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Speakers

Confirmed International Keynote Speakers

Prof Sara Faithfull, PhD, MSc BSc(Hons) Onc cert
Professor of Cancer Nursing Practice at University of Surrey

Sara Faithfull trained as a cancer nurse in 1986 at the Royal Marsden Hospital (UK) and has worked in many oncology-related fields including neuro-oncology, radiotherapy and urology. She was the recipient of the Smith and Nephew Nursing fellowship in 1991 and a CRC Nursing Research Fellowship in 1994.

She obtained her Ph.D. from the Institute of Cancer Research on Supportive care in radiotherapy and in evaluating the potential contribution of nurses. She has a range of research expertise which is multi method using both qualitative and quantitative approaches.

Research interests relate to supportive and palliative cancer care centring on and around survivorship, nursing interventions and health evaluation within the practice setting. Current projects surround urology and gynaecology, developing and testing self management strategies, assistive technology in palliative radiotherapy and nurse-led approaches to supportive care. She is particularly interested in developing an evidence base for supporting cancer patients in the transition through cancer therapy especially following completion of initial treatment and follow-up.

As a Professor of Cancer Nursing Practice, Division of Health and Social Care at the University of Surrey (UK), she is also responsible for academic management and health care practice research co-ordination within the Faculty. Teaching responsibilities include the supervision of Ph.D. students, Doctorate of Clinical Practice and MSc students. She is also President of the European Oncology Nursing Society (EONS) and Board Member of ECCO - the European CanCer Organisation.

Ms Nancy Smith Teixeira, RN, BSN, Milford, CT USA

Nancy’s nursing career spans 25+ years during which time she practiced in Critical Care, Trauma Care, the Operating Suite and as a nurse manager of a surgical unit, telemetry unit and ultimately a surgical intensive care unit.

None of this experience could prepare her for the diagnosis of Carcinoid cancer which she received in 1996.

Today, Nancy is the Data/Quality Coordinator for the Heart & Vascular Institute at Stamford Hospital in Stamford, Connecticut, USA. This December, Nancy will complete her Masters of Science in Nursing at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Connecticut. She lives in Milford, Connecticut with her two children, Jay and Laura, and their Bichon, Meena.

Nancy is here to share her experiences in living with Carcinoid cancer and Carcinoid Syndrome, as a patient advocate, with a view from “The Other Side of the Stethoscope”.

Confirmed National Invited speakers

Sanchia Aranda

Sanchia Aranda is the Head of the School of Nursing, University of Melbourne  and the Director of Cancer Nursing Research at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.   She has worked in cancer and palliative care since 1979, predominantly in research and teaching roles since 1989.

Sanchia’s research interests are supportive care, symptom management and practice change.   Sanchia has received funding from the NHMRC, The Cancer Council, the National Breast Cancer Foundation and Government sources.    She is conducting a $3.5 million Government funded project with Professor Patsy Yates to develop a framework for cancer nursing education and the production of readily accessible learning materials.  She has more than 100 publications (refereed journal articles, book chapters and conference proceedings) and is an editorial board member of four international journals in cancer and palliative care and is a reviewer for many more.

Sanchia is the President of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care and is on the Advisory Council for Cancer Australia.   he received the Oncology Nursing Society (USA) International Award for Contributions to Cancer Care in 2001.

Keith Cox OAM

Keith is the Oncology/ Chemotherapy Nurse Practitioner at the Sydney Cancer Centre at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney Australia. He was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in the 2007 Queen’s Birthday honours list for his services to Cancer Nursing, his work with youth and his volunteer work. Keith has over 29years experience in Cancer Nursing; He is a Senior Clinical Lecturer at the University of Sydney and Clinical Lecturer in the School of Nursing at the University of Tasmania. Keith is the past Chair of the Winter Congress Committee of Cancer Nurses Society of Australia.

Prof John Forbes

John Forbes is Professor of Surgical Oncology, University of Newcastle and Director, Department of Surgical Oncology, Calvary Mater Newcastle since 1987. He is Director of Research for the Australian New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group (ANZ BCTG).

Professor Forbes studied Medicine at the University of Melbourne, and completed Post Graduate training in Surgery and research at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Welsh National Medical School in Cardiff. He has conducted international clinical trials for treatment and prevention of breast cancer throughout his career including the IBIS I prevention trial.

In 2007 he was recognised as one of the top 10 most highly cited scientists globally for peer-reviewed publications in 2005-2006. Professor Forbes was the only Australian named on the list.
In 2008 he was awarded the Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) Award for Research Excellence. His goal is a world without breast cancer.

Eileen Grafton

Prof Isabel Higgins

Professor Isabel Higgins is newly appointed Professor of Older Person Nursing with the University of Newcastle and Hunter New England Health. Isabel’s role as a joint appointment with the Hunter New England Health means that she works very closely with practitioners in a range of settings. Through the School of Nursing and Midwifery’s Collaborating Center for Older Person Care (CCOPC) Isabel and her clinical nursing and academic colleagues work with the RCGHA to conduct research that focuses on providing optimal care of older people in a range of settings. Through the CCOPC Isabel collaborates and partners on research and scholarly activities which centre on person centered care, practice re design and capacity building for future generations of nurses.

