Clinical Translational Network celebrates 10 years of collaboration

VCCC Alliance Research and Education Leads have celebrated 10 years of significant achievements in cancer research, education and advocacy – by experts collaborating across health services, medical research institutes and universities.  

Now known as the Clinical Translational Network, the Research and Education Lead program launched in 2015 with three Leads: Prof Grant MacArthur AO, Melanoma and Skin Cancer; Prof Jon Emery, Primary Care and Prof Andrew Roberts AM, Haematology.  

The network came together with Leads past and present, VCCC Alliance staff and Board members, to mark the significant occasion on Tuesday September 2. 

Prof McArthur said he was proud that 64 per cent of leadership positions across the network are now held by women. Of 21 Research and Education Leads, 11 are men and 10 are women. Meanwhile, 12 of 13 Deputy Lead positions are women.  

Reflecting on the network’s inception, Prof Roberts said it had brought good people together and reduced silos between cancer services and institutions.

He said the Blood Cancer Forum established during his tenure was still going strong today, and about to also mark its 10-year anniversary.  

He said the ambitious goals set for the inaugural Leads by former Executive Director of the alliance, Prof Jim Bishop AO, were to:  

• Embed international and local research into clinical practice
• Develop and harmonise high quality, VCCC Alliance-wide research and educational activities 
• Establish the framework for post-graduate education and training to underpin excellence
• Increase the use of integrated research and clinical data across VCCC Alliance members 
• Establish a framework to promote multi-site clinical trials 

Keynote speaker A/Prof Kalinda Griffiths, the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Research and Education Lead appointed, said the role “gave Aboriginal health a dedicated place within the Alliance’s leadership structure – a signal that equity was not an afterthought, but a strategic priority”. 

“In this role, I worked to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were not just represented in conversations about cancer research and care, but that the priorities that we had been arguing for across systems over the past 25 years of Indigenous cancer research were shaping the very direction of the translational work being undertaken.” (Read her full speech here - link) 

Key achievements of the program over the past 10 years include:  

• Over 3,000 participants engaged in the Cancer Survivorship for Primary Care Practitioners Massive Online Open Courses and workshops
• Research opportunities such as VACCHO-led Lung Cancer Screening pilot, Sarcoma and Primary Care data linkage (via PATRON)
• Leadership and advocacy: Lung Cancer, Primary Care and Cancer Nursing leads were all members of the National Lung Cancer Screening Program expert advisory committee
• Record attendance of 200+ at the Oral and Oropharyngeal Cancer symposium, driven by community dental professionals
• $25 million in competitive research grant opportunities secured, includinging MRFF and NHMRC 
• $5.4 million awarded for multidisciplinary research project PRECEPT – Prostate Cancer Prognosis and Treatment
• Low and Intermediate Grade Glioma Umbrella Study (LUMOS) 2 – Clinical trial for relapsed Grade 2/3 glioma
• Hi-Fi Mel study: impact of dietary modification to a high-fibre diet prior to neoadjuvant immunotherapy on treatment outcomes in melanoma
• Four summits delivered since 2019 to foster collaboration across Research and Education Leads and the broader network.