Breast Cancer Trials (BCT) is a world leading clinical trials research organisation, dedicated to finding new and better treatments and prevention strategies for people affected by this disease.
Our research program involves multicentre national and international clinical trials and brings together more than 835 researchers in 109 institutions throughout Australia and New Zealand. BCT has contributed to almost 1,230 peer reviewed publications and more than 16,800 women have participated in our breast cancer clinical trials.
The 2023 ASM will also host a number of internationally renowned guest speakers including key BCT researchers. Delegates include leading Australian and New Zealand medical practitioners and clinicians, and clinical trials management personnel.
The full and extensive program will include two days of scientific sessions covering timely reviews of breast cancer clinical trials, discussion of new protocols, future clinical trials research and other research developments.
We look forward to an in-person meeting, offering the opportunity for us all to connect in Auckland, New Zealand. For up to date information on COVID-19 in New Zealand, including travel requirements, click here.
Please note that the 2023 FIFA Women’s World Cup will be in Auckland from Thursday 20 July – Sunday 20 August 2023.
The Breast Cancer Trials ASM is not open to the general public to attend.
Attracting leading health professionals involved in the conduct of breast cancer clinical trials throughout Australia and New Zealand, the Breast Cancer Trials Annual Scientific Meeting is an important event to stay up-to-date on research and to network with colleagues.
Please note that the Trials Coordination Forum is primarily for Trial/Study Coordinators; not suitable for Pharmaceutical representatives.
Our New Concept Workshop will be held at the Annual Scientific Meeting (ASM) to provide an opportunity for Breast Cancer Trials (BCT) members and non-members to present new research ideas.
The workshop will be held at The Cordis, Auckland, and will involve a presentation of selected concepts, followed by discussion and feedback from the audience.
Join us on Wednesday 26 July from 5:30-7pm (NZST) at the Auckland War Memorial Museum for our next free Q&A event on the topic of Breast Cancer in Māori, Pasifika and Indigenous Communities. Click here for more information or to register.
Symposium 1 is sponsored by Pfizer, and is titled 'The Value of Real World Evidence in Supporting Clinical Decisions in ER+ HER2- Advanced Breast Cancer'.
Sponsored Lunch Symposium.
Please note, this meeting is for BCT members only.
The conference dinner is sponsored by AstraZeneca.
Symposium 1 is sponsored by Gilead, and is titled 'ADC's for HR+/HER2- Breast Cancer: The Time is Now!'
Symposium 2 is sponsored by MSD.
Chair of the German Breast Group (GBG), and Professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Goethe University of Frankfurt.
Professor Sibylle Loibl is Chair of the German Breast Group (GBG) and the Chief Executive Officer of the GBG Forschungs GmbH. She is a Professor of obstetrics and gynecology at the Goethe University of Frankfurt.
Professor Loibl gained a doctorate at the Ruprecht Karl University of Heidelberg and trained as a consultant in gynaecology and obstetrics at the women’s clinics of the university hospitals in Heidelberg and Frankfurt am Main.
She devotes most of her time to clinical research within the German Breast Group and clinical work at the Centre for Haematology and Oncology, Bethanien in Frankfurt. Professor Loibl has gained international renommée for her research in neoadjuvant breast cancer, breast cancer during pregnancy and breast cancer in young women.
She established the Translational Research Group within the German Breast Group and has headed numerous research projects. In addition, Prof. Dr. Loibl has been involved in conducting and managing a significant number of national and international, practice changing clinical trials.
She is author of more than 400 original and peer review articles and scientific papers; she has written numerous books and book chapters.
Chair of the BCT Board of Directors and Executive Director of Research and Senior Staff Specialist at Pathology Queensland.
He is a clinical diagnostic pathologist and also heads a research team comprising scientists and clinicians, ensuring a translational focus to the program.
His current research interests include lobular carcinoma and its variants, basal-like breast cancers and mechanisms and therapeutic developments of brain and distant metastases.
He was Series Editor of the 4th Edition WHO Tumour Classification Monographs and Volume Editor of the WHO 4th Ed Tumours of the Breast (2012) and standing member of the Board for the WHO 5th Edition (2017-2021).
He is the recipient of the Distinguished Pathologist Medal, International Academy of Pathology (2015); the BCT’s Robert Sutherland Award for Excellence in Translational Research (2016); The Distinguished Fellow Award, The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (2017) and The William L. Gerald Award, Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, New York USA (2021). In 2017, he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
The James Stewart Chair of Surgery, and the Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Melbourne.
