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INTERNATIONAL SPEAKERS
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PROFESSOR SUSAN CHANG
Susan Chang, MD, is the Director of the Neuro-Oncology Division at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF), and she specializes in the treatment of adults with brain tumors. Dr. Chang received a medical degree from the University of British Columbia and completed a residency in internal medicine at Toronto General Hospital in Canada. She completed a fellowship in medical oncology at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto as well as a fellowship in neuro-oncology at the UCSF, where she later joined the faculty.
Dr. Chang performs clinical trials about brain tumor therapy protocols and experimental therapeutic regimens for adult patients. In addition to research into developing novel and effective therapeutic strategies for the treatment of patients with primary brain tumors, her research goals have expanded to include the evaluation of novel imaging techniques that may influence treatment selection for patients. She has recently been co-recipient of a SPORE grant for evaluating the role of magnetic resonance spectroscopy in diagnosing tumors and evaluating therapeutic interventions.
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DR MICHAEL VOGELBAUM
Michael A. Vogelbaum, MD, PhD, FACS, has been a member of the professional Staff in the Cleveland Clinic’s Department of Neurological Surgery since 1999. A graduate of the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Va., he received his specialty training in neurosurgery at the Barnes-Jewish Hospital, St. Louis, Mo. He is board-certified in neurological surgery.
Specializing in the diagnosis and treatment of benign and malignant tumors of the brain and spinal cord, Dr. Vogelbaum also is interested in stereotactic (image-guided) surgery, Gamma Knife therapy and the molecular biology of brain tumors. He has joint appointments with the Cleveland Clinic Gamma Knife Center and the Lerner Research Institute’s Department of Cancer Biology. He is Associate Director of the Brain Tumor and NeuroOncology Center and Director of the Center for Translational Therapeutics at Cleveland Clinic.
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In addition to his clinical duties, Dr. Vogelbaum is an active and enthusiastic Research Scientist. He was the recipient of the prestigious American Association of Neurological Surgeons Young Clinician Investigator Award, and receives support and funding from the American Cancer Society, the National Institutes of Health and the Wolf Family Foundation. He and the members of his research laboratory are presently investigating new approaches for the treatment of primary and metastatic brain tumors.
Dr. Vogelbaum also has an active clinical research program and is a Co-Chair of the Brain Tumor Committee and Chair of the Neurosurgery subcommittee for the Radiation Therapy Oncology Group (RTOG). He has submitted patents for new devices for drug delivery to the brain and is currently involved in the clinical development of the first of these devices. Finally, he is currently the Vice President of the Society for NeuroOncology (SNO).
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AUSTRALIAN SPEAKERS
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DR PAUL THOMAS
Dr Paul Thomas is Assistant Director of the Queensland PET Service, based at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. He is a consultant nuclear medicine physician and PET specialist who undertook fellowship training at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and PET training at the Clinical PET Centre at St Thomas’ Hospital in London. The Queensland PET service synthesises specialty PET tracers to interrogate tumour biology including proliferation, somatostatin receptor and hypoxia tracers, and is the only PET centre in the country to synthesise FDOPA, a superior tracer to conventional FDG PET for imaging glioma.
He is involved in HNMRC funded trials examining FDOPA PET and advanced MR imaging of human gliomas, as well as multiplexed PET and MR imaging of gliomas in animal models. One of the collaboration partners is the eHealth group of CSIRO with whom he is developing advanced analytical models of assessing brain tumour growth and therapy response.
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DR KATHRYN FIELD
Dr Kathryn Field is a medical oncologist and clinical research fellow from the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Ludwig Institute For Cancer Research, Parkville Branch. Her areas of interest are in neuro-oncology and colorectal cancer research.
She is currently completing her postgraduate Doctor of Medical Science through the University of Melbourne, and is the Australian Principal Investigator for the CABARET clinical trial for recurrent glioblastoma.
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DR RASHA COSMAN
Dr Rasha Cosman graduated from UNSW and is currently a third year medical oncology trainee having trained at St George and Prince of Wales Hospitals. She attended ACORD in 2010 and has looked after trial patients in the clinical setting throughout her training. Rasha looks forward to widening her research experience this year by being involved in clinical trials at their various stages from concept development to reporting.
