The RCA Thought Leader Series is a collection of candid conversations with some of the brightest minds in the Australian cancer community.
People with a strong vision for what things could and should look like – now and into the future.
But it’s different to what you might expect because we want to start with the human being – why they are who they are, what makes them tick.
In this series, you will hear from some of the incredibly clever, interesting, and passionate people behind the fancy titles, the people who make the big decisions – and get to the heart of why they do what they do for patients.
So what can you expect from season one?
Real questions that need to be asked, with real answers that you won’t hear elsewhere.
Fresh perspectives on what needs to be done to make change for patients in Australia.
We hope you enjoy season one as we pilot a new type of conversation – a candid one.
From Registered Nurse to Chief Executive
Shelley began her career as a registered nurse in the UK, rising through the ranks to become Deputy Chief Executive at one of the largest hospitals in Europe and also at Europe’s largest comprehensive cancer centre.
She has over 30 years of experience in healthcare, specialising in critical care and cancer nursing.
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Risks and rewards: getting new medications into the hands of patients
STA is a pharmaceutical company that has been instrumental in helping Australians living with rare cancer to access new medications that would otherwise be out of reach.
Before co-founding STA, Carlo held senior roles at some of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies.
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Our responsibility to patients who can’t afford to wait
John was Director of Cancer Medicine at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre for 17 years, as well as their Chief Medical Officer for six.
He is highly regarded both nationally and internationally as a leader in his field, is a mentor to some of the most accomplished clinicians in Australia, and is a well-known advocate for patient access to new cancer drugs.
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The Patient Voice Initiative is an association that works towards improving the patient voice in the Australian health system.
Ann has more than 20 years of experience in developing policy and practice in patient involvement in health technology assessment, or HTA.
She is Chair of the HTAi Interest Group for Patient and Citizen Involvement in HTA, and has been selected to be a consumer representative on the Australian Government’s HTA review.
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Ian and his colleague co-invented the technology behind the world’s first cervical cancer vaccine.
He is the founding CEO of the Translational Research Institute in Brisbane, heads a biotechnology company working on new vaccine technologies, and chairs the advisory board of the Medical Research Future Fund.
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The VCCC Alliance is a powerful partnership of 10 leading research, academic and clinical institutions, working together to fundamentally reshape the way we tackle cancer.
Grant is also Head of the Molecular Oncology Lab at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and a highly cited melanoma researcher.
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Project Sponsors
Rare Cancers Australia would like to acknowledge our supporters who help make our Thought Leader Series possible: