Scientific Advisory Committee
Ian Davis, Chair
Professor Ian Davis is a medical oncologist and is Professor of Medicine and Head of the Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University and Eastern Health, in Melbourne, Australia. He has honorary appointments as an Affiliate Professor of Deakin University, adjunct Associate Professor of the University of Melbourne, Associate of the University of Sydney, Honorary Professorial Fellow with The George Institute, and Adjunct Professor of University of New South Wales. His primary clinical interests are in urologic cancers, and his primary research interests are in cancer immunology and the biology of urologic cancers. Prof Davis is chair of the ANZUP Board and of its Scientific Advisory Committee.
Scott Williams, Deputy Chair
Professor Scott Williams is a consultant Radiation Oncologist and Professor with the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre Uro-Oncology service in Melbourne where he has a special interest practice made up almost exclusively of prostate cancer patients. He is heavily involved in research, managing several national and international randomised trials in prostate cancer and is a member of PeterMac ethics as well as several national research and advisory committees. He holds a USA prostate cancer foundation creativity award, their highest individual honour for innovative research ideas. This award relates to novel translational research, while he is also a collaborator on active research grants for work ranging from clinical trials to functional imaging to mathematical modelling to genetics, with national and international collaborations.
Arun Azad
Associate Professor Arun Azad is an internationally recognised medical oncologist and translational researcher in urological cancers, with a particular focus on prostate cancer. After completing his medical training and a PhD at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, he undertook a Fellowship in a world-renowned prostate cancer clinical and research program in Vancouver, under the supervision of Professor Kim Chi. A/Prof Azad is now based at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, where he leads clinical, translational and laboratory research focused on prostate cancer in his role as a clinician-scientist.
Nick Buchan
Dr Nick Buchan is a Urologist based in Christchurch, New Zealand and works in both public and private practice. Nicks practice focuses on the diagnosis and management of urological cancers. Nick gained his experience in medical trials while on fellowship at the Vancouver Prostate Centre. The Vancouver Prostate Centre is one of the largest research and clinical centres in the world that focuses on translational research into prostatic diseases, prostate cancer in particular. Currently Nick is director of the Canterbury Urology Research Trust (CURT). CURT is a trust that conducts urological trials for CROs as well as its own investigator lead trials in urological conditions with the main focus being urological oncology. Nick is also a director of a privately owned hospital in Christchurch, Forte Health and large Urology specialist practice, Urology Associates.
Lisa Butler
Professor Lisa Butler is a Cancer Council Principal Research Fellow at the University of Adelaide and heads the Prostate Cancer Research Group at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute. She holds a Ph.D. in cancer biology from the University of Adelaide with postdoctoral training in preclinical drug development at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York, and was most recently an ARC Future Fellow (2014-18). Prof Butler’s research focuses on novel approaches to target androgen signalling therapeutically in prostate cancer, and on biomarker discovery in drug development. Her specific goals are to develop and commercialise novel diagnostic/prognostic markers and therapies alongside innovative, non-invasive approaches to monitor them in clinical trials. She has established productive translational research programs that leverage her unique preclinical models involving primary clinical samples, prostate biobanking, proof-of-concept clinical trials and international collaborations. Currently, she leads a Movember Revolutionary Team to investigate the androgenic regulation of lipid metabolism in prostate cancer, and the potential for lipids and their regulatory enzymes to be utilised as new biomarkers of disease aggressiveness. The outcomes will enable more precise tailoring of new metabolic therapies to the patients who will benefit from them the most.
Narjess Ayati
Associate Professor Narjess Ayati (MD, FRACP, FAANMS) is a nuclear medicine specialist currently practicing at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney. She earned her medical degree from Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (Iran) and holds board certifications from the European Association of Nuclear Medicine (EANM, 2012, Italy), the Asian School of Nuclear Medicine (First rank, 2015, South Korea), and the American Society of Nuclear Cardiology (2015).Having relocated to Australia in December 2018 on a Distinguished Talent Visa, she continued her professional journey at Austin Health (Advanced registrar, 2019-2021), Westmead Hospital (2021-2022), Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Theranostics fellow, 2022-2023), and currently, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney (Consultant, since Feb 2023). She also holds the position of Conjoint Associate Professor at UNSW.Dr. Ayati specializes in Theranostics, particularly in patients with advanced prostate cancer, and has actively collaborated in numerous clinical trials, including PRIMARY II (as a central reviewer), PRINCE, LuPARP, ENZAp, and EVOLUTION (SPECT analysis, Below the Belt project). She has over 50 peer-reviewed publications in esteemed journals such as European Urology (IF: 24), EJNMMI (IF: 10), and JNM (IF: 11). Notably, she was honored with the "most cited paper award" from the Asia Oceania Journal of Nuclear Medicine in 2019. Dr. Ayati serves as an editorial board member and active peer reviewer for several distinguished medical journals. She is committed to advancing the field of nuclear medicine and theranostics, with a focus on improving patient outcomes and contributing to scientific knowledge in the domain.
