The world of cancer research is always evolving, and the benefits of having an outlook beyond your discipline or tumour stream are huge. That’s what makes our research conference stand out.
With a wide-reaching two-day program, it is specifically designed to foster new collaborations, forge new connections and provide opportunities to mingle with other emerging and established leaders, innovators and changemakers in cancer.
I’m really delighted to be hosting Professor Charlie Swanton, a world leader in research to improve outcomes for lung cancer, the largest cause of cancer mortality, and something the VCCC Alliance is very committed to changing.
If you can’t attend the whole conference, I’d highly recommend booking a spot in one of our four pre-conference workshops, covering AI in cancer, practical genomics, clinical trials protocols and consumer involvement.
I’m also very excited to attend the Conference Dinner on Tuesday 12 September – it promises to be a wonderful night, hosted by comedian Brian Nankervis with live entertainment including a tribute to Olivia Newton-John from Dr Emma O’Brien OAM and the fabulous Royal Melbourne Hospital Scrub Choir. Seats are almost sold out, so register here before you miss out!
Our next Strategic Business Case is starting to take shape, with five pillars already identified as priorities: advancing research, data, consumer perspectives, equity, and supporting a world-class workforce.
We’ve been able to gather detailed input from over 200 people and seen significant interest across all five domains throughout the consultation period, really highlighting how we can work across the alliance to drive better outcomes for patients with cancer.
I’m looking forward to keeping you informed as the strategy takes shape, and my thanks again to everyone from across the alliance for your contributions to get us to this point.
Professor Jason Payne has been appointed the new CEO at Peter Mac. Professor Payne, who comes from a clinical background as a registered nurse, is currently Chief Executive (Health Services) at Mercy Health.
He has very significant experience in cancer as Divisional Director at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre at Austin Health, where he also had responsibility for the Ballarat radiation oncology site. Please join me in congratulating Professor Payne.
I was saddened to hear of the passing of Professor Tom Reeve AC CBE a fortnight ago.
I had the privilege of working with Tom as the leader of the world-leading Best Practice Guidelines in Cancer in Australia, and I learned so much from him.
It was such an honour to receive COSA’s Tom Reeve Award for Outstanding Contributions to Cancer Care in 2018, and I’m thrilled now to see Dr David Speakman OAM being this year's recipient.
Vale, Tom, and thank you for everything you did to improve and save the lives of people affected by cancer
Professor Grant McArthur AO
Executive Director