Professor Christobel Saunders AO, MB BS, FRCS, FRACS, FAAHMS is the James Stewart Chair of Surgery, the Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Melbourne (Royal Melbourne Hospital precinct) and consultant surgeon in the Department of General Surgery at Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute. She is internationally recognised as one of Australia’s most prominent research-orientated cancer surgeons. She has substantially contributed to breast cancer research including clinical trials of new treatments, psychosocial, translational and health services research.
In recognition of her sustained career excellence and innovation, Christobel has been publicly acknowledged through numerous awards and honours including Order of Australia 2018, the Uccio Querci della Rovere Award (2018), WA Women’s Hall of Fame Inductee (2018), WA Scientist of the Year (2017) and Cancer Council WA career Achievement Award (2021). She has performed research for >30 years evaluating the efficacy and utility of therapy for early breast cancer.
In the past five years, Christobel has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles (two in The Lancet), six letters to the editor/editorials, two research reports, two book chapters and one book. She sits on the boards of a number of health and research organisations including as Vice-President for All.can International and on the boards of All.can Australia, Breast Cancer Trials, the Australian Centre for Value Based Health Care and PathWest. Christobel is closely involved in strategic planning and management of health and cancer services in Australia including being on the Medicare Review Advisory Committee, past President of the Cancer Council WA and Breast Surgical Society of ANZ, and past Advisory Council member of Cancer Australia. She was Inaugural Chair of the state Health Service Provider, PathWest Laboratory Medicine.
Senior Consultant Pathologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and a Clinical Professor at the University of Adelaide.
Professor Gelareh Farshid is an international expert in breast pathology and soft tissue pathology with substantial experience in population based screening for breast cancer. She is a Senior Consultant Pathologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital and a Clinical Professor at the Schools of Medicine and Medical Sciences, University of Adelaide. Gelareh is an executive on the boards of several professional bodies in Australia. She represents Australia on the Board of the International Academy of Pathology and works closely with the United States Canadian Academy of Pathology. In 2020 she was honored by admission into the International Skeletal Society.
Among other roles, Gelareh has is a member of the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting for resected lymph nodes in breast cancer and series chair for the RCPA’s multidisciplinary expert group working on the Structured Reporting of Breast Cancer. Gelareh is a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the ANZ BCT and of the ANZ Sarcoma Association.
Gelareh combined full time clinical responsibilities with applied clinical research.
Lab head at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia, and Cancer Institute NSW Fellow.
Associate Professor Liz Caldon is a lab head at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in Sydney, Australia. She runs a basic and translational research laboratory on estrogen receptor positive (ER+) breast cancer, basal-like breast cancers and ovarian cancers.
Liz’s group has built models of hormone therapy and CDK4-6 inhibitor resistance to understand the evolution of ER+ breast cancers as they become refractory to standard of care therapies. Specific interests of her group are the understanding of tumour cell evolution through single cell modelling, cell cycle based therapies, therapy repurposing, and the development of targeted approaches in therapy resistant disease.
Liz is a Cancer Institute NSW Fellow, and a recipient of the Mavis Robertson fellowship from the national Breast Cancer Foundation. She is an Associate Editor for the journals Endocrine Oncology and Oncogenesis.
Breast and Endocrine Surgeon, focusing on Oncoplastic Breast Surgery at St Andrews War Memorial Hospital and The Wesley Hospitals.
Ben Green is a Breast and Endocrine Surgeon in Brisbane Australia. He has a practice focusing on oncoplastic breast surgery at St Andrews War Memorial Hospital and The Wesley Hospitals.
Ben is a current councilor of BreastSurgANZ and is the current co-chair of the Post Fellowship training program in breast surgery. Ben has a keen interest in teaching where he is a unit co-ordinator for university of Sydney Oncoplastic graduate Certificate course. Ben has also commenced as an Examiner in General Surgery.
Breast and General Surgeon at Auckland City Hospital, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland.
Mr Michael Puttick (MBBS, MD FRCS (Gen Surg UK) is a Breast and General Surgeon at Auckland City Hospital and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at the University of Auckland.
He completed surgical training in the UK and completed a Breast Surgery Fellowship in New Zealand. After working as a surgeon in Oxford he returned to New Zealand in 2015.
He completed his MD at Imperial College London. He also does voluntary work in Low and Middle-income countries including countries in West Africa and Nepal.
Consultant Neurosurgeon working at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand, Starship Children's Hospital and Ascot Hospital.
Peter Heppner is a Consultant Neurosurgeon working at Auckland City Hospital, Starship Childrens Hospital and Ascot Hospital. Peter completed Neurosurgical training in New Zealand and Australia before undertaking subspecialist Fellowships in Complex Spine Surgery and Paediatric Neurosurgery.
