2023 Cancer Preceptorship for General Practitioners
Presentations
- Clinical trials and GPs – Amy Ives RN
- Lung Cancer Screening – Dr Catherine Bettington
- CNC Role, Financial and Emotional support for Melanoma Patients – Daniel Fitzgerald CNC Melanoma
- Multidisciplinary Team (MDT) Approach in Cancer Care – Dr Darshit Thaker
- Merkel Cell Carcinoma – Dr Haidar Al-Saig
- Haematology – Dr Kirk Morris
- Melanoma case based discussion – A/Prof Melissa Eastgate
- Multiple Myeloma Update – Dr Nilu Perera
CANCER CARE SERVICES PRECEPTORSHIP FOR
GENERAL PRACTITIONERS
SATURDAY 19 JULY 2025
FREE FACE TO FACE EVENT
RBWH-Education Centre
8:30 am registration
9:00 am – 3:30 pm
For more information:
E: Med_Onc_Secretary
@health.qld.gov.au
P: (07) 3646 7983
Professor Glen Kennedy
Associate Professor Glen Kennedy is a haematologist who specialises in the treatment of malignant haematological disorders including bone marrow and stem cell transplantation. He is actively involved in clinical and translational research and has authored / co-authored >130 articles in peer-reviewed journals to date, including writing and leading several local investigator-initiated clinical studies.
Glen has led the implementation of local manufacture of CAR-T cells in Queensland, and state-wide service models in cancer through his prior co-chairmanship of the Queensland Cancer Clinical Network. He is currently actively involved in developing novel clinical care models including in emergent care, geriatric oncology, adolescent and youth cancer and breast cancer screening.
Glen is also responsible for monitoring and strategically directing the performance of Metro North Health’s clinical streams, including provision of data sets to help understand issues and opportunities for clinical performance across Metro North. Through this role Glen works closely with Primary Health Networks (PHN) around community programmes and partnerships, including developing shared care models between hospitals and primary care.
Associate Professor Melissa Eastgate
Associate Professor Melissa Eastgate is the Deputy Director of Medical Oncology at the RBWH, and the acting Stream Lead for Metro North Cancer Care Services . Melissa completed her medical degree at UQ and gained her FRACP in 2004. Since then she has worked at the RBWH as a medical oncologist, with her main clinical interests being melanoma and gastrointestinal cancers, in which areas she is an active researcher.
Melissa established and chairs the Melanoma MDT at the RBWH. Melissa supervises physician trainees throughout their training and is the past Chair of the RACP Advanced Training Committee for Medical Oncology. Melissa is the current Deputy Chair of MOGA.
Melissa has a strong interest in enabling access to care for patients, having provided outreach services to Bundaberg for nine years, and currently is the medical lead of the Telechemotherapy service in Longreach. Melissa is an affiliate researcher at QIMR.
Dr Cameron Curley MBBS FRACP FRCPA
Cameron is the Acting Director of the department of Haematology and Bone Marrow Transplantation at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. He graduated from the University of Queensland in 1999 and completed training in Haematology at the Royal Brisbane and Princess Alexandra Hospitals in 2010 before taking up an appointment as a clinical Haematologist at the RBWH. He provides outreach Haematology services to Rockhampton. His clinical interests include allogeneic stem cell transplantation, CAR T cell therapy and the mutational landscape of myeloid malignancy.
Dr Michelle Spanevello BPhty(Hons) MBBS(Hons) FRACP FRCPA
Dr Michelle Spanevello is a dual trained Haematologist (pathologist and physician) completing her fellowships in 2011. After attaining her specialist qualifications, she was offered a Staff Specialist position in Clinical Haematology at RBWH. She also practised as a Haematopathologist from 2011 up until 2018. In 2016, she undertook an Observership in the USA at the University of Washington Medical Center/Seattle Cancer Care Alliance to further her interest in non-malignant haematology under Professor Terry Gernsheimer. This training and interest led her to become the clinical lead in non-malignant haematology at RBWH. Dr Spanevello is the chair of the RBWH Blood Management Committee and deputy chair of the Metro North Hospital and Health Services Blood Management Committee. She takes an active role in supervision of trainees and education and leads an educational programme in Non-Malignant Haematology for Haematologists. She is a Senior Lecturer for UQ School of Medicine. Dr Spanevello continues now as a Senior Staff Specialist in Clinical Haematology at RBWH, the Deputy Director of Haematology at RBWH and as an SMO Haematologist at Icon Cancer Clinics. Dr Spanevello has extensive experience in general haematology including malignancy, and she has a particular interest and experience in thrombosis.
Dr Michelle Nottage
Dr Nottage is a graduate of Otago University and completed specialist training in Medical Oncology in Brisbane in 2000. She undertook a fellowship in Medical Oncology new drug development at the Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto before returning to a staff specialist position at the RBWH in 2003.
She is a member of MOGA, ASCO, Breast Cancer Trials. Cancer Alliance Queensland breast cancer sub-committee member.
Dr Nottage’s special interests are Breast Cancer and Head and Neck Cancers.
Assoc Prof. David Wyld
Associate Professor David Wyld is the Director of Medical Oncology at RBWH. He completed his Oncology training in Brisbane followed by a fellowship in the United Kingdom, before returning to take up a position at RBWH in 1997. He also provided Outreach Services to Rockhampton for 20 years.
David has experience managing a wide variety of tumour types – his main clinical interests currently being gastrointestinal and neuroendocrine tumours. David established Queensland’s first neuroendocrine tumour multidisciplinary meeting and clinical service at RBWH and has chaired this MDM for more than 15 years. David was a co-founder of the Queensland Collaborative for Cancer Survivorship Research and is currently the Co-Chair of this group. David has a specific research interest in neuroendocrine tumours, and qualitative patient focused research, and an ongoing involvement in education and training. David has also been actively involved in broader Cancer Services planning and development, both within Metro North and across Queensland more broadly
Dr Michelle Grogan MBBS, FRANZCR
Dr Michelle Grogan MBBS, FRANZCR is a Senior Radiation Oncologist with special interests in breast cancer, genitourinary cancer, gastrointestinal tract cancer and gynaecological cancers.
After obtaining her fellowship in 1996, she undertook further training in breast, genitourinary and gynaecologic malignancies at the Breast Cancer Institute in Sydney and the Toronto Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, Canada. On returning to Australia in 1999, Dr Grogan worked at the Prince of Wales Hospital, Sydney moving to Brisbane in 2007 to work at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital.
Dr Grogan has experience in treating with new technologies such as IMRT, VMAT, Tomotherapy and stereotactic radiotherapy and in the use of brachytherapy for management of genitourinary, gynaecologic and GI tract tumours.
Having published in peer review journals, Dr Grogan is committed to clinical research and has an active role in the education of trainees.
Dr Darshit A Thaker FRACP, DipGeriOnc, ClinDipPallMed, MD, MBBS
Medical Oncologist and Palliative Medicine Physician
Senior Staff Specialist, Medical Oncology, RBWH
Senior Lecturer, University of Queensland
Dr Darshit Arunbhai Thaker is a Medical Oncologist and Palliative Medicine Physician. He is working with Queensland Health as Consultant for ten years. Darshit provides effective and personalised care to his patients during their journey from diagnosis to active management to palliation.
He is currently providing Oncology services at RBWH, North Lakes Cancer Centre (NLCCS) and Caboolture Hospital (CBH). He also provides services at Caboolture Private Hospital. His main areas of interest are Gastrointestinal and breast malignancies.
He completed his oncology training in RBWH in 2012, won the prestigious Unicorn Foundation Award to expand his knowledge in neuroendocrine tumours. He did extensive research on Tele oncology, which took him to national and international conferences for oral and poster presentations. He has multiple publications in field of Oncology and Palliative Care in various peer-reviewed journals.
Darshit has done Diploma in Geriatric Oncology and currently leading GeriOnc project at NLCCS and CBH. He has presented service outcome results in SIOG annual conference, Geneva 2019, and published paper in Journal of Geriatric Oncology in 2021. He is currently principal investigator in Quality-of-Life Study of older patients with cancer.
Darshit has maintained an active interest in teaching and clinical research as well. He is member of AGITG, ASCO, ESMO, MOGA, ANZPM and IAP. He is an accredited supervisor for advanced trainees of RACP, examiner for fellowship exams and Senior Lecturer at University of QLD.
He received prestigious ‘Hind Ratan’ (Jewel of India) award 2020 for his social welfare service to his home country India.
Dr Anna Kuchel
Dr Anna Kuchel is a medical oncology staff specialist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and is actively involved in research in genitourinary cancers (particularly testicular cancer) and cancer of unknown primary. Other interests include teaching and mentoring medical students and junior doctors.
Dr Robyn Cheuk
Senior Radiation Oncologist, Radiation Oncology, Cancer Care Services, RBWH, ROPART
Dr Robyn Cheuk is a Senior Radiation Oncologist, who works at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and Princess Alexandra Hospital (ROPART). She is a clinical lead for Paediatric Radiation Oncology at the Queensland Children’s Hospital works exclusively in Paediatric Radiation Oncology at ROPART.
Specialist Areas
Her work at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital includes breast, brachytherapy, and gynaecological oncology which can be combined with her paediatric work. She is involved across both sites with patients in the Adolsecent and Young Adult Group. Shis is also a Senior Lecturer with the University of Queensland. She is the lead Radiation Oncologist for IORT (Intra-operative radiotherapy) for breast cancer which commenced at RBWH in 2023, part of the RANZCR special interest group and chair for the Gynaecological Oncology Radiation Collaboration (GOROC).