Isabel’s research focuses on pain and symptom management, end of life care, family members and carers’needs, practice issues and practice redesign through action research. Her methodological expertise includes a range of qualitative methodologies, quantitative approaches, mixed methods and action research studies. In particular, she has interest and expertise in phenomenology, grounded theory, critical ethnography, discourse analysis, case study and action research, evaluation studies and the use of mixed methods. Current areas of study include pain and symptom management in older people with dementia, the prevention of delirium, nutrition and hydration at the end of life, and social support and needs of the relatives of older people. She is on the editorial boards of several nursing journals and has been a reviewer for several international nursing journals for many years. Recently she co-edited a special issue on aged care for the Contemporary Nurse Journal.

Kim Hobbs

Kim Hobbs holds a Masters degree in Social Work. She has a long career in oncology social work, and has been working at Westmead Hospital since 1994 in the Department of Gynaecological Oncology.

Kim advocates for improved psychosocial support services for people with cancer and their families through her involvement in various working parties and committees. She believes that psychosocial care should be an integral component of comprehensive cancer care for all people with cancer and their caregivers throughout the treatment trajectory.

She has been involved in the development of educational resources for both clinicians and consumers, and her participation in several multidisciplinary research projects has resulted in publications in international journals. She has written two chapters in a recently published Australian book, Psychosocial Care of Cancer Patients, as well as co-authoring a chapter in Gynaecological Cancer: A Guide to Practice, edited by Tish Lancaster and Kath Nattress.

Beth Ivimey

Beth has over 20 years of cancer nursing experience in Sydney, Perth and in the U.K. Since setting up the role of the Lung Cancer Nurse Coordinator at Prince of Wales hospital in March 2006, Beth has recruited patients and their carers for various quality of life activities and research, organised lung cancer education and support seminars for patients, staff and the wider community and serves on various cancer nurse committees, lung cancer organisations and was the nurse member on the national committee which bid successfully to host the International Lung Cancer Conference in Sydney 2013.

Michael Langford

Dr. Janine Lombard

Janine Lombard was born in South Africa and completed her medical and oncology training in Cape Town and Pretoria. She immigrated to Australia in 2006 and is currently working as a Medical Oncologist at the Calvary Mater Hospital in Newcastle. She specializes in breast and gynaecological cancer.

She has a strong interest in clinical research and is involved in numerous co-operative group and pharmaceutical industry sponsored clinical trials through the Calvary Medical Oncology Trials Unit.

Janine is a member of the ANZBCTG Scientific Advisory Committee and represents the ANZBCTG on the steering committee of the large international adjuvant breast cancer trial, ALTTO.

Dr. Jane Ludbrook

Dr Jane Ludbrook is a Radiation Oncologist at the Calvary Mater Newcastle, Newcastle which  is one of the busiest units in New South Wales, servicing the large Hunter and New England regions. She holds a special interest in the multi-disciplinary management of lung cancer and she is the current lead clinician for the Hunter New England Lung Tumour Stream, which has fostered close regional-rural links primarly though the work of cancer care cordinators. Dr Ludbrook also subspecialises in breast and CNS cancers as well as being heavily committed to medical education. Most significantly, she is involved in specialist medical training and she is the current principal anatomy examiner for Radiation Oncology, within the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists.

Lyndal Moore

Lyndal Moore is a registered nurse with 17 years experience working with Paediatric Oncology/ Haematology patients at the Children’s Cancer and Haematology Service, John Hunter Children’s Hospital Newcastle. She has the dual roles of Clinical Nurse Educator for Paediatric Oncology/ Haematology and is the Late Effects Coordinator for children and young adult survivors of childhood cancer.

Both these roles enable Lyndal to commence the cancer journey with these children and their families and continue the journey with them well into adulthood.

Megan Nutt

Ludmilla Sneesby

Fiona Stacey

Gerry Wain

Gerry Wain is a gynaecological oncologist with an interest in population based screening programs and cancer prevention.  He is the Director of Gynaecological Oncology at Westmead Hospital and heads the comprehensive multidisciplinary cancer team at this institution.  He was the Director of the NSW Cervical Screening Program from1996 to 2007 and during this time there was a 40% drop in both the incidence and mortality of cervical cancer in NSW.  He is interested in the clinical implementation of evidence-based medicine and the challenges of collaborative cancer care.  He was a member of the National Guideline Review Group for the Cervical Screening Guidelines and chaired the Low Grade Working Party of this committee.  He also chaired the Ovarian Cancer Expert Advisory Group for the Ovarian Cancer Program conducted by the National Breast Cancer Centre and the CSL Gardasil Advisory Board.

Jocelyn Wake

Jocelyn works as a clinical psychologist with the Hunter New England Centre for Gynaecological Cancer (HNECGC). Originally trained as a registered nurse, Jocelyn retrained as a psychologist, and following her appointment with the HNECGC became aware of the need to improve her knowledge base in the area of sexual counselling. To address this is she enrolled in the Master of Health Science (Sexual Health) degree at the University of Sydney, which she has nearly completed. Her husband is thrilled at this turn of events in their life.

Karen Wenham

Dr. Chris Wratten

Dr Chris Wratten completed his medical training at the University of Queensland in Brisbane in 1989. He obtained fellowship of the RANZCR in 1998 and was appointed to the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Calvary Mater Hospital in 1999. He has been Director of the Department of Radiation Oncology at the Calvary Mater Hospital since 2004. He is a Conjoint senior lecturer at the University of Newcastle. His main fields of interest are H&N cancer, Skin cancer and Genitourinary malignancy.