Haryana Dhillon
Associate Professor Haryana Dhillon (BSc MA PhD) is a Senior Research Fellow, who co-leads the Survivorship Research Group and is a Director of the Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision Making, School of Psychology, University of Sydney. Haryana has more than 25 years’ experience in cancer clinical research across a range of investigator-initiated cancer clinical trials. Her research interests are broad encompassing cancer survivorship, health literacy, and interventions for survivorship, symptom management, and psycho-oncology. Haryana Chairs ANZUP’s Quality of Life and Supportive Care Subcommittee. Haryana is passionate about rigor in research, practical solutions to tricky problems, and doing what she can to help humans make it to the 22nd century.
Joe Esposito
Mr Joe Esposito is a Melbourne based director who has established a business consultancy practice, Grumentum Capital Pty Ltd. For 8 years until 2020, he owned and operated a BOQ (Bank of Queensland) branch in the inner city suburb of Collingwood. He has had over 20 years experience in corporate banking in Australia and New Zealand. Between 2003 and 2006 he was the CEO of ASX listed Jetset Travelworld Limited. Mr Esposito has a close affinity with the objectives of ANZUP and the needs of cancer consumers. His qualifications include a Bachelor of Commerce, a Master of Applied Finance and a Diploma in Finance and Mortgage Management. He is a graduate member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Craig Gedye
Associate Professor Craig Gedye is a medical oncologist and cancer researcher. He works for people with melanoma, brain, prostate, bladder and kidney cancers. His research focuses on complexity and heterogeneity in cancer – why are cancers different between different people; why are cancers cells different to each other; what does this mean for each person’s treatment? This challenging problem spans projects across the research spectrum, from patient experience, through clinical trials, translational biomarkers and questions in basic science. Craig is privileged to lead several national cancer clinical trials for the ANZUP and COGNO cancer trials groups, chairs the ANZUP Renal Cell Cancer Subcommittee, is a member of the Mark Hughes Scientific Advisory Committee, HNEHLD Clinical Trials Ethics Subcommittee, COGNO Scientific Advisory Committee and ANZUP Cancer Trials Scientific Advisory Committee.
Dickon Hayne
Professor Dickon Hayne is a urologic surgeon who leads urological research and education in urology, at the University of Western Australia. He is Head of Urology for the South Metropolitan Health Service in WA. Dickon Chairs the Bladder Urothelial and Penile (BUP) Cancer Sub-committee of ANZUP, is a SAC member, leads the BCG+MM, ZipUp and SUBDUE trials and is widely engaged in ANZUP's other subcommittees, trials and activities. His major clinical and research interests are urological cancer, in particular bladder cancer.
Lisa Horvath
Professor Lisa Horvath is the Director of Research at Chris O’Brien Lifehouse. She completed medical school at the University of Sydney and trained in medical oncology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, where she was appointed to the senior staff in 2003. She completed her PhD in translational research at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in 2004. Lisa’s research interest is predominantly in the field of prostate cancer in particular biomarkers, prostate cancer biology and clinical trials. Lisa holds academic appointments at both the University of Sydney and the University of New South Wales and is the Head of Advanced Prostate Cancer research group at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre/Garvan Institute of Medical Research. She is the Conjoint Chair of Medical Oncology (Genitourinary Cancers) at Lifehouse. She has published more than 140 original research papers in peer-reviewed journals in the last 20 years. She has presented extensively at national and international meetings both peer-reviewed and invited presentations. Lisa is an ANZUP Board Director, a member of the ANZUP Scientific Advisory Committee and is Chair of the ANZUP Prostate Cancer Subcommittee.