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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MEERA AGAR
Associate Professor Meera Agar is the Director of Palliative Care, Braeside Hospital, HammondCare, Sydney. She is also the research lead for the South West Sydney Palliative Care Clinical Trials unit and the Clinical trials director, Ingham Institute of Applied Medical Research. Her research interests include delirium in advanced cancer, dementia end-of-life care, pharmacological and health service randomised controlled trials in palliative care and neuro-oncology supportive and palliative care research. She is the Chair of ImPACCT (Improving Palliative Care through Clinical Trials), the NSW collaborative trials group in palliative care.
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DR GAIL RYAN
Dr Gail Ryan is a radiation oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. Her particular areas of interest are extranodal lymphomas, particularly cutaneous, and primary and secondary brain tumours. She developed the brain stereotactic radiotherapy program at Peter Mac, and is an experienced clinical triallist, with a longstanding association with the EORTC Brain Tumour Group. She was the local chair for the landmark EORTC Phase III study of Concomitant and Adjuvant Temozolomide for Glioblastoma multiforme, and is the chair for the current EORTC low-grade glioma study.
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DR MICHAEL FAY
Dr Michael Fay is a Radiation Oncologist and Director of Research for the Division of Oncology, Royal Brisbane and Women's Hospital. He is dual trained in Medical and Radiation Oncology. His research interests are in lung and neuro-oncology. He is co-chair of the Elderly GBM study (TROG 08.02) and has a particular interest in novel functional imaging approaches to brain tumours.
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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR MICHAEL BACK
Associate Professor Michael Back is Director of Radiation Oncology for the Northern Sydney Cancer Centre at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney. His research interests include implementation of sophisticated radiation therapy techniques for patients with high grade glioma. He is a member of the COGNO National Clinical Trial Committee for the EORTC CATNON Study.
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DR ENG-SIEW KOH
Dr Koh is a consultant Radiation Oncologist based at Liverpool Cancer Therapy Centre, Liverpool Hospital, NSW. She qualified in Medicine at the University of Adelaide then completed her specialty training at Westmead Hospital. She undertook a three year Fellowship at the Princess Margaret Hospital, and the Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto, Canada, in the areas of adult and paediatric neuro-oncology and stereotactic radiotherapy, and also haematologic and breast malignancies.
Her clinical and research interests include neuro-oncology imaging, cognitive and behavioural sequelae in brain tumours, and clinical neuro-oncology care coordination. Dr Koh has a particular research interest in cancer survivorship and the study of late effects of cancer treatment in both adult and paediatric cancer patients, in particular, the induction of secondary malignancy.
She is the current chair of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA) Neuro-oncology group and is a member of the COGNO Scientific and Management Advisory Committees.
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DR KERRIE McDONALD
Dr Kerrie McDonald is the Chair of the Cure For Life Neuro-oncology Group at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre, UNSW. She runs a team of 11 scientists and students working on better understanding tumour resistance and subsequent tumour relapse. Specifically, her group is using proteomics techniques to discover predictive biomarkers of treatment, examining the biology of tumours which have recurred after treatment, exploring sphingolipid biology and its contribution to disease resistance, glioma migration and testing novel drugs at tumour relapse.
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DR BRETT STRINGER
Dr Brett Stringer is a medical graduate of the University of Queensland. He was awarded a PhD in 2001. He is a founding member of the Brain Cancer Research Unit at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research where he has an interest in glioblastoma and brain metastases.
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ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR TERRY JOHNS
After completing a PhD in 1993 at Monash University, where he worked on interferon and melanoma, A/Prof Johns joined Prof Claude Bernard's multiple sclerosis group. During his time there, he developed a new animal model of multiple sclerosis that remains the gold standard today. In 1998, A/Prof Johns commenced at the Ludwig Institute in Melbourne and went on to establish the Oncogenic Signalling Laboratory. The main focus of the laboratory was the development of antibodies that target receptors important to the survival and growth of cancer. Of particular note was the development of mAb 806, a cancer-specific antibody directed to the EGFR that has been licensed to Abbot. A/Prof Johns joined Monash University in March 2008, moving his laboratory with him. He continues to develop novel therapeutic antibodies designed to treat cancer. He has an emphasis on glioma and receptor tyrosine kinase networks.