He has been Head of Paediatric Neurosurgery in Auckland since 2015. Outside clinical practice Peter has active research projects with the Auckland University Centre for Brain Research and the Auckland Bioengineering Institute. He has been an elected member of the Board of the Neurosurgical Society of Australasia since 2015 and is the current Vice President.
Dr Heppner will be leading a panel discussion with Dr Sheridan Wilson and Dr Claire Philips after morning tea on Friday morning.
Associate Professor at the Okayama University Hospital and Group Secretariat of the JCOG Breast Cancer Study Group.
Dr. Tadahiko Shien MD, Ph.D. (Ph.D.-surgical medicine) is an Associate Professor at the Okayama University Hospital and the group secretariat of the JCOG Breast cancer study group.
He is a surgical oncologist researching the treatment strategy for de-novo stage IV breast cancer (PI of JCOG1017 study) and Oligometastasis. His clinical and research interests primarily focus on breast surgical oncology, tumor biology, clinical trial, and translational research.
He is a member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), Japan Surgical Society (JSS), Japan Society of Clinical Oncology (JSCO), Japan breast cancer society (JBCS), Japan Society of Medical Oncology (JSMO), International Society of Surgery (ISS), Japan Oncoplastic Breast Surgery Society (JOBSS), Japan Association of Endocrine Surgery (JAES), and Breast Surgery International (BSI).
His board-certified specialties are JSS, JSCO, and JAES, and the Board of JBCS and JAES. He is an associate editor of BMC women’s health, Frontier in oncology, and Oncology letters.
He graduated from Kagawa Medical University (Kagawa, Japan) in 1999 and got his Doctor of Philosophy from Okayama University graduate school (Okayama, Japan) in 2005. He was trained in surgical oncology at National Cancer Center (Tokyo, Japan) from 2003 to 2008. He obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2005.
Dr. Shien has published in over 120 peer-reviewed international journals covering many fields of Breast oncology.
Early-career researcher, senior dietician, and post-doctorate Research Fellow at the University of Sydney.
Dr. Cindy Tan is an early career researcher with an interest in lifestyle interventions in cancer survivorship.
She has more than 16 years of clinical experience working as a dietitian in the acute hospital setting, specialising in cancer nutrition at Concord Cancer Centre, Concord Repatriation General Hospital.
Her PhD investigated the relationship between nutritional status and clinical outcomes in ambulatory cancer patients commencing chemotherapy. Since completing her PhD she has contributed to the establishment of the Sydney Cancer Survivorship Service at Concord Hospital and expanded her research interests to include optimal nutritional support for cancer survivors.
She is a post-doctorate research fellow at the University of Sydney, leading research studies aiming to improve health-related quality of life and clinical outcomes including lifestyle risk factors in cancer survivors.
She continues to work as a senior dietitian at the Sydney Cancer Survivorship Centre, providing nutrition care to cancer survivors.
Medical Oncologist specialising in breast cancer and working at Concord and Campbelltown Hospitals in Sydney, Australia.
Dr Belinda Kiely is a Medical Oncologist working part-time at Concord and Campbelltown hospitals in Sydney, Australia.
She specialises in breast cancer, also working part-time as a senior research fellow at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney. Her main research interest is prognostication in advanced cancer.
She completed a PhD in 2013 titled "Estimating and communicating prognosis in advanced cancer" and developed a web-based tool “iTool” to help oncologists estimate and explain typical, best-case and worst-case scenarios for survival time to their patients with advanced cancer.
Her other research interests include breast cancer treatment, survivorship, and end-of-life care. She was a participant in the 2008 ACORD workshop and attended as a future faculty member in 2018. I have supervised 6 PhD students (2 as primary supervisor).
Belinda is co-chair of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia Breast Cancer Group, and a member of the Breast Cancer Trials Scientific Advisory Committe, and Breast Cancer Network Australia Strategic Advisory Group.
Medical oncologist and Researcher with a focus on breast cancer research and treatment, and the Principal Cancer Theme Lead at UNSW Sydney.
Elgene is a Medical Oncologist and researcher with a focus on breast cancer research and treatment, and the Principal Cancer Theme Lead at the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, and the inaugural National Breast Cancer Foundation Endowed Chair.
He completed his doctoral research, medical and oncology training in Melbourne. Findings from his PhD research under the mentorship of Geoffrey Lindeman and Jane Visvader at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, had a major impact on the identification of the culprit cells in carriers of the BRCA1 mutant gene, a hereditary breast cancer syndrome.
