The Ovarian Cancer Symposium aims to provide a platform to bring together leading Australian researchers, clinicians and industry representatives for an open and inclusive discussion on the latest developments and advances in the field of ovarian cancer treatment and research.
Date: Friday 5th May 2023
Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm AET
Location: Pullman Hotel, Sydney Airport
Event Program
Symposium for:
- Gynaecological Oncologists
- Medical Oncologists
- Researchers
- Oncologists in training
- Gynaecological Nurse Consultants
Our advisory committee consists of Professor David Bowtell, Professor Anna DeFazio AM, Dr Dale Garsed, Dr Niveditha Rajadevan, Dr. Vanessa Alford (OCA) and Sue Hegarty (OCA).
International Speakers
- Dr Denarda Dangaj Laniti (Lausanne, Switzerland)
Group leader, Tumor Microenvironment and Biomarker Discovery Laboratory, Department of Oncology, UNIL CHUV Lausanne Branch of Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
Heterogeneity and Immunobiology of High-Grade Serous Ovarian Cancer - A/Prof Kelly Bolton, MD PhD (Washington, US)
Assistant Professor, Division of Oncology, Washington University
Molecular Subclasses of Clear Cell Ovarian Carcinoma and Their Impact on Disease Behavior and Outcomes
Guest Speakers
Prof David Bowtell • Prof Alison Brand • Prof Clare Scott • Dr George Au-Yeung • Dr Monique Topp • A/Prof Bo Gao • Dr Nicola Meagher • Hayley Russell (OCA)
Panel Members
Dr Yeh Chen Lee • Dr Michael Burling • Dr Michelle Harrison • A/Prof Lyndal Anderson • Prof Anna DeFazio AM
This one-day event is funded by AstraZeneca and GSK.
Presentations
A/Prof Kelly Bolton (Washington, US) - Molecular subclasses of clear cell ovarian carcinoma and their impact on disease behavior and outcomes.
Associate Professor Kelly Bolton, MD PhD
Assistant Professor, Division of Oncology, Washington University
Associate Professor Kelly Bolton is a physician-scientist at Washington University in St Louis. She is currently an assistant professor in the Section of Stem Cell Biology Division, Division of Oncology. Her research group focuses on cancer genomics. Originally from Los Angeles, she completed her undergraduate studies at Cornell University. She completed medical school at the UCLA School of Medicine and a PhD in Genetic Epidemiology through Cambridge University. She went on to complete her residency in internal medicine and Cornell University and a fellowship in medical oncology at MSKCC.
Professor Alison Brand - Are gynaecological oncologists obsolete in the era of targeted therapies? Why surgery matters more than ever.
Professor Alison Brand AM, MD MMED FRCS(C) FRANZGOG CGO
Professor Alison Brand is a Clinical Professor at the University of Sydney and Director of the Department Gynaecological Oncology at Westmead Hospital, Sydney. She is Past-Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG). In 2022, she became Chair of the Gynaecological Cancer Intergroup, an umbrella organisation of 34 international clinical trials groups. In 2021, she was awarded Member, Order of Australia (AM) for “significant service to medicine, to gynaecology and to medical organisations”.
Professor Brand has held a number of advisory and/or board positions with national and international gynaecological cancer organisations, including ANZGOG, Cancer Australia, the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia and the Gynaecological Cancer Intergroup (GCIG) and has helped draft a number of national gynaecological cancer guidelines. She has a particular interest in development and implementation of surgical trials and has developed a strong track record as a clinical researcher, particularly in the design, implementation and accrual to national and international clinical trials in gynaecologic oncology. She has a keen interest in development and benchmarking of clinical quality indicators in gynaecological oncology, and has been a lead clinician for the Australian National Gynaecologic Oncology Clinical Quality Registry (NGOR) ever since its establishment 2017.
Professor Clare Scott - HRD: Do we need it and how do we get it?
Professor Clare Scott, MBBS PhD FRACP FAHMS
Professor of Gynaecological Cancer, University of Melbourne,
Joint Head, Clinical Translation Centre and Laboratory Head, Walter and Eliza
Hall Institute of Medical Research
Professor Clare Scott holds the Chair in Gynaecological Cancer at the University of Melbourne and is Joint Division Head of Clinical Translation and a Laboratory Head at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Women’s and Royal Melbourne Hospitals. Her clinical expertise is in gynaecological cancers and coordinating care for patients with rare cancers. Her laboratory focuses on making pre-clinical models in which to study drug resistance in rare gynaecological cancers. She has >25 years’ experience in clinical cancer genetics, working in Familial Cancer Clinics.
Professor Scott is Chair of the Australia and New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG). She also chairs the COSA Rare Cancer group and the Board of the International Rare Cancer Initiative (IRCI). In 2018, Prof Scott received the Cancer Australia Jeannie Ferris Recognition Award in Gynaecological Cancer and in 2021 she was awarded the MOGA Novartis Oncology Cancer Achievement Award. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences. In 2022, Professor Scott was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to gynaecological oncology.
Hayley Russell - The psychosocial impact of ovarian cancer: distress, fears and unmet needs.
Hayley Russell, BA, MSoSc (Human Services- Counselling), Grad Cert (Bereavement Counselling and Intervention),
Senior Research Manager, Ovarian Cancer Australia
Hayley Russell is a clinician, Senior Research Manager at Ovarian Cancer Australia and is a specialist support counsellor in bereavement with Victoria’s largest community palliative care provider. Hayley completed her training at Swinburne University, St Joseph’s Hospice, London and the Australian Centre for Grief and Bereavement and holds clinical membership with the Psychotherapy and Counselling Federation of Australia. She has presented research at several Australian conferences as well chairing a symposium and presenting data at the International Psycho-Oncology Symposium Conference on multiple occasions. Hayley has co-authored papers published in journals including Psycho-Oncology, Frontiers in Psychology, Supportive Care in Cancer and the European Journal of Cancer Care. Most recently she was one of 84 Australians to be named a 2022 Churchill Fellowship Award Recipient with plans to pursue training and research in the US, Canada, Belgium and Switzerland in mid 2023.
Dr Monique Topp - Risk of AML with long term PARP use
Medical Oncology Fellow, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Dr Monique Topp graduated from Monash University in 2014, she undertook her basic physician training at Royal Melbourne Hospital and completed her advanced training at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in 2022. During her medical training she undertook a PhD at The Walter & Eliza Hall Institute establishing novel xenograft mouse models of human high grade serous epithelial ovarian cancer for preclinical analysis and demonstrated their utility in improving our understanding of PARP inhibitor response. She is currently the Neuro Oncology Fellow at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Dr Bo Gao - Clinical trials in low grade ovarian cancer – opportunities and challenges.
Dr Bo Gao, BMedSci MBBS FRACP PhD
Medical Oncologist, Blacktown and Westmead Hospitals
Clinical Associate Professor - University of Sydney
Dr Bo Gao is a medical oncologist and clinical researcher at Blacktown and Westmead Hospitals. She completed a PhD in ovarian cancer in 2013 and her main clinic interests are in lung, head and neck, and ovarian cancers. She has led multiple clinical studies in these tumour groups and is also involved in studies of new cancer drugs (Phase 1 studies). She maintains a leadership role in the clinical trial unit at Blacktown Hospital.
Dr Nicola Meagher - Tumour profiling analysis of mucinous ovarian carcinoma.
Dr Nicola Meagher, BMedSci, MPH, PhD
Research Fellow, Ovarian Cancer Stream
The Daffodil Centre, Faculty of Medicine and Health, The University of Sydney
Dr Nicola Meagher is an early career researcher working at a national and international level to improve outcomes for patients with ovarian cancer. During her PhD, Nicola used data from the international Ovarian Tumor Tissue Analysis consortium, where her work contributed to diagnostic guidelines and identified prognostic markers for a rare histological subtype – mucinous ovarian cancer.
Nicola’s research at the Daffodil Centre is focussed on using large datasets to answer questions relating to ovarian cancer prevention and biomarker studies to guide better clinical management. This work is enabled through epidemiological datasets such as the OC3 (Ovarian Cancer Cohort Consortium). Nicola’s memberships include the Australia and New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG) Ovarian Tumour Working Group, and the TR-ANZGOG (Translational ANZGOG) Data Working Group.