Education:
Dr Cheuk graduated from the school of Medicine at Flinders University of South Australia. Her Radiation Oncology training commenced in New South Wales and was completed in Queensland. She continued her studies in France, specializing in brachytherapy.
Research:
Dr Cheuk is a co-investigator in paediatric trilas for SIPO, COG and above groups & St. Jude’s Children’s Reseach Hospital and the chair of the Safety Committee for Phase 1 & Phase 2 Paediatric clinic trials. She is also involved with the IORT breast clinical trials which was established in 2022 at RBWH.
Memberships:
Dr Cheuk is a member of the following organizations:
- Australasian Brachytherapy Group (founding member)
- Particle Therapy Working Group of RANZCR with focus on Paediatric Oncology
- Paediatric Radiation Oncology Specialist Interest Group of RANZCR
- Radiation Oncology Representative for CNS Tumour Group of ANZCHOG
- International Society of Paediatric Oncology (SIOP)
- International Children’s Oncology Group (COG)
Jenny Hanlon
Jenny Hanlon is a McGrath Breast Care Nurse at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. She studied and graduated from Bachelor of Nursing at Charles Darwin University in 2012 after which she completed the graduate nursing program at The Canberra Hospital and went on to work in surgical nursing for 3 years before transferring to oncology nursing.
In 2015 she moved with her family to Brisbane and commenced working at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on the oncology inpatient ward. She has a strong passion for breast cancer nursing and in 2019 she began working as the Breast Cancer Care Coordinator and in 2021 was successful in gaining her current position as one of the McGrath Breast Care Nurses.
Rikki Hopkins
Rikki Hopkins is a McGrath Breast Care Nurse at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s and The Prince Charles Hospitals. She completed Bachelor Nursing Sciences at James Cook University in 2003 and Graduate Nursing Program at the Townsville Hospital the following year.
Rikki has worked in various Nursing positions and locations since including surgical, paediatrics, recovery and GP Practice Nurse before arriving in Cancer Care Services at the Cairns Hospital in 2009. Rikki has enjoyed Oncology Nursing and in particular supporting Breast Cancer patients. She worked in many positions within Cancer Care including Oncology Day Unit Team Leader and Cancer Care Coordinator before completing her Graduate Certificate in Breast Cancer Nursing.
Rikki has been a McGrath Breast Care Nurse since 2017, originally in Cairns, but has since relocated to Brisbane.
Zarnie Lwin
Zarnie Lwin is an Associate Professor from the University of Queensland and is a Senior Staff Specialist Medical Oncologist at the Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital and The Prince Charles Hospital, Australia. She undertook a two-year clinical research fellowship in lung cancer and brain cancer at the Prince Margaret Cancer Centre, Toronto under the mentorship of Professor Natasha Leighl, Professor Frances Shepherd and Professor Warren Mason.
Zarnie has been actively involved in clinical trials, research, and advocacy for the past 15 years. During this time, she has also had the privilege to serve on and Chair several national and international committees in oncology. She has a large clinical practice specialising in thoracic oncology and neurooncology. Her keen research interests include Societal Research, Health Services Research, and equity and she has won three awards for her Original Research. She currently serves as the Executive Editor for Neurooncology Practice. Zarnie is committed to global education and mentorship.
In 2024 Zarnie was awarded with a Medal of the Order of Australia for her service in medicine in the field of Neuro-oncology.
Chun Loo Gan
Dr. Chun Loo Gan is a staff medical oncologist at RBWH with a special interest in genito-urinary malignancies, melanoma and gastrointestinal tract malignancies.
Graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2011, Dr Gan completed basic physician training and advanced medical oncology training at Royal Melbourne Hospital, Monash Medical Centre and Olivia Newton-John Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Victoria, before becoming a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians in 2018.
Dr Gan is a strong advocate for research and clinical trials and has completed a one-year clinical trial fellowship at Monash Medical Centre in Victoria and a two-year genitourinary oncology fellowship at the Tom Baker Cancer Centre in Calgary, Canada, where he was supervised by Prof. Daniel Heng, the founder of the International Metastatic Renal Cell Carcinoma Database Consortium.
As the IMDC fellow, Dr. Gan led multiple international collaborative research studies in advanced renal cell carcinoma and immunotherapy. He presented at international and national meetings and received several awards, including two prestigious Merit Awards from the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the Novartis Oncology Young Canadian Investigator Award. Dr. Gan has also completed a Master in Cancer Sciences at the University of Melbourne, focusing on cancer immunotherapy.
