker for New Zealand Cancer Society (giving 12 talks around New Zealand on the topic of brain tumours) and an invited speaker at a WFNO (World Federation of Neuro-Oncology) Masterclass in Istanbul, Turkey. In June 2015, she presented a Neuro-oncology Oral Presentation at ASCO, presenting Part 2 results of the CABARET study on behalf of COGNO co-investigators.

 

Dr Ben Jonker
Dr Jonker is a neurosurgeon based in Sydney. He completed his neurosurgical training in Australia, and subsequently undertook subspecialty training in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery in Calgary, Canada and UCLA, Los Angeles.

Dr Jonker has a particular interest in conditions treated with stereotactic and functional neurosurgery – and treats these with both conventional neurosurgery and stereotactic radiosurgery. His main interests are brain and pituitary tumours including awake surgery and brain mapping, trigeminal neuralgia, movement disorder surgery and endoscopic surgery for hydrocephalus.

 

 

Dr Anchit Khanna, M.D., MMedSci, PhD, is a NH&MRC Research Fellow at the Lowy Cancer Research Center, UNSW Medicine, Sydney, Australia. His interest lies in identifying molecular mechanisms for cancer initiation and progression, especially with respect to the role of constitutive DNA-damage and genomic instability. His work has been published in the leading journals of the field like Cancer Research, Cancer Discovery and the Journal of National Cancer Institute. He has received several prestigious awards like the EACR-Young Cancer Researcher Award (Highly Commended), the AACR-GlaxosSmithKline Outstanding Clinical Scholar Award (2011) and the Scientist of the Year Award, FUURT, Finland (2011) for his work. He has also been invited to write authoritative reviews for prominent cancer journals like Cancer Research and International Journal of Cancer on his work on Cancerous inhibitor of Protein Phosphatase 2A (CIP2A) and DNA-damage. Dr Khanna is very much interested in uncovering innovative ways to make clinical trials more effective and the various cancer therapies less toxic, safer and as cancer-specific as possible.

 

Mustafa Khasraw is leading several multi centre clinical trials and he acts regularly as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals and grant review committees.

 

Dr Zarnie Lwin is a Medical Oncologist who specialises in the treatment of thoracic oncology and neurooncology.

 

Dr Lwin obtained her undergraduate medical degree from Rangoon, Burma. She then pursued specialist physician training at Chris Hani Baragwanath hospital, Johannesburg to qualify as a Fellow of the Colleges of Physicians, South Africa, before relocating to Australia. She completed further physician and specialist medical oncology training at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital, and was admitted as a Fellow of the Royal Australasian Colleges of Physicians.

 

Dr Lwin then undertook a two year Fellowship at the Princess Margaret Hospital, University of Toronto, Canada, in the areas of neurooncology, thoracic oncology and health services research. During this time she trained under the close mentorship of internationally renowned experts to develop expertise in the complex management of these tumours and gain higher level research skills, which has led to strong ongoing collaborations nationally and internationally. She returned to Australia in 2010 to work at Mater Health Services prior to her current role at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and The Prince Charles Hospital.

 

Dr Lwin is the Vice-Chair and Treasurer of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA), and an active member of the Cooperative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO), Australia. She has convened multiple Annual Scientific Meetings in Australia and has authored and co-authored several peer reviewed publications. Dr Lwin is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Queensland, School of Medicine and has a particular interest in communication skills and new trials/treatments for cancer.

 

Her unique background experience explains her passion for novel research to improve cancer outcomes for Culturally and Linguistically Diverse communities in Australia.

 

A/Prof Kerrie McDonald is the Chair of the Cure Brain Cancer Neuro-oncology Group at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre, UNSW. She runs a team of 11 scientists and students working on personalised medicine where they are matching drugs to the patients’ tumour genome. The group specialise in biomarker development for use in pre-clinical and clinical trials.

 

Prof Anna Nowak is an academic Medical Oncologist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western Australia, and Professor of Medicine in the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Western Australia.

Prof Nowak’s clinical and research interests are in malignant pleural mesothelioma and neuro-oncology, with a PhD in tumor immunology and post-doctoral fellowship in clinical trials research giving her a niche as a ‘bench to bedside’ researcher who has implemented findings from her laboratory into first-in-man clinical trials. She has been a member of COGNO since its inception and her research in high grade glioma focuses on active participation in clinical trials and collaboration on psychosocial research questions, as well as being co-chair of the AGOG tissue banking and genetic epidemiology project. In her association with COGNO, she is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee, and is currently the Australian PI of the EORTC CATNON clinical trial, and Trial Management Committee Member of the CABARET study. She has been site principal investigator of numerous clinical trials in high grade glioma at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital. She has been the lead Principal Investigator of a number of investigator-iniated or NHMRC funded clinical trials and clinical research projects in mesothelioma. Prof Nowak sees around 100 new patients a year with high grade glioma, and is committed to maximizing participation of these patients in clinical research.

