A/Prof 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. A/Prof 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.

She is the current chair of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA) Neuro-oncology group and is the current chair of COGNO, and member of the Scientific Advisory Committee.

 

Deputy Chair

 

Clinical Prof Rosemary Harrup FRACP FRCPA trained in Medical Oncology and Clinical and Laboratory Haematology, completing a dual Fellowship in 2000. She has been Head of Department Medical Oncology and Haematology (including the Cancer Clinical Trials Unit) at the Royal Hobart Hospital (RHH) since 2009.  External to the RHH she is a member of the board of the Cancer Council of Tasmania, the Tasmanian Cancer Registry Advisory Group and the RHH Research Foundation Scientific and Advisory Committee.  She is a Tasmanian representative on the National Cancer Expert Reference Group (NCERG).  She has a strong interest in clinical research particularly in the areas of Neuro-Oncology, Malignant Haematology and Late Effects and has been the local PI for COGNO trials.   She is the immediate Past Chair of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia Incorporated (MOGA), the peak national body for the Australian Medical Oncology profession, having served as Chair (2014-2016) and is currently Treasurer. She has a successful track record of collaboration with AYA colleagues throughout Australia on a project of national importance assessing and documenting the Patterns of Care, treatment experiences and outcomes of all Australian AYA AML, ALL, CNS, bone and soft tissue sarcoma (National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia (NHMRC) project grant 1012250 and grants from CanTeen and The Kids’ Cancer Project).

Treasurer

 

 

A/Prof Halkett completed her PhD in December 2005 at the University of South Australia. She is a qualified radiation therapist and practiced as a radiation therapist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital until 2005 when she moved to Perth. In 2007, Georgia received her Fellowship of the Institute of Radiography.

 

Associate Professor Liz Hovey
Secretary

 

A/Prof 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 currently COGNO’s Secretary/Operations Executive Member, and was previously Chair of COGNO’s SAC (Scientific Advisory Committee). 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 current Co-Chair of the NSW Neuro-oncology Group (alongside Dr Parkinson) at the NSW Cancer Institute. 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-Oncology” (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. She was the Co-Convenor of the 2016 COGNO-ASNO ASM (& was also Convenor of the 2009 COGNO-COSA ASM).

She is the Australian CIA for the CODEL study for oligodendroglioma patients (which secured Cancer Australia/NSWCC funding) and is one of the CI’s for the upcoming Adult Medulloblastoma study  (with CANTEEN funding) including participating in the International Steering Committee. She was the NSW CI on the NHMRC grant for the previous EORTC Low Grade Glioma Study.

 

 

Dr Hamish Alexander is Neurosurgeon and Spine Surgeon based in Brisbane, Australia. Dr Alexander is a Consultant Neurosurgeon and Director of the Kenneth G Jamieson Neurosurgery Department, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and in private practice with BrizBrain & Spine. He is a senior lecturer in the Department of Medicine, University of Queensland and a clinical associate with the Sid Faithful Brain Cancer Laboratory, QIMR Berghofer. Dr Alexander is the current vice president of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia. Dr Alexander completed his specialist neurosurgical training in New Zealand and Australia having earned undergraduate degrees in neuroscience and medicine at Otago University, NZ. He attained Fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2016 Neuro-oncology is the key focus of Dr Alexander’s clinical and research work.

 

He was awarded an M.Phil degree from the University of Queensland in 2015 for research on Immunotherapy for Glioblastoma and subsequently undertook a neurosurgical-oncology fellowship at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, USA in 2016-17. He has been a Member of COGNO since 2013 and served as the co-convenor of the ASM in 2022. Dr Alexander also has keen interests in neurotrauma, bio-fabrication and skull base/pituitary surgery.

 

Narelle Dickinson is an Aged and Disability Team Leader with a demonstrated history of understanding client’s needs and skilled in fostering positive relationships, operational and research strategies and maintaining open lines of communication. Narelle joined COGNO as a Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP) member in 2015 and took on the position of CAP Chair in late 2023. 

 

Graduating from Deakin University in Nursing, she worked in Aged Care facilities and later completed her diploma in Quality and Auditing. She wanted to play a role in assessing and ensuring the quality of aged care services. With a focus on maintaining high standards, identifying areas for enhancement, and supporting positive outcomes for elderly residents. She is currently leading a team in providing services to clients in their homes.

 

Narelle’s interest began when her husband was diagnosed with stage 4 Glioblastoma in June 2009. She took time off to help him through his treatment and spent time researching his condition and looking for potential trials. When he passed away, Narelle was given the opportunity to be part of CAP where members have all been touched by brain cancer and understand the consumer perspective. Narelle believes that the CAP plays an important role through their input and consumer reviews for COGNO trials, putting consumers at the front of mind in research for brain cancer. 

Dr Lucy Gately

 

Dr. Lucy Gately is an accomplished neuro-oncologist and early-career researcher, currently serving as the Head of Neuro-oncology, Cancer Genetics, and Clinical Innovation at Alfred Health. She is also an early-career researcher in the Personalised Oncology Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. Dr. Gately holds a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) from the University of Melbourne, where she focused her research on neuro-oncology, specifically investigating biomarkers for long-term survival and survivorship in patients with glioblastoma. Her work has led to novel findings in both clinical and translational research, as well as in qualitative studies.