He subsequently furthered his research and clinical training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Eric Winer and Myles Brown, both internationally acclaimed leaders in breast cancer research and clinical trials, through fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
He currently oversees the Breast Oncology Unit at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. He also heads the Connie Johnson Breast Cancer Research Laboratory at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. In partnership with our patients, their research spans the laboratory to clinical trials.
Their laboratory performs clinically focused research, including the evaluation of novel therapies, and overcoming resistance to hormone receptor-positive breast cancers.
Their research is funded through Cancer Australia, NHMRC, Cancer Council NSW, and the National Breast Cancer, Love Your Sister, White Butterfly, Balnaves, Curran, and Garvan foundations.
He also seeks to improve healthcare more globally, and at a local level, Elgene volunteered as a physician to asylum seekers without access to Medicare. He currently works with the Asha Kiran Hospital in Orissa, India, on a longer-term strategy of expertise transfer and partnership with local doctors.
Radiation Oncologist at Iridium Netwerk and the University of Antwerp in Belgium, where he completed his medical studies.
Professor Philip Poortmans is a Radiation Oncologist at Iridium Netwerk and University of Antwerp in Belgium.
He completed his medical studies at the University of Antwerp and was trained as a Radiation Oncologist at the Middelheim and Vincentius Hospitals in Antwerp.
His research interests include breast cancer, FLASH radiation therapy, IOeRT, malignant lymphoma and rare tumours. Professor Poortmans is the Past-Present of ESTRO, where he is currently the Course Director of the teaching courses “Multidisciplinary Management of Breast Cancer” and “Accelerated Partial Breast Irradiation”, and the liaison for multidisciplinary courses.
He has edited numerous book chapters and co-edited two books.
Professor Poortmans received the Jens Overgaard Award from ESTRO in 2019 and the Klaas Breur Award from ESTRO in 2020. In 2021 he received the St Gallen Breast Cancer Award.
Head of the Molecular Biomarkers and Translational Genomics Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Professor Sarah-Jane Dawson is a clinician-scientist. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Melbourne in 1998, and trained as a medical oncologist in Melbourne, Australia.
She completed her PhD at the University of Cambridge, UK. Following postdoctoral studies at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, she returned to Melbourne in 2014 to head the Molecular Biomarkers and Translational Genomics Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
She also holds a joint appointment with the Centre of Cancer Research at The University of Melbourne (since 2016). She is a fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and was recipient of the Jian Zhou Medal in recognition of translational medical science in 2020.
Her current research interests are focused on the development of noninvasive blood-based biomarkers ('liquid biopsies') for clinical application, including early detection, risk stratification and disease monitoring in cancer management.
Medical Oncologist and was Head of Medical Oncology at Palmerston North Hospital, New Zealand from 2011 until 2021.
Dr Richard Isaacs MNZM was elected to the BCT Board of Directors in July 2014.
He has been an investigator on multiple clinical trials. Dr Isaacs was Vice President of the Palmerston North Medical Research Foundation from 2008-2013 and Chair of the New Zealand Breast Cancer Specialist Interest Group from 2008-2011.
He was Chair of the New Zealand Specialist Advisory Committee for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians from 2010-2013. He now sits on the Cancer Treatments Subspecialty Advisory Group to Pharmac. In 2009, Dr Isaacs was awarded an MNZM for services to oncology.
Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and St Vincent’s Private Hospital.
Dr. Richard de Boer completed his basic medical and oncology training at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and in 1997 undertook a 3-year breast and lung cancer clinical research fellowship at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, working with Professors Ian Smith and Stephen Johnston.
He returned to Melbourne in 2000 and since then has been a consultant medical oncologist working in both public and private practice. His primary breast cancer interests focus on endocrine therapy, neo-adjuvant therapy, real world patient outcomes and treatment-induced bone loss and bone metastases.
He is actively involved in clinical research, and has been the principal investigator in both local and international studies. He is a member of the Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group, and was previously the head of the Breast Trials Group of Cancer Trials Australia. He has authored articles appearing in journals such as the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Annals of Oncology, The Breast and British Journal of Cancer.
Medical Oncologist at Monash Health Australia, and member of the Breast Cancer Trials Scientific Advisory Committee.
Dr Amelia McCartney BSc BA (Hons) MBBS FRACP
Dr Amelia McCartney is a medical oncologist at Monash Health, Australia. She obtained her medical degree from the University of Sydney and completed her specialist training in Victoria.
