Invited Speakers

Misty Jenkins is a NHMRC fellow and laboratory head in the Immunology Division at Walter and Eliza Hall Institute for Medical Research. Misty leads the immunotherapy program within the Brain Cancer Centre and is dedicated to discovering novel immunotherapy targets for high grade gliomas in adults and children. Her research focusses on the development of novel chimeric antigen receptor T cells for brain cancer. Her group also uses cutting edge two-photon microscopy combined with mouse models of brain cancer to investigate the tumour microenvironment and uncover unique biology of brain tumours.

Misty has a PhD in Immunology from The University of Melbourne, followed by postdoctoral positions at The Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.  

A/Prof Jenkins was awarded the L’Oreal for Women in Science Fellowship (2013), was Tall Poppy of the year (2015), was awarded the Top100 Women of Influence award (2016) and was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2020.

In addition to her research career, A/Prof Jenkins is experienced in governance and strategy as a company Director, co-chairs a Federal Health Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and is a passionate advocate for gender equity and Indigenous Health and education. She was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2023 for distinguished service to medical science in Immunology, the support of women in STEM, and to the Indigenous community.

Dr Sébastien Malinge is a research scientist with expertise in normal and malignant haematopoiesis. He is currently lab head of the `Translational Genomics in Leukaemia` team within the Cancer Centre at Telethon Kids Institute (Perth, WA). Over the last years, his team has developed multiple clinically relevant models and applied high-throughput approaches (drug screen, CRISPR/Cas9, CyTOF, scRNA-Seq) to identify new molecular biomarkers and novel targetable weaknesses in paediatric Blood cancer. His most recent work on leukaemia developed by children with Down syndrome (DS) has led to the discovery of key players and mechanisms in tumour development, maintenance and response to `standard of care` treatments, opening new areas of investigations for targeted therapies for these children. Ultimately, Dr Malinge`s long term goal is to develop new synergistic treatments, more efficacious and less toxic, to improve long-term outcomes for all children with Blood cancer.

Associate Professor Andy Moore is a senior staff specialist in paediatric oncology at the Queensland Children’s Hospital (QCH), with clinical and research interests in childhood leukaemia, particularly acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Andy also has a number of research leadership roles, including being Director of Research at Children’s Health Queensland, and Deputy Chair of the Australian New Zealand Children’s Haematology Oncology Group (ANZCHOG). He has a PhD in preclinical drug development for AML from The Institute of Cancer Research (University of London), and is principal investigator for ANZCHOG on MyeChild 01, an international phase III clinical trial for childhood AML.

Prof David Thomas is the inaugural Director of the Centre for Molecular Oncology at the University of New South Wales, and Head of the Genomic Cancer Medicine Laboratory at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. He is also the Chief Executive Officer of Omico.  As a clinician-scientist, his focus is on the application of genomic technologies to the understanding and management of cancer, particularly sarcoma. Prof Thomas founded the Australasian Sarcoma Study Group, a national research organisation, and established Australia’s leading adolescent and young adult cancer unit at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.  Prof Thomas leads the International Sarcoma Kindred Study, now recruiting from 23 centres in 7 countries, and led the first international study of denosumab in Giant Cell Tumor of bone, leading to FDA and TGA approval.  He has over 200 research publications, including lead or senior author papers in Science, Cancer Cell, Molecular Cell, Journal of Clinical Investigation, Lancet Oncology, JAMA Oncology, and Journal of Clinical Oncology.  In 2019, he established the Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre t/as Omico, a not-for-profit company leading a national precision medicine program for patients with rare and early onset cancers. In 2018, he was President of the Connective Tissue Oncology Society, the peak international body in his field.