Join us at the Cancer Network Forum
The Cancer Network WA, in collaboration with the WA Clinical Oncology Group at Cancer Council WA, is excited to announce a one-day forum on 30 May.
The Cancer Network Forum is an opportunity to reflect on and recognise the achievements and collective efforts of organisations contributing to the goals of WA State Cancer Plan 2020-2025
This exciting one-day forum presents a unique platform to share insights, foster collaboration, and celebrate advancements in cancer research and care.
Attendees will have a chance to network with peers and participate in their topics of interest during the breakout sessions.
Date: Thursday 30 May from 9am to 3pm
Venue: The University Club of Western Australia, Banquet Hall
Theme: Celebrating progress towards the WA Cancer Plan 2020-2025
To register for the event, RSVP by Friday 24 May on EventBrite (external site).
Cancer Network Forum program (PDF)
Forum presenters and topics
Associate Professor Karen Taylor - Coordinator of Nursing, CNWA
Topic: Cancer Network WA overview
Associate Professor Karen Taylor is the current Coordinator of Nursing for Cancer Network WA (CNWA). She is a clinician, researcher, journal editor and reviewer, grant/fellowship assessor and has published in peer reviewed journals.
She has over 35 years of cancer nursing experience, starting her career in Tasmania as a hospital trained nurse. She then worked in Adelaide and Brisbane before moving to Perth. Karen has worked for CNWA for the last 14 years in various nursing roles, including leading CNWA from 2020 to 2024. Among her many qualifications and certifications, her PhD in cancer survivorship has been the most important of her academic career.
Deborah Jacobs - Aboriginal Clinical Nurse Consultant, CNWA
Topic: Aboriginal Cancer Nurse Coordination Service (ACNCS)
Deborah Jacobs is the Aboriginal Clinical Nurse Consultant for Cancer Network WA (CNWA) based at Sir Charles Gardner Hospital, North Metropolitan Health Service, in Perth. Deborah has extensive experience working in Aboriginal health as a registered nurse, which led her into advisory and consultancy roles.
Deborah joined CNWA in 2023, where she developed and implemented the Aboriginal Cancer Nurse Coordination Service (ACNCS). Deborah specialises in delivering cultural safety to improve the health of Aboriginal people with cancer. She works alongside various cancer streams to identify high risk cancer patients requiring cultural safety and support, with the aim of completing treatment. Deborah is successfully delivering the ACNCS across four tertiary hospitals in the metropolitan region.
Jade Newton - Coordinator & Research Associate, Curtin University
Topic: The Cancer Staging Project
Jade Newton is a health services researcher currently completing her PhD at Curtin University.
She is the Project Coordinator for The Cancer Staging Project, and her research focusses on patient experiences navigating cancer care in Western Australia.
Dr Tulene Kendrick - Haematology Fellow, Royal Perth Hospital
Topic: Imaging flow cytometry for the assessment of chromosome abnormalities in haematological malignancies
Dr Tulene Kendrick is a clinical and laboratory-trained haematologist, with appointments at Australian Clinical Laboratories, Royal Perth Hospital and SJOG Midland. Tulene has a background in research, having completed a PhD and post-doctoral fellowship in haemopoietic cell signalling, prior to a postgraduate medical degree at the University of Western Australia.
She has an interest in myeloid malignancies, in particular Acute Myeloid Leukaemia and recently completed a Western Australian Cancer Network research fellowship in novel diagnostics for Acute Myeloid Leukaemia, at Royal Perth Hospital and the University of Western Australia.
Dr Hooi Ee - Gastroenterologist & Head of Department, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
Topic: Bowel cancer screening: Some is good, more is better
Dr Hooi Ee is the Head of the Department of Gastroenterology, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, and a Clinical Professor of Medicine, the University of Western Australia. He has been the Lead Clinician for Bowel Cancer Screening for the Department of Health WA since 2005. He is an active clinician, training supervisor and research collaborator, with an interest in familial gastrointestinal cancers.
At the national level, he is a member of the working party for the Australian Government guidelines for bowel cancer screening, a clinical expert on the Quality Committee of the National Cancer Screening Registry and recently, the inaugural Chair of the Gastrointestinal Cancer Faculty of the Gastroenterological Society of Australia.
Melissa Ledger - Cancer Prevention & Research Director, Cancer Council WA
Topic: Working towards a cancer-free future: Insights from Cancer Council WA
Melissa Ledger is Director of Cancer Prevention and Research at Cancer Council WA, a role she has held for six years, the Deputy Chair of Cancer Council Australia’s Public Health Committee and a Cancer Council media spokesperson on a broad range of cancer prevention topics.