George Hruby
Associate Professor George Hruby completed a fellowship at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in 1999 and was awarded a clinical fellowship at the University of Toronto. He spent 13 months in Toronto at a high volume academic centre focused on genito-urinary cancers. In Dec 2000 he commenced as Staff Specialist in Radiation Oncology at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, (now Lifehouse). Clinical milestones have included the establishment of the High Dose Rate brachytherapy program at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital with over 300 implants performed since inception in 2002. Whilst at RPA, George was instrumental in leading the introduction of more sophisticated techniques for the treatment of prostate cancer such as image guided radiation treatment (IGRT) in 2007, IMRT (intensity modulated radiation treatment) for anal cancer in 2009, and for prostate cancer in 2010. In 2014 the first prostate cancer patients were treated with SABR (stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy) for oligo-metastatic disease. He has mentored and taught radiation oncology registrars as well as medical students, presented at many scientific meetings and co-authored over 75 peer reviewed publications. He currently works at Royal North Shore Hospital.
Belinda Jago
Belinda Jago has been the Chair of the ANZUP Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP) since 2013. Belinda professionally has worked in human resources in a variety of operational and strategic HR roles after completing a Bachelor of Business in 1981. Belinda’s interest in ANZUP stems from her role as a carer for her daughter who was diagnosed with kidney cancer in 2006 at the early age of 13. Volunteering with ANZUP since 2012 has provided an opportunity for Belinda to share the knowledge and skills she has acquired during her family’s experience and to pursue her passion for assisting cancer patients, their carers and families, with a particular interest in kidney and Adolescent and Young Adults (AYA) cancers and clinical trial research.
James Kench
Professor James Kench is Local Pathology Director at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney, a Clinical Professor of the University of Sydney, and a senior Visiting Scientist at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre/Garvan Institute of Medical Research. He has internationally recognised expertise in prostate cancer pathology and a major research interest in diagnostic and prognostic biomarkers. He has published over 190 peer reviewed journal articles and is a member of key international and Australasian organisations relating to genitourinary cancers, including the International Collaboration on Cancer Reporting (ICCR) Dataset Steering Committee and Board, the RCPA National Structured Pathology Reporting of Cancer Program, the Cancer Australia Intercollegiate Advisory Group, and chairs the ICCR Prostate Cancer Dataset Authoring Committee.
Andrew Martin
Andrew Martin is Associate Professor in the biostatistics group at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre University of Sydney. He has over 20 years’ experience in clinical trials research, gained from senior roles within research-based pharmaceutical organisations and The University of Sydney. His specific interest is in the application of optimal study designs and analysis methods to the development and evaluation of health interventions across all phases of development. He provides statistical leadership to clinical trial networks in a variety of disease areas to design, undertake, analyse and report on clinical trials. He also leads a range of teaching activities at the University of Sydney.
Samantha Oakes, CEO Ex-officio
Associate Professor Samantha (Sam) Oakes PhD FRSN AAICD brings over 20 years of experience in the Health and Medical Research and Not for Profit sectors to the role of Chief Executive Officer, ANZUP Cancer Trials Group Ltd. With an established career in medical research, Sam’s research has led to important discoveries including new therapeutic and anti-metastatic strategies for hard-to-treat breast cancers and other cancers including pancreatic adenocarcinoma. In 2019-2020, Sam established and led the Long-Term Clinical Follow Up Unit in the Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre (AGCMC), now known as OMICO, one of Australia’s largest precision medicine programs. As Director, Research Investment, and member of the Senior Executive Leadership Team at the National Breast Cancer Foundation 2021-2024, Sam has led and overseen the distribution of over $45 million dollars in investment in world class breast cancer research, the development and implementation of the 2023-2028 NBCF Pink Horizon Research Strategy and contributed to organisation-wide change and growth. Sam is a passionate advocate and communicator of Health and Medical Research that will ultimately save lives, alleviate suffering, and improve quality of life and is committed to helping ANZUP continue to deliver on its mission of improving the lives of those diagnosed with Below the Belt cancers through practice-changing multidisciplinary collaborative clinical trials.
Kathryn Schubach
Kath is a GU Nurse Practitioner working in private practice in metropolitan Melbourne and rural Victoria. She has had 25 years of experience and qualifications working across two-core disciplines cancer and urology. Kath has an expertise in managing sexual dysfunction in oncology/urology patients. She has a master in Nursing Science and postgraduate qualifications in oncology, urology and continence, nursing. She is currently enrolled in her PhD.