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Ms Marcia Fleet
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.
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DR TAMARA OWNSWORTH
Dr Tamara Ownsworth is a clinical neuropsychologist with over 16 years of clinical and research experience in the brain injury field. She is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Applied Psychology at Griffith University in Brisbane, Australia. Tamara previously managed a community-based brain injury rehabilitation service and was a NHMRC Post-Doctoral Fellow. She is on the Editorial Boards of Neuropsychological Rehabilitation and Brain Impairment and is a Chief Investigator for the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence on Traumatic Brain Injury Psychosocial Rehabilitation. Tamara is on the committee for the World Federation of Neurorehabilitation’s Special Interest Group in Neuropsychological Rehabilitation and the National Committee for the Australian Society for the Study of Brain Impairment. Her key research interests relate to psychological adjustment and rehabilitation for people with traumatic brain injury, stroke and brain tumour.
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MS DIANNE LEGGE
Ms Dianne Legge is the Brain Tumour Support Officer at Austin Health in Melbourne, supporting and resourcing patients and families of those affected by the diagnosis of a primary brain tumour. Originally trained as an Occupational Therapist, Dianne has had over 20 years experience in Australia and the United States, with a range of clinical populations including acquired brain injury & neurology, aged care & psychiatry. Over this time, she has worked as a clinician, educator and service manager, gaining a wealth of experience and expertise in direct service provision with groups, individuals and the wider community.
Dianne has been in her current role at Austin Health Cancer Services since 2009, and has been instrumental in developing the brain tumour support service to provide a comprehensive range supportive care, including individual support & referral, monthly support group, an education program especially targeted to brain tumour patients, and regular evening forums for carers. She is currently working on a number of projects looking to improve supportive care service provision for young people diagnosed with a brain tumour, and ways of supporting & resourcing regional health care clinicians working with brain tumour patients. Her key interest areas relate to psychological adjustment and carer/family support.
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DR GAIL ROBINSON
Dr Gail Robinson has been a clinical neuropsychologist for more than 18 years engaged in clinical practice and research. Her experience was primarily gained in London at the National Hospital of Neurology and Neurosurgery where she was involved in both diagnostic and rehabilitation services for neurological and neurosurgical patients. Since 2010 she has been a Senior Lecturer in the School of Psychology at The University of Queensland and is currently the director of the Clinical Neuropsychology specialty of the Clinical Psychology Doctoral training programme. Her research is focussed on understanding brain-behaviour relations and the effects of brain damage on cognitive functions due to a variety of pathologies, including brain tumour and stroke. She is currently an ARC DECRA research fellow investigating the critical frontal executive processes involved in the translation of ideas into speech.
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DR MUSTAFA KHASRAW
Dr. Mustafa Khasraw is a consultant medical oncologist at Andrew Love Cancer Centre in Geelong and an honorary medical oncologist at the Royal Melbourne Hospital in Melbourne. He is also a research fellow and a senior clinical lecturer at Deakin University, School of Medicine. After his medical oncology training in Sydney he undertook an oncology fellowship in the US at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. His fellowship was both in neuro-oncology and in breast cancer where he participated in design and conduct of clinical and translational studies.
He is currently involved in numerous collaborative research projects across different tumor streams. He focuses on clinical investigation of novel chemotherapeutic and targeted agents in the treatment of cancer. Over the last 2 years he has been the first author of more than 20 manuscripts and book chapters and he acts as a reviewer for a number of scientific journals.
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DR MATTHEW FOOTE
Dr Matthew Foote is a consultant radiation oncologist at The Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane. After a fellowship in neuro-oncology and stereotactic radiotherapy in Canada, he now sub-specialises in neuro-oncology, melanoma and head and neck cancer. He is actively involved in clinical trials being Chairperson of an international Phase III trial for neurotropic melanoma as well as Principal Investigator of a number of institutional Phase II trials. He has a translational research interest in advanced cutaneous SCC and melanoma and has an affiliate position at the Diamantina Institute, University of Queensland. He also has an interest in developing and implementing evolving technologies into routine practice for radiation oncology. He is an active member of COGNO, TROG, ANZHNS and ANZMTG.
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