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Elgene Lim

Principal Theme Lead, Cancer

Laboratory Head, Garvan Institute of Medical Research

Professor Elgene Lim is a medical oncologist and researcher with a focus on breast cancer research and treatment, the Principal Cancer Theme Lead at the Faculty of Medicine & Health, UNSW, 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 furthered his research and clinical training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School through fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, NHMRC of Australia, and Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Elgene oversees the breast oncology unit at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney, and heads the Connie Johnson breast cancer research laboratory at the Garvan Institute. Their research is funded through Cancer Australia, NHMRC, Cancer Council NSW, and the National Breast Cancer, Love Your Sister, White Butterfly, Balnaves, Curran Foundation and Garvan Research Foundation.

Elgene also seeks to improve healthcare more globally. He volunteered as a physician to asylum seekers without access to Medicare and currently works with the Asha Kiran Hospital, India, on a longer-term strategy of expertise transfer and partnership with local doctors.

Barbara Waddell

Research Development Manager, Faculty of Medicine and Health, UNSW

Barbara Waddell specialises in delivering both operational and strategic research support to cancer researchers within UNSW’s Faculty of Medicine and Health. As a professional with 10 years’ experience in project management, including financial oversight and stakeholder management within the health industry, Barbara is well-equipped to navigate stakeholder relationships and expectations. Barbara is a strategic thinker, passionate about identifying opportunities to create value for all parties involved. As the Cancer Theme Research Development Manager, she plays a vital role in supporting early and mid-career cancer researchers, managing grants and scholarships, facilitating people with lived experiences’ involvement in cancer research within the faculty, as well as managing cancer related events with a focus on fostering collaboration between researchers.

David Ziegler

Senior Staff Specialist in the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital

Professor David Ziegler is an NHMRC Investigator and paediatric oncologist at the Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital, Randwick. He trained as a Fulbright Scholar at Harvard Medical School. He is Head of the Neuro-Oncology program and the Cancer Clinical Trials program at SCH. He is the Group Leader of the Brain Tumour Group at the Children’s Cancer Institute, Australia, and Conjoint Professor at the University of New South Wales. He leads Australia’s national childhood cancer personalised medicine trials through the ZERO program. He has won multiple awards including the 2023 Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Jian Zhou Medal, awarded to a rising star of Australian health and medical science.

Geoff Delaney

Director of Cancer Services for the South Western Sydney Local Health District (SWSLHD)

Director of Liverpool Cancer Centre

Professor Geoff Delaney is a Senior Staff Specialist at Liverpool Hospital, Sydney, NSW, Australia in Radiation Oncology. He is also Professor at the South-western Sydney Clinical School, UNSW and is Lead of the Cancer Academic Group for Maridulu Budyari Gamal - SPHERE, a translation research conglomeration of NSW, Western Sydney Universities, University of Technology; South-Western and South-Eastern Health Districts, St Vincent’s Hospital, Children’s Cancer Institute, Garvan and Ingham Research Institute, George Institute. Professor Delaney has had significant involvement in service planning and policy through committee responsibilities at National and International levels including European Society of Therapeutic Radiation Oncology Radiation Safety and Quality Committee, NSW Cancer Institute, NSW Department of Health, Federal Dept of Health and Ageing, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists. He has 35 years research and clinical experience in oncology, health services planning, cancer survivorship and e-Health implementation. His clinical interest is breast cancer radiotherapy. His interests outside oncology include cryptic crosswords, historical fiction, golf and baseball.

Minoti Apte, OAM

Director of the Pancreatic Research Group, The Ingham Institute

Minoti Apte is currently a Professor of Medicine and Director of the Pancreatic Research Group based at the Ingham Institute, Liverpool. She also serves as Director of Research Strategy at the South Western Sydney Clinical Campuses, UNSW.  She is internationally acknowledged as a leading researcher in pancreatic pathophysiology and is particularly recognised for her pioneering work in pancreatic fibrogenesis. Her research spans the pathophysiology of acute and chronic pancreatitis as well as pancreatic cancer, with the latter focusing on stromal-tumour interactions in cancer.  Her editorial experience includes serving as Editor-in-Chief of Pancreatology for 8 years, and currently as the first Australian Associate Editor of Gastroenterology and as a member of the Editorial Boards of several other journals. Minoti has received numerous prestigious awards in recognition of her work including a Medal of the Order of Australia, being elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science and being awarded the George E Palade Prize by the International Association of Pancreatology (IAP) for her outstanding contributions to the field. She is President-Elect of the IAP and will serve as the Association’s President in 2025.

Natalie Taylor

Director of Research, School of Population Health at ±«±·³§°ÂÌý

Natalie is an implementation scientist at the University of NSW. She has 15 years of experience in developing, applying, and advancing methodologies to study optimal ways to translate evidence into practice, primarily in healthcare settings. Natalie delivers international behaviour change workshops, toolkits, and coaching for healthcare professionals to test the impact of implementation.

Ursula Sansom-Daly

Director of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children’s Hospital

Dr Ursula Sansom-Daly is a Cancer Institute NSW Senior Research Fellow, and Director of the Behavioural Sciences Unit, UNSW Medicine & Health, the largest research group dedicated to studying the psychosocial, ethical and behavioural aspects of child/adolescent cancer in Australia. She is also a Clinical Psychologist at Sydney Youth Cancer Service, a large multidisciplinary service specialising in the care of adolescents and young adults aged 15-25 with cancer. Dr Sansom-Daly’s research spans the cancer trajectory, from diagnosis through to survivorship and end-of-life. A strong emphasis of her research program is the development of evidence-based resources and interventions to improve the cancer experience for patients, families, and health-professionals. Dr Sansom-Daly has received 20 awards in her career to date, including the Australian Institute of Policy and Science NSW Tall Poppy Award (2023), for her work addressing the psychological impact of cancer for young people and their families.