 

Dr. Gately's research has garnered significant recognition, including the award of a Melbourne University Research Scholarship, a St Vincent’s Research Endowment Fund and a Victorian Cancer Agency Early Career Fellowship for her pioneering contributions to neuro-oncology. These include: the BRAIN Registry, representing the largest comprehensive clinical and translational database in Australia and an invaluable research infrastructure; the world’s first Phase III registry trial in neuro-oncology; and BIOBRAIN, an innovative multi-site project establishing a standardized pipeline for access to fresh tissue, the creation of organoid models, and omics and drug assays—matched to individual patient clinical data. In addition to her clinical and research leadership, Dr. Gately is an active member of the Brain Cancer Centre (BCC) and serves on the Operations Committee for the flagship Brain-Perioperative Program (BrainPOP). She is deeply committed to patient education and advocacy, having worked extensively with Cancer Council Victoria to improve the quality of information and support available to patients and their families.

Professor Hui Gan

 

Dr Lee is a Medical Oncologist and Network Director of Physician Training at Royal North Shore Hospital and Genesis Care. He has clinical and research interests in neuro-oncology, head and neck and genitourinary cancers. He is currently an Executive Member of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA) and Chair of the State Committee in the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (RACP).

Dr Lee is part of a global team with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre, New York in furthering research in liquid biopsies of solid tumours. His other research interests are in malignant brain tumours and clotting which are conducted through the Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory at the Kolling Institute, University of Sydney. He was previously a recipient of a Rebecca Cooper Foundation Scholarship and has also received funding from Sydney Vital Translational Cancer Research. Dr Lee is also a visiting medical officer at Armidale Hospital where he supervises and co-ordinates the care of general oncology patients in the Armidale region.

He has been the Senior Medical Registrar at Royal North Shore Hospital (2012 -2013). In addition, Dr Lee is also heavily involved with teaching of medical students at the Sydney Medical School – both in clinical tutorials, lectures and examination and basic science research projects.

 

Associate Professor Kerryn Pike is a Clinical Neuropsychologist and Associate Professor in the School of Applied Psychology at Griffith University, Gold Coast, Queensland, Australia. She also holds an adjunct position at La Trobe University (Melbourne). Kerryn is particularly interested in translating evidence-based neuropsychological interventions into clinical practice and Chairs the International Neuropsychological Society (INS)’s Special Interest Group on Neuropsychological Interventions, and the Australian Dementia Network (ADNeT) Cognitive Interventions Working Party. She also leads the cancer related cognitive impairment subgroup of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer (MASCC) Neurological Complications Study Group and was on the 2023 COGNO ASM committee. Kerryn is one of the founders of the LaTCH memory management group program, designed to improve the everyday memory of people with mild cognitive impairment.

 

She has adapted this for people with cancer and led the cognitive intervention arm of the Brain Cancer Mission Survivorship funded BRAINS program. This involved conducting a randomised controlled trial of LaTCH for people with brain tumours. As part of this study, unmet supportive care needs related to cognition became evident, as did the limited knowledge and training of health professionals in how to identify and manage these needs. Kerryn aims to address these gaps in future research. If elected to the COGNO management committee, Kerryn would advocate for any opportunities to incorporate supportive care within trials.

Dr Laveniya Satgunaseelan

 

I am an anatomical and molecular pathologist, working full time in the Department of Neuropathology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. My main role is in the provision of molecular neuropathology services. Locally, I am the current secretary/treasurer of the Australia and New Zealand Society of Neuropathology, member of the Royal College of Pathologists Australasia (RCPA) Quality Assurance Program (QAP) for Neuropathology and co-convenor of the Neuropathology club in the Australasian Division of the International Academy of Pathology. I am an active member of the National Institute of Health (NIH) Clinical Genome Resource, where I co-chair both the Solid Tumour Taskforce and Histone H3 Somatic Cancer Variant Curation Expert Panel.

 

I also serve as editor of the CNS chapter of the Compendium of Cancer Genomic Aberrations (CCGA), a collaborative project with the WHO International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC). I am passionate about the provision of high-quality brain tumour diagnostics, and equity of access to cancer genomic services. Accurate brain tumour diagnosis is critical to neuro-oncology, which now increasingly involves molecular testing techniques.

I therefore believe neuropathology representation on the COGNO Management Committee is important, and given my background in molecular pathology, that I would have valuable contributions to make.

Dr James Whittle

 

Dr James Whittle is a Medical Oncologist in Neuro-oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and postdoctoral research fellow at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. He qualified in medicine at the University of Western Australia, and subsequently undertook specialty training in Melbourne at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Box Hill Hospital. He completed his PhD at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute focussing on understanding resistance to cell death in breast cancer. 

 

His clinical and research interests include drug development and novel clinical trial design. Dr Whittle has a particular interest in Adolescents and Young Adults Neuro-oncology where he collaborates closely with Paediatric Neuro-oncology colleagues. 

 

He is the Immediate Past Chair for the Young Oncologists Group of Australia (YOGA).