Dr Gan is an active member of the ANZUP kidney cancer subcommittee.
Nick Weber
Dr Nick Weber is a clinical haematologist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and senior clinical lecturer at the University of Queensland. He has a clinical interest in plasma cell disorders and is involved as a clinical investigator in a number of research activities in this disease group. Dr Weber is a member of several collaborative research groups including the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group, the Myeloma and Related Diseases Registry, and the Australasian Myeloma Research Consortium. He also contributes regularly to teaching and education activities in his role as the Education lead for the Myeloma Australia Medical and Scientific Advisory Group.
Charles Lin
A/Prof Charles Lin is an experienced radiation oncologist at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and privately at Greenslopes and Chermside.
A/Prof Lin actively participates in cancer research and is the principal investigator of several active clinical trials. He is a member of the breast, urology, skin, and head and neck cancers multidisciplinary teams at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital. His clinical experience covers a broad range of solid tumour malignancies with special interest in breast cancer, genitourinary cancer, head and neck cancer, skin cancer, prostate cancer and urological cancer.
Jeffrey C. Goh
Dr Jeffrey Goh is an experienced Medical Oncologist consulting at Icon Cancer Centre Chermside and Greenslopes Private Hospital. In 1996, he completed his Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery at Monash University and worked in Adelaide after graduating. He moved from Adelaide to Brisbane to pursue training in Haematology & Oncology in 2002. Dr Goh subsequently held a position as a laboratory and Clinical Haematology registrar at the Princess Alexandra Hospital in 2003. He completed his FRACP exams in 2004 and subsequently completed advanced specialist Medical Oncology training in Brisbane and became a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) in 2007.
Dr Goh was appointed Staff Medical Oncologist at Royal Brisbane & Women’s Hospital (RBWH) in December 2008. Dr Goh commenced sessional private medical oncology practice as a Visiting Medical Officer (VMO) at Greenslopes Private Hospital (GPH) in 2008 and at Icon Cancer Centre Chermside in early 2010.
Dr Goh is actively involved in numerous clinical trials and acted as principal investigator (PI) in a number of phase Ib, II and III gynaecological oncology, urological malignancy and early phase drug trials at RBWH, ICON Research and GPH. He is also a co-investigator in numerous other multi-centre clinical trials in oncology.
Dr Goh maintains an active interest in clinical research and is a member of several leading cancer trial groups including the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital & Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP), Australia & New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO). He was previously a Board Member and past chair of the QA Committee of the Australia & New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG) and is the past Chair of the Cervical Cancer Tumour Type Working Group of ANZGOG.
Dr Goh maintains a significant part-time role as Senior Staff Specialist at RBWH and is an Adjunct Professor at the Queensland University of Technology; he was a senior lecturer and co-supervisor of PhD candidates at the University of Queensland. He is also involved with mentoring advanced trainee registrars in Medical Oncology at RBWH. Additionally, Dr Goh is a member of both the Research Committee and Medical Advisory Committee (MAC) at Icon. His clinical experience covers a broad range of solid tumour malignancies, with specific clinical and research interest in gynaecological and genitourinary cancers, in addition to early phase clinical trials.
Darshit A Thaker
Dr Thaker is a Senior Staff Specialist with Queensland Health providing Medical Oncology services at RBWH, North Lakes Cancer Centre (NLCCS) and Caboolture Hospital (CBH). He also provides medical oncology and palliative care services at Caboolture Private Hospital.
He has more than 10 years of experience in cancer services managing all solid tumour types with special interest in Gastrointestinal/colorectal, prostate and breast and cancers. He provides effective and personalized care to his patients during their journey from diagnosis to active management to palliation.
Dr Thaker completed his oncology training at RBWH in 2012 and won the prestigious Unicorn Foundation Award to expand his knowledge in neuroendocrine tumors. He did extensive research on Tele-oncology, presented his work in national and international conferences. He has multiple publications in the field of Oncology and Palliative Care in various peer-reviewed journals.
Dr Thaker is geriatric oncology expert in Metro North and is currently leading the Geri-Onc services at NLCCS and CBH. He has presented service outcome results in SIOG annual conference, Geneva 2019, and published paper in Journal of Geriatric Oncology in 2021.
Dr Thaker has maintained an active interest in teaching and clinical research and is member of AGITG, ASCO, ESMO, MOGA, COSA, ANZPM and IAP. In addition he is an accredited supervisor for advanced trainees of RACP, an examiner for fellowship exams, Senior Lecturer and interviewer/examiner at University of QLD. Dr Thaker received the prestigious ‘Hind Ratan’ (Jewel of India) award for social welfare activities to his home country India.
He provides inpatient/ outpatient clinical services at Caboolture Private Hospital. He is member of Medical Advisory Committee of the Hospital.