Keynote Speakers

Prof Edwin Cuppen

Edwin Cuppen is initiator and scientific director of the Hartwig Medical Foundation (2015), a not-for-profit organisation that aims to improve cancer care by systematic whole genome sequencing-based diagnostics of tumors and that also maintains one of the world’s largest databases of cancer whole genome sequencing data enriched with transcriptomics and clinical patient data. Edwin is also professor of Human Genetics at the Center for Molecular Medicine of the University Medical Center in Utrecht. After his undergraduate and PhD training at Wageningen University and Radboud University Nijmegen as a molecular geneticist, he held research and group leader positions at the Netherlands Cancer Institute, the Hubrecht Institute and the UMC Utrecht. His expertise is in cancer genomics and functional genetics.

Dr Catherine Goudie

Dr Goudie is a Paediatric Haematologist-Oncologist at the Montreal Children's Hospital and Clinician-Scientist at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre. Following her core Haematology-Oncology training at McGill, Dr Goudie completed a two-year fellowship in Paediatric Solid Tumours and Cancer Genetics at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. She manages a cancer predisposition syndrome surveillance clinic where they follow over 200 patients, and is the program Co-director of a 2 year Cancer Genetics clinical-research fellowship program at McGill. Her research is dedicated to the study of the clinical phenotypes, genetic features and management of children and young adults with cancer predisposition syndromes (CPSs). Dr Goudie's program also explores the challenges that impede clinicians' ability to recognise these patients. As part of these objectives, she has led the collaborative efforts to develop and validate a digital app (McGill Interactive Paediatric OncoGenetic Guidelines - MIPOGG) helping clinicians screen for CPSs in children with cancer.

Prof David Thomas

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.

Invited Speakers

A/Prof Stephanie Best

Associate Professor Stephanie Best is the senior implementation science research lead for the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre Alliance and Australian Genomics. She has an international reputation in implementation science with research interests including methods to investigate implementation of complex clinical interventions, such as clinical genomics, equity, professional identity and leadership. Stephanie is currently working on several high profile genomic studies including Automating Reanalysis of Genomic Data (CI Stark) and Our DNA (CI MacArthur).

Dr Mohamed Fareh

Mohamed Fareh is a senior research fellow with a multidisciplinary background in RNA biology, CRISPR, cancer, and advanced single-molecule biophysics. He obtained his PhD in 2012 (France), where he uncovered a subset of non-coding RNAs that regulate cell plasticity in high-grade brain tumours. He did his postdoctoral training in the single-molecule Biophysics lab (Joo lab, TU Delft, The Netherlands), where he developed new single-molecule multicolour fluorescence approaches to investigate the biology of non-coding RNAs and CRISPR effectors with high spatial and temporal resolution.In August 2018, Mohamed relocated to Australia to join the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne) where he initiated various projects to develop new RNA-targeting CRISPR tools (CRISPR-Cas13) for precise transcriptome editing and imaging. His team is interested in (i) understanding the molecular basis of RNA recognition/silencing by CRISPR-Cas13, and (ii) reprogramming CRISPR-Cas13 to silence various pathogenic RNAs including viral transcripts and undruggable tumour drivers with single-base precision.

A/Prof Misty Jenkins AO

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

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.

Dr Deborah Meyran

Dr Deborah Meyran is a paediatric oncologist who specialised in leukaemia and cellular therapies at The Royal Children’s Hospital (RCH), and a post-doctoral researcher in the Cancer Immunology Program at PeterMac Callum Cancer Centre (PMCC). Dr Deborah Meyran leads the collaboration between PMCC, RCH and CCI for the development of T cell-based immunotherapy with an emphasis on the generation of memory chimeric antigen receptor engineered T cells (CAR T cells) to treat paediatric cancers. Her career as a paediatric oncologist and her expertise in cancer immunotherapy have ranked her as a leader in the field of immunotherapy dedicated to children with cancer. As evidence of her international recognition and expertise, she received invitations to presentations at more than 20 international and national conferences. She has authored or co-authored 17 articles, with 90% of them published in high-rank journals. She has also received several awards including the best early researcher presentation at PMCC scientific retreat in 2022, and the Picchi Award for Excellence in Cancer Research that acknowledge the most talented PhD candidate in the VCCC (2020).

A/Prof Andy Moore

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.

Professor Zornitza Stark

Professor Zornitza Stark is a clinical geneticist at the Victorian Clinical Genetics Services and clinical research fellow with Australian Genomics. She completed her medical studies at the University of Oxford, before training in paediatrics at the Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne, and in clinical genetics at VCGS. Zornitza is passionate about the integration of genomic testing into healthcare, particularly as a first-tier test for rare disease diagnosis in children. Since 2014,she has played a leadership role in numerous projects through the Melbourne Genomics and Australian Genomic Health Alliances, as well as the Genomics Health Futures Mission, all aimed at accelerating rare disease diagnosis.

Dr Jane Tiller

Dr Jane Tiller is a lawyer, genetic counsellor and public health researcher focussed on ethical, legal and social issues relating to genomics. Jane is a founding member of the Australian Genetic Non-Discrimination Working Group. She is Ethical, Legal & Social Adviser in Public Health Genomics at Monash University and Senior Project Coordinator at Australian Genomics. She holds an NHMRC Investigator Grant and an Honorary Heart Foundation Post-Doctoral Fellowship

A/Prof Peter Downie

A/Prof Peter Downie is the head of Paediatric Haematology-Oncology and Director of the Children’s Cancer Centre at Monash Children’s Hospital. He is also a Senior Lecturer, Department of Paediatrics, Monash University. He is a member of the leadership group for the Hudson Institute Paediatric Cancer Precision Medicine Program. This research is developing tumour tissue organoids that can be interrogated at a molecular and epigenetic level, with the aim of identifying and developing new targeted therapies for children with cancer. The primary focus of the research is on brain cancers, bone cancers, and other solid tumours of childhood. A/Prof Downie’s early research focused on the effects of chemotherapy on fertility in pre-pubertal boys. A/Prof Downie is currently Medical Director of the PICS State-wide Long Term Follow-up Program, for survivorship, following childhood cancer.