She completed a four‐year fellowship in translational and clinical breast cancer research under the supervision and mentorship of Dr Angelo Di Leo in Prato, Italy. Dr McCartney’s particular areas of research interest are the discovery and trialling of biomarkers related to prognosis and early response to treatment, mechanisms of treatment resistance, and strategies of safely de‐escalating breast cancer therapies. Research relating to her fellowship has been presented at international conferences including SABCS, and the ASCO, ESMO and AACR Annual Meetings. She is a member of the BCT Scientific Advisory Committee.
Vice-President of BreastSurgANZ, and Head of the Breast and Endocrine Surgery Department at the Mater Hospital Sydney.
Dr Kylie Snook (BMed FRACS) is a Sydney-based specialist breast surgeon.
After gaining her Fellowship in General Surgery in 2006 she spent two years in Guildford, UK as the Clinical Research Fellow in oncoplastic breast surgery. Here she gained post-fellowship expertise in reconstructive and oncoplastic techniques in breast surgery.
She is a high-volume breast surgeon who treats around 200 new patients with breast cancer each year. She has been an investigator on multiple clinical trials and embeds research in her clinical practice.
Dr Snook is Vice-President of BreastSurgANZ, and serves on the binational Post-Fellowship training committee. She is Head of Breast and Endocrine Surgery Department at the Mater Hospital Sydney.
Director of Research at Breast Cancer Trials and Professor of Surgery at The University of Melbourne.
Professor Bruce Mann is the Director of Research at Breast Cancer Trials, Professor of Surgery at The University of Melbourne and Director of the Breast Tumour Stream at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre.
He has facilitated clinical and translational research into all aspects of breast cancer via the development and maintenance of extensive clinical data collection.
His research interests focus on tailored screening and treatment for early breast cancer. He was PI on Australia’s first decision impact study of Oncotype Dx, PI on a validation study of the DCISionRT assay for DCIS, national PI of the POSNOC study of axillary treatment for those with positive sentinel nodes, and is an instigator and principal investigator of the PROSPECT trial.
Member of the Breast Cancer Trials Board of Directors, and Medical Oncologist at Auckland City Hospital.
She is a Medical Oncologist at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand. Sheridan is clinical lead for the medical oncology team providing systemic treatment across the Auckland region and in 2018 she established a pilot program at Auckland City Hospital for neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer.
Sheridan sits on the assessment committee for Cancer Research Trust New Zealand and is a member of breast cancer working groups for Te Aho o Te Kahu (Control Agency).
Dr Wilson will be leading a panel discussion with Dr Peter Heppner and Dr Claire Philips after morning tea on Friday morning.
Breast Surgical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Women's Hospital in Melbourne.
Dr Holly Keane is a breast surgeon with expertise in all areas of benign and malignant breast diseases, performing all ranges of breast surgeries.
She gained her fellowship in general surgery through the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons in 2015, spending the following year completing a breast oncology surgical fellowship through BreastSurg ANZ, at the Royal Melbourne and Royal Women’s Hospitals. Holly then went on and completed a breast research fellowship through the University of California, San Francisco, USA.
Her research interests include breast cancer screening and prevention, risk communication and risk-reducing strategies for high-risk women.
Breast Surgeon based in Melbourne, working at St. Vincent's, BreastScreen, and St Vincent's East Melbourne.
Jocelyn Lippey is a breast surgeon from Melbourne, Victoria working at St. Vincent’s, BreastScreen, and St. Vincent’s East Melbourne privately.
She was a current recipient of an Herbert and Gloria Keys RACS Scholarship for her PhD which has to develop and evaluate a risk communication tool for risk-stratified Breast screening. She also co-ordinates a unit of study for the University of Sydney’s Masters of Breast Surgery as well as sitting on the Scientific Advisory Committee for Breast Cancer Trials (BCT).
Her research interests include DCIS, risk communication, tailored breast screening, qualitative research, and patient-reported outcome measures.
Professor of Medicine at the Geffen School of Medicine at ULCA in California, in the Department of Medicine.
Dr Finn is a Professor of Clinical Medicine in the Division of Hematology/Oncology at the UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, and Director of the Signal Transduction Program in the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at UCLA.
He currently splits his time between patient care, laboratory and clinical research. His research interests lie in the development of molecular targeted agents and biomarkers in liver cancer and breast cancer.
Dr Finn has served as principal and sub-investigator in trials exploring the use of targeted therapies in breast and hepatocellular cancers.
He has a particular interest in identifying predictive markers of response to novel therapeutics. His work has been published in journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine, The Lancet, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Lancet Oncology, Cancer Research, Clinical Cancer Research, Hepatology, Cancer Cell and elsewhere.
Dr Finn has also given oral presentations at major meetings including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), the European Cancer Conference (ECCO/ ESMO), the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), and others.
