Our 2023 Research Conference: Beyond the Breakthroughs is fast approaching, and I encourage you to register now at the early bird rate for what will be an incredibly special two days.
What makes this conference so exciting is that it is Australia’s only cancer conference that is truly comprehensive and builds together all the components of cancer control, from discovery science through to clinical trials, translational research, AI in health, population health and equity.
Many cancer researchers don’t take up the opportunity of learning about all the aspects of cancer control and how they in fact come together to drive better cancer outcomes. This presents a fantastic opportunity.
For researchers in cancer prevention, there is growing recognition of the potential for molecularly defined interventions to prevent cancer, so all cancer researchers need to be thinking about the full breadth of cancer control and how their own work and innovation can benefit patients more quickly.
I’m personally very excited to hear from keynote speaker Professor Charlie Swanton from the Crick Institute in London, whose seminal paper in Nature discovering the mechanisms by which air pollution can cause cancer achieved global attention earlier this year.
Early bird registrations close at 11.59pm tonight. You can register here and view the full program.
I want to thank everyone from across the alliance for your valuable contributions to our next strategy, which is shaping up as a real maturation of the work of the alliance focussing on patient impact for all Victorians.
From senior leaders through to everyone who has attended our information and consultation sessions, your input has been highly valued and gives us a great opportunity to increase our impact and shift the dial on the biggest problems in cancer.
Underpinning our strategic planning is the strength of our alliance members, both individually and as a collective. I was thrilled to see the University of Melbourne now ranked 14th in the world in the 2024 QS World University Rankings. This is the highest-ever global ranking of an Australian tertiary institution in the annual QS rankings and provides a great base to build on the momentum in Victoria and indeed across the alliance, given all the members of the alliance contribute to that standing.
I would like to pay special mention to my friend and colleague Professor Richard Scolyer AO, who has been so brave in publicly documenting his fight with aggressive glioblastoma. Not many Australians are the undisputed world leader in their discipline, but Richard is just that in melanoma pathology, and I’ve been privileged to publish 14 papers with Richard.
The power of the cancer leader as a patient advocate for change is just huge. Richard has embraced the fact that outcomes for glioblastoma are poor and there needs to be major innovation in treatment. He is such a powerful voice for change and his journey highlights the critical work going on in the Brain Cancer Centre at WEHI.
What Richard is doing, supported by his close friend and colleague Professor Georgina Long AO, is so exhilarating to me because it’s a hugely visible example of how innovation can occur between different areas. When you have two of the country’s top melanoma experts thinking about what could be done differently in brain cancer, it sends a pretty powerful message about the potential of collaboration, and that way of thinking is very much at the heart of what we want to achieve at the VCCC Alliance.
Richard, we all thank you for your advocacy, and the entire VCCC Alliance is with you all the way.
Professor Grant McArthur AO
Executive Director