Her affiliations are:
- President of Australian & New Zealand Urology Nurses (2019-2022)
- Scientific Advisory Committee of Australian and New Zealand Urogenital & Prostate Cancer trials Group (ANZUP)
- Board member of Victorian Urological Nurses Society
Andrew Scott
Professor Andrew Scott is Director, Department of Molecular Imaging and Therapy, Austin Health; leads the Tumour Targeting Program at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute; and Professor, University of Melbourne, La Trobe University, and Monash University. His clinical and research interests are focused on molecular imaging particularly oncology applications of PET in cancer and developing innovative strategies for targeted therapy of cancer with monoclonal antibodies, as well as global advocacy of Nuclear Medicine. His laboratory has been involved in the preclinical development and first-in-man trials of numerous recombinant antibodies in cancer patients, and seven antibodies developed in his laboratory have been licenced to Biotech and Pharma companies. He is an Executive Council member of the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, is Research Translation and Commercialisation Lead of the VCCC, is a member of the Scientific Committee of ARTnet, and a Federal Council member of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Nuclear Medicine.
Shomik Sengupta
Professor Shomik Sengupta is Professor of Surgery and deputy Head of School at the Eastern Health Clinical School, Monash University and a Consultant Urologist and Uro-Oncology lead at the Department of Urology, Eastern Health. Shomik has a practice with a uro-oncology subspecialty interest – including open, laparoscopic and robotic cancer surgery. Shomik also has a strong interest in urologic research, including involvement in clinical trials through the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate (ANZUP) Cancer Trials Group, where he is a member of the Board and the Scientific Advisory Committee. Shomik is an Executive Committee member and Urologic Cancer Committee Chair at Clinicians Network, Cancer Council Victoria and a member of Executive Committee at World Urologic Oncology Federation. Shomik has more than 130 original publications to date and has been an invited speaker, session chair and convenor at numerous scientific meetings.
Martin Stockler
Professor Martin Stockler is Director of Oncology at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre and its Clinical Lead for ANZUP. He is Professor of Oncology and Clinical Epidemiology at the University of Sydney, and a consultant medical oncologist at the Concord Repatriation General Hospital and at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse RPA. Research interests include: the design, execution, analysis and synthesis of cancer clinical trials; the assessment of quality of life and preferences; evidence-based medicine in clinical practice and medical education; patient-doctor communication; prognostication; and, the management of genitourinary, lung, gynaecologic, and advanced cancers. The aim of Martin’s research has been to improve survival time, quality of life, prognostication, communication and decision-making for people affected by cancer. Research highlights include pivotal studies establishing the benefits of: chemotherapy and targeted drugs for cancers of the prostate, testis, kidney, lung, breast and ovary; presenting information about prognosis as best, worst and typical scenarios for survival time; and, preference studies documenting the benefits patients judge necessary to make adjuvant therapy worthwhile in breast, lung, colorectal, endometrial, and kidney cancers.
Christopher Sweeney
Dr. Sweeney is the inaugural Director of the South Australian immunoGENomics Cancer Institute (SAiGENCI), and a professor of medicine at the University of Adelaide. Dr. Sweeney completed his medical education at the University of Adelaide before accomplishing his internship at Royal Adelaide Hospital in Australia. He completed his residency training in internal medicine at Gundersen Lutheran Medical Center in Wisconsin, and his fellowship in hematology and oncology at Indiana University School of Medicine. He then spent 7 years on faculty at Indiana and was appointed Associate Director for Clinical Research for the Simon Cancer Center. Dr. Sweeney joined the Lank Center for Genitourinary Oncology at Dana-Farber Cancer and Harvard Medical School in 2009 and promoted to full Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School in 2018.
Bertrand Tombal
Professor Bertrand Tombal is Chairman of the Department of Surgery and Professor of Urology at the Université catholique de Louvain (UCL), Cliniques universitaires Saint-Luc, Brussels, Belgium. Professor Tombal is a member of the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium. He is the Past President of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), the leading European academic research organization in the field of cancer. He has both a basic science and a clinical interest in urological oncology, particularly in the field of prostate and bladder cancer. Professor Tombal obtained his MD in 1990 and his PhD in 2003, both from the Université catholique de Louvain. During his PhD, he studied the mechanisms involved in apoptosis of prostate cancer cells and the modulation of apoptosis by growth factors. He completed part of his basic sciences training at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD, USA. Professor Tombal’s primary clinical interest is the treatment of advanced stages of prostate cancer, and particularly hormonal treatment and development of new biological agents. He is heading the uro-oncology division at the Université catholique de Louvain where he is coordinating several trials in this research area. In addition, Professor Tombal has authored many published papers, books, and book chapters. He has presented at numerous national and international conferences and has been the recipient of various awards for his research in the field of urology, including the European Association of Urology thesis award, which he received in 2003. Professor Tombal is also a member of the Skeletal Care Academy, and member of the Scientific Office of European Association of Urology.