An active cancer researcher, he has been involved in the development of several novel therapeutics in cancer medicine. He has brought several practice-changing advanced to cancer medicine. He played a lead role in the approval of palbociclib, the first CDK 4/6 inhibitor in cancer medicine, from pre-clinical development to global registration.
Dr Finn is a member of ASCO, the American Association of Cancer Research (AACR), and the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO). He is on the editorial board of Clinical Cancer Research and Breast Cancer Research.
Breast and Melanoma Surgical Oncologist, Breast Associate and Consultant Surgeon at Auckland City Hospital.
Eletha completed her surgical specialist training in New Zealand before undertaking post-fellowship training in both Breast and Melanoma surgery in Australia.
Eletha works as a Breast and Melanoma Surgical Oncologist, Breast Associate, and Consultant Surgeon at Auckland City Hospital, where she is the Head of the Breast Unit.
Eletha is also a member of BreastSurgANZ, New Zealand Association of General Surgeons, Auckland Breast Cancer Study Group, Northern Cancer Network – Breast Cancer Stream, and Australasian Society of Breast Disease. In addition, Eletha is an Intern Supervisor for the Medical Council of New Zealand, an Instructor for CCrISP and RACS, and sits on the Medical Advisory Committee – Breast Cancer Foundation.
Outside of medicine, Eletha is focused on her family and enjoys spending time with her young son. She enjoys regular pilates and is a keen cook. Other interests include opera, wine, and the French language.
Co-chair of the NCI BOLD Taskforce, the SWOG translational medicine breast group and the TBCRC locoregional working group.
Professor Alastair Thompson graduated with distinction in surgery from the University of Edinburgh.
He trained and practiced in Scotland as a clinician-scientist focused on multidisciplinary patient care alongside translational “bench to bedside” studies and innovative clinical trials in cancer in Dundee, UK.
He chaired the NCRI Breast Clinical Studies Group, led the Breast Cancer Campaign/Breast Cancer Now tissue bank and engaged in a range of pivotal roles in key drug, radiation therapy and surgical trials involving the UK, Europe, the United States, Australia and New Zealand.
Since moving to the US in 2014, initially to MD Anderson as Professor of Surgery, he is now Olga Keith Weiss Professor of Surgery and Associate Director of the Dan L Duncan Comprehensive Cancer Center, Baylor College of Medicine.
He co-chairs the NCI BOLD Taskforce, the SWOG translational medicine breast group, the TBCRC locoregional working group and is an active member and regular presenter at SSO, ASBrS, ASCO and AACR.
With successful peer reviewed funding from US government and international charitable sources spanning laboratory to clinical studies, successful supervision of 24 postgraduate students and over 400 publications in the highest impact factor clinical and scientific journals, his key mission remains improving care for those with cancer.
Medical Oncologist in Breast Cancer and Deputy Director of Medical Oncology at Austin Health in Melbourne.
Dr Belinda Yeo (FRACP, MD, MBBS, BA) is a Medical Oncologist in Breast Cancer and Deputy Director of Medical Oncology at Austin Health in Melbourne.
She is also a Clinician Scientist at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute. She trained in Sydney before joining the Breast Unit at The Royal Marsden Hospital, London as a Clinical and Research Fellow.
She completed a Master’s Degree at The University of London and The Institute of Cancer Research in novel genomic and non-molecular breast cancer risk assays.
She is co-lead of the VCCC Research and Education Stream for Breast Cancer, she is a clinical trial investigator and continues her translational research at the ONJ Centre investigating improving personalization and minimising toxicities for patients with breast cancer.
Associate Research Fellow with the Translational Health Research Institute (THRI), Western Sydney University.
Dr Rosalie Power's research focuses on inequities in health and wellbeing with marginalized groups including LGBTQI communities, people living with disabilities and migrant and refugee women.
Rosalie is a member of The Out with Cancer Study team, a 4 year Australian Research Council Funded Linkage project investigating LGBTQI experiences of cancer and cancer care from the perspective of LGBTQI people with cancer, their carers and healthcare professionals.
Using an integrated knowledge translation framework, the research aims to improve the cultural safety of care and support for this population.
Member of the Breast Cancer Trials Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP), and was diagnosed with breast cancer in 2011.
Karen has been a member of the Breast Cancer Trials Consumer Advisory Panel since 2017.
Karen was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer in 2011 and has a BRCA1 gene mutation. Following her cancer diagnosis, genetic testing found the BRCA1 gene mutation present in her mother, both her aunts, her female cousins and in one of her male cousins.
Breast Surgeon with Northern Breast Care at the Mater Hospital, Sydney, and Clinical Fellow for Breast Cancer Trials.