Melissa leads a large public health workforce delivering flagship public education campaigns such as Make Smoking History, SunSmart and LiveLighter, as well as programs to address cancer risk factors, early detection, and building the capacity of health professionals.
Dr Claire Forde - Health Pathways GP Clinical Editor, WA Primary Health Alliance Health Pathways
Topic: HealthPathways: Cancer clinical resources for primary care
Dr Claire Forde is a WA trained general practitioner (GP) and GP Clinical Editor for HealthPathways. She holds Doctor of Medicine from the University of Notre Dame as well as Bachelor’s degrees in Podiatric Medicine and Science, with honours in Anthropology from the University of Western Australia.
Prior to commencing general practice training, she worked at a number of hospitals in Perth and regional WA and had a career as a podiatrist in the Mid-West.
Dr Nicola O’ Neil Clinical Genetics Fellow, Genetic Health WA
Topic: Genetic oncology in WA
Dr Nicola O’ Neil completed her oncology training in Sydney and relocated to Perth in 2020, completing a fellowship in breast cancer at the Breast Cancer Research Centre-WA. She was the inaugural clinical trials fellow at Fiona Stanley Hospital in 2021. Nicola is the current chair of the Young Oncologists Group of Australia and was awarded an ESMO Young Oncologists Mentorship in 2022 in Cancer Genetics. Nicola was the recipient of a WA Cancer Fellowship in 2021 and is currently completing her cancer genetics training at Genetic Health WA.
Sonya Schultz - Program Manager, Breastscreen WA
Topic: Screening Saves Lives: A review of the LGBTIQA+ cancer screening campaign
Sonya Schultz obtained a Bachelor of Science in Health Promotion from Curtin University in 2001; she started her career as a Project Officer working in the areas of Sexual Health, Blood Bourne Virus Prevention and Women’s Health in the Wheatbelt region of WA. Sonya has been working with BreastScreen WA since February 2007.
Sonya’s role as a Senior Program Officer in the Health Promotion and Recruitment Team involves working with diverse communities including Multicultural women, Aboriginal women, women with disabilities, LGBTIQ+ community members, GP’s and other Health Professionals. Sonya is passionate about working with communities to ensure health services, including BreastScreen WA are culturally safe and accessible and equitable for all eligible clients.
Dr Eve Tiong - Radiation Oncologist, ICON Cancer Centre
Topic: Bridging the gap of cancer care
Dr Eve Tiong is an experienced radiation oncologist at Icon Cancer Centre Midland and Icon Cancer Centre Rockingham. Dr Tiong completed her Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at the University of New South Wales and subsequently undertook specialist oncology training in Singapore and Australia.
She went on to complete a radiation oncology fellowship, specialising in urological cancers, lymphoma, gastrointestinal malignancies and sarcoma at Princess Margaret Hospital in Toronto, Canada. She maintains an active interest in cancer education and regularly provides information to GPs, trainee doctors and the community.
Tiffany Briggs - Nuclear Medicine and Theranostics Clinical Lead, GenesisCare
Topic: Targeted radionuclide therapy: Current practice and future directions
Tiffany Briggs graduated with a Bachelor of Medical Radiation Science in Nuclear Medicine from University of Newcastle, then moved to Western Australia and worked as a Nuclear Medicine Technologist at Fiona Stanley Hospital and concurrently at Royal Perth Hospital. Here Tiffany was involved in research and clinical roles, where she attended and presented at many industry conferences and was a co-author on a publication in the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine & Molecular Imaging (EJNMMI).
Tiffany then completed her Master of Business Administration specialising in HR Management through University of Newcastle online whilst working full time in the private sector at Qscan Radiology Clinic. She is the current WA ANZSNM Chairperson and previously held the treasurer role.
Dr Melanie Murray - Senior Lecturer, School of Nursing, Murdoch University
Topic: Navigating the intricacies of cancer care: Unveiling the challenges and triumphs
Dr Melanie Murray is a committed nursing academic and researcher. Melanie focuses on furthering the education of healthcare professionals across safety, quality, leadership and human factors.
Prior to obtaining her doctorate, Melanie amassed significant clinical experience in PACU nursing around Australia after commencing her nursing career in community nursing spanning generalist, infant/child, and cancer care. Melanie is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Health Service Management (ACHSM) and a Certified Health Executive (CHE).