 

 

Dr Sarah Olson is a VMO neurosurgeon at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Mater Hospitals and Greenslopes Hospital. She is the supervisor of training and chair of the multidisciplinary clinic. She is extensively involved in teaching programs for residents and neurosurgery trainees.

 

 

She has organised a state wide brain tumour banking service in Queensland the first of its kind with recurrent funding. Six hospitals are involved with all brain tumours, metastases and pituitary tumours being banking. Dr Olson is involved in the Gamma knife program at Princess Alexandra Hospital and has published extensively in neurosurgery.

 

A/Prof Tamara Ownsworth is a clinical neuropsychologist with 18 years of clinical and research experience in the brain injury field. She is based in the School of Applied Psychology at Griffith University and is a member of the Griffith Health Institute. Tamara’s main research interests relate to the neuropsychological and psychosocial effects of neurological disorders, such as traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain tumour. She is President-Elect of the Australasian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment and a Chief Investigator in the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Brain Recovery.

 

Dr Mark Pinkham BM BCh MA(Hons)(Oxon) FRANZCR is a recently appointed Staff Specialist in Radiation Oncology at Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane specialising in neuro-oncology, melanoma and stereotactic radiosurgery.  He graduated from Oxford University in 2005 and completed an 18-month Fellowship in neuro-oncology at Christie Hospital, UK in June 2015.

Dr Thomas Robertson is Director of Neuropathology for Pathology Queensland and a consutlant senior medical officer for the Lady Cilento Childrens' Hospital, Princess Alexandra Hospital and Forensic and Scientific Services in Queensland. He is also a senior lecturer in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Pathology at the University of Queensland.

 

Dr Michael Rodriguez is a neuropathologist based in Sydney.  After completing his anatomical pathology training in Sydney and post fellowship training in neuropathology in Western Australia he spent the next decade in the USA, for 5 years as a research fellow with Prof Elias Lazarides in the Division of Biology at Caltech working on possible animal models for Alzheimer’s disease and subsequently at USC School of Medicine as a Visiting Assistant Professor of Research Pathology, as a Clinical Fellow in Pathology at Harvard Medical School and as a Research Fellow in Medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital characterizing brain degeneration mutants in the developing zebrafish brain. While in the US he also completed training and board certification in anatomical pathology and neuropathology.  He subsequently returned to Sydney and until recently worked as a neuropathologist for the Department of Forensic Medicine.  He is currently a consultant neuropathologist at St Vincent’s Hospital, Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney Children’s Hospital and Douglass Hanly Moir Pathology.  He is a Clinical Senior Lecturer at Macquarie University and an Honorary Associate of the University of Sydney.

Michael is passionate about fostering high quality diagnosis in surgical and autopsy neuropathology and has collaborated in tissue-based research projects in a number of fields including human neurogenesis, SIDS research, neurovirology, neuromuscular disorders, neuro oncology and neurodegenerative diseases.  He is a member of the NSW neuro-oncology group and serves on a number of committees including the RCPA Anatomical Pathology Advisory Committee and the NSW Tissue Resource Centre Management Committee.
 

Prof Stephen Rose

Dr Jodi Saunus is a Senior Research Fellow based at the UQ Centre for Clinical Research, Royal Brisbane Hospital Campus (Herston, Australia). She was awarded a PhD from the University of Queensland in 2006 in the fields of molecular biology and cancer gene regulation, and now works in molecular breast pathology under the mentorship of Prof Sunil Lakhani. She has published in prominent medical research journals including Cancer Research, Nature Communications and The Journal of Pathology.

Her research focuses on identifying new ways to improve the management of patients with brain metastases in the future, and as such is multidisciplinary and highly collaborative in nature. This program of work includes identifying mechanisms of brain metastasis development and novel therapeutic targets (particularly focused on personalised therapy and drug repositioning), using in vitro and in vivo models of metastatic brain tumour development, genomic and transcriptomic analysis of brain metastases and analysis of therapeutic antibody uptake in experimental and human brain metastases.

 

Dr Geoff Schembri

Prof John Simes is Senior Principal Research Fellow and Director of the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre (CTC), University of Sydney. He is undertaking clinical trials research, with particular interest in clinical trials in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neonatal medicine. His research interests include clinical trials methodology and integrating trial evidence with the goal of improving clinical practice and health outcomes. He is the Director of the Sydney Catalyst translational research centre, a virtual centre of cancer researchers in central Sydney and regional NSW.  Additionally, he is a member of the Interim Executive that formed in 2012 to drive the development of the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (ACTA).  Professor John Simes practices as a medical oncologist in neuro-oncology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. He has been awarded the Cancer Achievement Award by the Medical Oncology Group of Australia and the Distinguished Harvard Alum Award (Biostatistics) from Harvard University. He is a member of several research committees, trials groups and boards, including cancer cooperative groups and safety and data monitoring committees.