Adam Ofri is a Breast Surgeon with Northern Breast Care at the Mater Hospital, Sydney. He has a strong interest in patient-tailored breast cancer management and has a passion for academia. He is a Clinical Senior Lecturer at the University of Sydney and a Clinical Research Fellow at the RPA Institute of Academic Surgery. He is also the 2023 Clinical Fellow for Breast Cancer Trials. His research is focused on evaluating targeted axillary dissection in Australia and New Zealand, as well as designing a national RCT to evaluate DCISionRT.
Director of the Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories, Adelaide Medical School, and the University of Adelaide.
Professor Wayne Tilley is the Director of the Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories (DRMCRL), Adelaide Medical School, and the University of Adelaide (2002-current).
He is internationally recognized for research on sex steroid action in hormone-dependent cancers, with a particular focus on breast and prostate cancer. His career has spanned over 35 years in Australia, the USA and the UK. He cloned the human androgen receptor (AR) at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, Texas in the late 1980s and subsequently showed that the AR is frequently mutated in prostate cancer, which led to a conceptually new understanding about progression of prostate cancer and the development of new drugs to target castration resistant prostate cancer.
In 2002, he was appointed the inaugural Director of the DRMCRL at the University of Adelaide. He has published 235 peer-reviewed papers. Seminal papers demonstrating that the progesterone receptor is a critical regulator of estrogen receptor-α (ER) activity in breast cancer (Nature 2015), and that the AR is a tumor suppressor in ER+ breast cancer, with clear guidelines for exploiting AR activation therapeutically (Nature Medicine 2021), led to clinical trials of PR and AR activation in ER-driven disease.
He is a former President of the Australian Society for Medical Research and was Chair of the National Breast Cancer Foundation Research Advisory Committee between 2003 and 2012. In recognition of his research excellence in the field of hormone-dependent cancers, in 2016 he received the Endocrine Society of Australia Senior Plenary Award and presented the opening plenary lecture at the International Congress of Endocrinology in Beijing.
He was Chair of the 2015 Gordon Research Conference on Hormone-Dependent Cancers, co-chair of the Fusion Nuclear Receptor meeting series and most recently, co-convened the 32 International Association of Breast Cancer Research (IABCR) meeting. He also convenes the International PacRim Breast and Prostate Cancer Meeting Series (2003-2023).
Member of the Breast Cancer Trials Board of Directors, and Professor of Surgical Oncology at the University of Sydney.
He is a Professor of Surgical Oncology at The University of Sydney. He specialises in the surgical management of breast cancer and melanoma. Professor Spillane is a senior VMO surgeon at the Mater North Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospitals.
He is a member of the BCT Scientific Advisory Committee and BCT breast surgery Craft Group Lead. He is past President of BreastSurgANZ and a board member / Deputy Chair of Melanoma and Skin Cancer (MASC) Trials (formerly the ANZMTG). He is a member of the BCNA Medical Advisory Committee and Faculty Member of Melanoma Institute Australia. Professor Spillane is Breast sub-editor for the ANZ Journal of Surgery, and an editorial board member of the Annals of Surgical Oncology and the Journal of Surgical Oncology. He is founding co-director of the University of Sydney’s Graduate Certificate in Advanced Breast Surgery.
Andrew’s research interests include neoadjuvant therapy and surgical clinical trials, promoting involvement of surgeons in multidisciplinary clinical trials, issues around quality assurance in surgery, and safe introduction of new surgical techniques. He is involved in clinical and translational research on aspects of breast cancer and melanoma research including trial management committee of the multiple international trials and a member of the International Neoadjuvant Melanoma Consortium. He has been an author on about 210 peer reviewed publications and co-authored 4 book chapters and chief investigator on multiple existing and recent NHMRC and MRFF grants.
Andrew’s research interests include neoadjuvant and surgical clinical trials, promoting involvement of surgeons in multidisciplinary clinical trials, issues around quality assurance in surgery, and safe introduction of new surgical techniques. He is involved in clinical and translational research on aspects of breast cancer and melanoma research including trial management committee of the multiple international trials and an active member of the International Neoadjuvant Melanoma Consortium. He has been an author on about 190 peer reviewed publications and co-authored 4 book chapters and chief investigator on multiple existing and recent NHMRC and MRFF grants.
Deputy Director of Radiation Oncology at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and sub-specialist in NeuroOncology.
Claire Phillips is a Deputy Director of Radiation Oncology at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Melbourne and a sub-specialist in NeuroOncology including Linac and Gamma Knife radiosurgery.
