Congratulations to Professor Linda Mileshkin, interim Director of Medical Oncology at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, who has been named the recipient of the 2021 Melbourne Business School (MBS), Jo Leonard Memorial Scholarship.
The $ 8,500 residential scholarship, offered to senior female leaders from the VCCC Alliance working in cancer research, is inspired by Jo Leonard, a long-standing and valued member of the MBS who died from ovarian cancer in August 2016.
Jo joined the MBS in 1999 supporting Executive Education programs as a facilitator and executive coach and worked with many public and private sector clients. She was a key facilitator for the MBS Centre for Creative Leadership (CCL) programs.
The scholarship enables participation in the MBS Women in Senior Leadership Program, a program designed to develop women aspiring to the highest levels of management, in the company of talented, like-minded leaders from a wide range of sectors and industries.
A diverse group of women from across the VCCC Alliance applied for the six-day on-campus program that aims to support senior women to develop the skills and understanding to lead in medium to large enterprises.
Professor Mileshkin is a medical oncologist and a clinical researcher with a key interest in the treatment of lung and gynaecological cancers, as well as the supportive care of people affected by cancer. As interim Director of Medical Oncology at Peter Mac, she has clinical and educational leadership roles with administrative oversight of multiple hospital committees.
She leads large programs of research into gynaecological cancer and Cancer of Unknown Primary. She is the research lead for the gynaecological cancer trial team within the Parkville Cancer Clinical Trials Unit and holds multiple national and international Chair and steering group positions.
In a first for Peter Mac, and possibly Australia, Professor Mileshkin was a guest presenter at the 2021 American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Meeting, Plenary Session sharing findings from the randomised phase III OUTBACK Trial. The OUTBACK trial looked at adjuvant chemotherapy following chemoradiation as the primary treatment for locally advanced cervical cancer compared to chemoradiation alone. It provided evidence that the addition of chemotherapy after chemoradiation does not extend survival, thereby sparing patients the side effects and toxicity that comes with additional chemotherapy.
Among the presenters in the MBS Women in Senior Leadership Program is Melbourne Business School Professorial Fellow Amanda Sinclair who was recently appointed to the NHMRC Women In Health Science Committee, a national body that aims to lift barriers for female researchers in the health and medical sciences in Australia.
“I am looking forward to meeting other women who are navigating barriers and challenges in their workplaces and to expanding my abilities in areas of organisational leadership, such as fiscal management, negotiation and futures planning. These are areas I haven’t had as much exposure to in my career,” said Professor Mileshkin.
“I’m also keen to explore some of the universal themes that women encounter at more senior levels and look at how I can implement more and broader pathways for other women across the teams I manage and mentor,” she said.
Professor Mileshkin will undertake the program in October this year.
