Professor David Eisenstat joined The Royal Children’s Hospital as Director of the Children’s Cancer Centre, and the adjacent Murdoch Children’s Research Institute as Group Leader, Neuro-Oncology, in October 2020. He holds academic appointments as an Honorary Professorial Fellow in the Department of Paediatrics, University of Melbourne and as an Adjunct Clinical Professor, Department of Paediatrics, Monash University. Prof Eisenstat is a physician-scientist, focused on linking developmental biology to paediatric cancers. He obtained his MD from the University of Toronto in 1985 and completed 14 years of clinical and research postgraduate training in Anatomic Pathology, Paediatrics and Paediatric Haematology & Oncology (1986-1991, The Hospital for Sick Children, Toronto, Canada), Molecular Neuro-Oncology (1991-1994, University of California San Francisco/UCSF, USA), Developmental Neurobiology (1994-1997, UCSF, USA) and Neuro-Oncology (1998, University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, USA).
Professor Ron Firestein is Head of the Centre for Cancer Research at Hudson Institute of Medical Research and leads the Hudson-Monash Paediatric Precision Medicine Program (HMPPM Program). Prof Firestein is a physician scientist (MD/PhD), double board certified in Pathology (Anatomic and Molecular Genetics, USA Board of Pathology) specialising in Cancer Research, Oncology Translational Medicine and Oncology Drug Discovery and Biomarker Development.
Professor Firestein has over 12 years of experience leading both research and translational teams of more than 30 members and will provide executive leadership over the discovery research efforts of the Victorian Paediatric Cancer Consortium as well as leadership of the Next Generation Precision Oncology program based at Hudson Institute of Medical Research.
Prof Tracey Danaher is a social science researcher in the areas of business, marketing, quality improvement, and consumer behaviour, with a speciality in healthcare service research. Prof Danaher’s research focuses on understanding the customer experience, developing models of marketing effectiveness, and using marketing to improve consumer well-being. Since completing her PhD, which studied the experience of adult cancer patients, she has continued to pursue research into the patient experience/journey, healthcare service quality improvement, patient satisfaction, and their association with patient quality-of-life and well-being. Prof Danaher’s research has significantly impacted business practice, informing strategy and policy within large retail and healthcare organisations. She has consistently published in the highest- ranked journals in her parent discipline of marketing, including the Journal of Marketing Research, Journal of Marketing, Journal of Service Research. Finally, Tracey is on the board of the Children's Cancer Foundation and is the mother of a child who was diagnosed, treated and passed away from cancer.