She was a member of the Breast Unit from 2001 to 2021. Claire has led clinical trials in brain and eye tumours, including the Local HERO study of radiosurgery and/ or neurosurgery alone for HER2+ breast cancer brain metastases.
She is a current member of the Peter Mac Clinical Research Sponsorship Committee, the Brain Peri-Operative Programme Steering Committee and TROG CNS Working Group.
Claire has a long clinical experience in the multidisciplinary team approach to treatment of brain metastases.
Dr Phillips will be leading a panel discussion with Dr Sheridan Wilson and Dr Peter Heppner after morning tea on Friday morning.
Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Western Australia, and consultant Medical Oncologist.
Andrew Redfern is an Associate Professor of Medical Oncology at the University of Western Australia, Associate Director for Clinical Strategy at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Consultant Medical Oncologist at the Fiona Stanley Hospital, Perth, and Medical Director of Linear Clinical Research specialising in early phase human trials.
Beyond a clinical practice treating breast and urological cancers, he is principal investigator for a range of clinical trials across all phases and has a portfolio of translational research initiatives.
His research interests center around growth signaling and mechanisms of chemotherapy and hormone therapy resistance in cancer, differentiation and EMT in cancer progression, tumor-stroma interactions and Indigenous cancer biology.
Andrew is also chairman and lead clinician of the State Breast Cancer Collaborative and is on scientific advisory boards for the Cancer Council of Western Australia, the Australasian Breast Cancer Trials Group, the ANZ Urologenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group and the Genomics Cancer Clinical Trials Initiative.
Senior Lecturer and health services researcher in the School of Population Health, at the University of Auckland.
Dr Rob McNeill (PhD) is a Senior Lecturer and health services researcher in the School of Population Health, at the University of Auckland. Rob has taught research methods for over 20 years and has expertise in both quantitative and qualitative methods. He also teaches in the areas of health inequities and the social determinants of health.
For the past 18 years he has been conducting health services research and evaluation projects in a wide range of health services, with his recent research focusing solely on cancer services. This work is primarily focused on quality improvement, concentrating on the areas of patient and whānau-centred care, as well as equity. Rob works closely with cancer services to provide findings that directly inform service improvement and implementation of changes to maximise outcomes and experiences.
He is Chair of the Northern Regional Lung Tumour Stream, as well as being a member of the National Lung Cancer Working Group, Telehealth Working Group, and Quality Performance Indicator Advisory Group.
Principle Investigator in New Zealand's Rakeiora program, the Maurice Wilkins Centre and the 'Healthier Lives' National Science Challenge.
Cris' research, teaching, and professional activity focus on the translation of data-intensive molecular research into advances for human health, communities, and health education.
Cris qualified in Medicine from Auckland Medical School in 1989 and began research while working as a house surgeon in Dunedin, NZ.
A molecular immunology PhD at the University of Auckland led to a four-year postdoctoral period at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, investigating the molecular control of programmed cell death (apoptosis).
Cris then moved to Cambridge University, UK, for six years where he was a Fellow of St Edmunds College and developed a deep interest in genomics and bioinformatics. While there he co-founded a bioinformatics biotechnology company based in Asia, which became listed on the Tokyo stock exchange in 2007.
In 2005 Cris returned to the University of Auckland where he leads a cross-disciplinary research team of clinicians, biologists, and data scientists who use genomics, systems biology, and bioinformatics to better understand human disease, especially cancer.
Through his University role, Cris leads the Genomics Into Medicine Strategic Research Initiative, chairs the Scientific Advisory Board of the Auckland Regional BioBank (Te Ira Kāwai), is Academic Lead of the Auckland Academic Health Alliance Precision Medicine Initiative and Bioinformatics Director of Grafton Clinical Genomics.
He is a Principle Investigator in NZ's Rakeiora program, the Maurice Wilkins Centre and the 'Healthier Lives' National Science Challenge and previously was Joint Director of the University's Bioinformatics Institute.
Outside the University, Cris is a Director and Acting Chair of the NZ Crown Research Institute ESR. He co-Chairs the Aotea Genomic Health Alliance Steering Group.
He has previously served as President of the NZ Society for Oncology, chaired the New Zealand Genomics Limited Project Advisory Group, and served as Vice President of the Auckland branch of the Royal Society of NZ (the Auckland Museum Institute).
If you are interested in becoming a sponsor at Breast Cancer Trials 44th Annual Scientific Meeting, please email asm@bctrials.org.au.
The ASM Secretariat is responsible for conference registration only and delegates are responsible for their accommodation. You can book your accommodation at The Cordis Hotel, Auckland here.
Alternatively, there are several hotels within walking distance to The Cordis Hotel.