Peter Mac and the VCCC Alliance are delighted to announce the appointment of Dr Stephanie Best - Senior Research Lead: Implementation Science, to a leadership position spanning the two organisations. Dr Best will be based in Peter Mac’s Department of Health Services Research from 28 March.
Through the dual appointment, Dr Best’s primary focus will be on facilitating a learning health systems approach in cancer treatment and care at an exciting time for both organisations and the cancer sector more broadly. She will join other clinical and research thought leaders at the forefront of leading meaningful practice change in the sector.
Principally she will be advising and designing implementation science methodologies and strategies, and leading key research projects for services and programs at Peter Mac and within the VCCC Alliance as part of the Alliance’s Distributed Leadership program. A key feature will be working with researchers to enable the delivery of strategic roadmaps for both organisations that aim to reduce the research evidence-practice gap.
Dr Best is currently a senior research fellow at the internationally renowned implementation science research institute, the Centre for Healthcare Resilience and Implementation Science (CHRIS), Australian Institute of Health Innovation (AIHI) in Sydney.
She brings 25 years of clinical and managerial experience in health care in the UK, NHS and overseas to her new roles. As an implementation scientist, she has a current focus on the introduction and integration of clinical genomics and other evidence-based programs and interventions into practice. Embedded with Australian Genomics Health Alliance, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, she leads the implementation science research stream.
Dr Best will play a critical role in driving transformational change programs across the VCCC Alliance, working closely with leading clinicians and researchers within the Distributed Leadership program.
“We are thrilled to collaborate with our colleagues at Peter Mac to appoint Stephanie to this newly created role so that we can transform cancer outcomes together,” said Dr Mark Buzza, Head of Research at the VCCC Alliance.
“Stephanie has an international reputation for leading key implementation science projects and will bring a unique perspective and strong leadership to the important practice change initiatives that we are implementing.”
Paying tribute to Stephanie’s expertise and credentials, Professor Karin Thursky, Associate Professor Health Services Research and Implementation Science, Peter Mac said, “There is a huge gap between what we learn through clinical research and general uptake of best practice. We want to help close this gap because it is so important for our patients. This appointment is a fantastic example of collaboration that will help us make a bigger difference across Victoria.”
Dr Best said she was thrilled to be joining leadership organisations that are committed to ensuring that the clinical evidence that is generated is then delivered in routine day-to-day practice. “I am keen to play a part in seeing equitable high-quality cancer care is provided across Victoria and am looking forward to working with the Victorian cancer community of clinicians, scientists, consumers amongst others.”