Ben Tran
Ben Tran is an Associate Professor within the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology at The University of Melbourne and a Medical Oncologist at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He also holds a Clinician Scientist appointment at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. His clinical focus lies entirely within the genitourinary (GU) tumour stream, in particular, testicular cancers. Following his medical oncology training in Australia, Ben completed an overseas Fellowship in Drug Development and Urological cancers at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto, Canada. There he gained extensive experience in treating GU cancers, conducting Phase I clinical trials, implementing a large scale molecular profiling program and managing large multi-centre databases containing real world patient data. These experiences have allowed him to establish himself as a leader in GU cancers, Early Drug Development and RWD. Ben currently leads the GU clinical trials program at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and is Chair of the GU Tumour Group within Cancer Trials Australia, and Chair of the ANZUP Germ Cell Subcommittee.
Nicky Lawrence
Nicky is a Medical Oncologist at Te Toka Tumai Auckland with an interest in genitourinary cancers and clinical trial methodology, and is Deputy Director of Cancer Trials New Zealand at Waipapa Taumata Rau, The University of Auckland. Nicky completed her medical oncology training in Auckland, and her fellowship at The University of Sydney where she was awarded her PhD evaluating the design of cancer clinical trials in the era of targeted and immunological therapies, and worked as a clinical research fellow on ANZUP clinical trials. She is co-lead of the Aotearoa New Zealand decentralised clinical trial steering committee. She is passionate about educational opportunities and convened the inaugural NZ concept development workshop in 2016, and is a member of the international steering committee for the ACORD protocol writing workshop.
Andrew Weickhardt
Associate Professor Andrew Weickhardt is a medical oncologist at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer and Wellness Centre in Melbourne. He has an interest in using immunotherapy and personalised treatments for patients with genitourinary cancer. He is actively involved in translational research investigating biomarkers of response and resistance to these treatments, and is involved in several phase 1 trials of new drugs in development, including the ANZUP trial PCR-MIB using pembrolizumab with radiation in early bladder cancer.
Jarad Martin
Professor Jarad Martin is a Radiation Oncologist working at the Calvary Mater Newcastle and GenesisCare. He completed registrar training in 2005 in Melbourne and subsequently undertook a genitourinary oncology clinical research fellowship at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto winning the academic excellence in research award from that institution. His primary clinical and research interests are in urologic and gastrointestinal cancers, including the application of stereotactic radiotherapy for genitourinary tumours. Jarad is deputy chair of the prostate sub-committee for ANZUP, and convenor of the 2022 Prostate Cancer Rapid-Fire. He is PI on several currently accruing multicentre prospective clinical trials, and believes that offering patients the option of enrolment on randomized clinical trials is a key component of optimal patient care.
David Pook
Associate Professor David Pook specialises in the treatment of prostate, kidney, bladder and testicular cancers. He is the principle investigator on multiple international clinical trials treating urological cancers with experimental drugs including novel combinations of immune therapy. He is a clinical research fellow in the Prostate Cancer Research Group at Monash University where he helps develop prostate cancer models which can be used to test novel treatments. He is also the Deputy Chair of the ANZUP Renal Cell Cancer Subcommittee.
Natasha Roberts
Natasha is a specialist nurse in prostate cancer. She is an early career clinician researcher, with rolesas a Conjoint Clinical Research Fellow with the Surgical Treatment and Rehabilitation Service (STARS), Metro North Clinical Research Fellow and Implementation Scientist with the University of Queensland. She has 30 years nursing experience, including genito-urinary and prostate cancer clinical trials. Natasha attained her Bachelor of Nursing degree in 1994, her Honours degree in 2001 and her PhD in 2021. Her fellowship research programs are investigating unmet needs in prostate cancer care.
Anthony Joshua
Prof Anthony Joshua completed his medical oncology training at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital before moving to Toronto, Canada to complete a PhD in prostatic carcinogenesis, as well as a clinical fellowship under Professor Ian Tannock. He joined the Department of Medical Oncology at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto as a staff oncologist in late 2008, specialising in genito-urinary malignancy and melanoma with research interests in circulating tumour DNA, tumour heterogeneity, mechanisms of enzalutamide resistance and autophagy. Anthony returned to Australia, joining the Kinghorn Cancer Centre and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in late 2015 and is currently a conjoint Professor with UNSW and Clinical Pillar Director at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.