Dr David Leong - Head of Endocrine Surgical Services Unit, Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
Topic: Tumour size predicts risk of recurrence in tall cell subtype papillary thyroid carcinoma
Dr David Leong is the current head of the Endocrine Surgical Services Unit at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and practices privately at Hollywood Private Hospital and Joondalup Health Campus. He trained in Western Australia and is a current senior lecturer with the University of Western Australia.
David is actively involved in research in improving outcomes and understanding of Endocrine Surgical pathology. His interests include all aspects of thyroid, parathyroid, adrenal surgical pathology with a special interest in voice preservation and minimally invasive surgery.
Jo Keyser & Lauren Knight - Cancer Nurse Coordinators, Cancer Network WA
Topic: Rare and Less Common Cancer Nurse Coordination Service: Establishment, evolution and future directions
Jo Keyser and Lauren Knight are Clinical Nurse Consultants who have worked for the Cancer Network WA for the past 17 years. Jo is the Cancer Nurse Coordinator for Rare Cancers and Lauren is the Cancer Nurse Coordinator for Neuroendocrine Tumours.
They have many years of experience working as specialist cancer nurses across health services and multiple tumour streams in metropolitan and rural WA. In their current roles they work clinically and strategically to coordinate care for cancer patients and their carers, providing specialist cancer nursing advice and support.
Dr Angela Ives - Research Fellow, the University of Western Australia
Topic: PROMs and PREMs in WA cancer care: What do they tell us
Dr Angela Ives is a Research Fellow in the Cancer and Palliative Care Research and Evaluation Unit at UWA. Angela is responsible for development and implementation of research and evaluation projects to improve care for patients, and their families, diagnosed with cancer. She also manages and supports staff, supervises PhD students and mentors undergraduate health and medical students.
Angela’s background is in medical imaging in both the public and private health sector in Australia and the UK. She has experience of quantitative and qualitative research methods in projects whose results have been utilised to guide policy and improve care locally, nationally, and internationally.
Claire Finley - Clinical Psychologist, WA Psycho -Oncology Services
Topic: WAPOS service overview
Claire Finley has been working as a clinical psychologist for 20 years in a variety of tertiary health settings including AOD, chronic pain, major trauma and C-L psychiatry.
She commenced working at WAPOS in 2021 working with both inpatients and outpatients at SCGH and RPH, and is currently acting in the role of Senior Clinical Psychologist Coordinator alongside Liz Cluett.
Phoebe Chaytor - Cancer Navigator and Intake Clinician
Topic: Cancer Hub: A collaborative service making access to support easier
Phoebe has been working at Cancer Hub as a Cancer Navigator and Intake Clinician since July 2023. Phoebe’s background is as an occupational therapist, and prior to Cancer Hub had been working in disability under NDIS as part of the Hospital-to-Home transition program.
Phoebe also worked as a research assistant at the Translation Cancer Pathology Laboratory at UWA and volunteered with Cancer Council WA for several years.
Ash Rosindale - Canteen State Manager
Topic: Cancer Hub: A collaborative service making access to support easier
Ash has been working at Canteen for over 13 years in a variety of roles, most recently as State Manager since 2017. Ash is a specialist in youth engagement support and is passionate about leading teams who are driven to ensure the best outcomes for young people.
Coupled with his experience in NFP management, Ash has a background in sport with degrees in Management and Education.
Maddison See - Camp Quality Family Program Team Leader
Topic: Cancer Hub: A collaborative service making access to support easier
Maddison See has been with Camp Quality for seven years supporting families in the Recreation Program space. Maddison enjoys having the rewarding job of ensuring kids have the opportunity to ‘just be kids’ and giving families time to connect outside of treatment and the hospital.
Casey Croghan - Red Kite Community Social Worker
Topic: Cancer Hub: A collaborative service making access to support easier
Casey Croghan has been working at Redkite for just under a year with a background working in Youth Mental Health. Casey is a Community Based Social worker which involves working with children, young people and adults for counselling and support co-ordination.
Casey has a particular interest supporting children and young people impacted by paediatric cancer from diagnosis, treatment, survivorship and/or bereavement.
Melanie Boyd - Cancer Information & Support Services Project Coordinator, Cancer Council WA
Nadeen Laljee-Curran - Cultural Diversity Engagement Lead, Health Consumer Council
Topic: Cancer information resources for culturally and linguistically diverse (CaLD) people
Amanda Silla - End of Life Care Program Manager, Department of Health
Topic: End of life care: Update on WA Cancer Plan progress
Amanda Silla is a public health professional, who has experience in project and policy roles across all levels government, the non-for profit, tertiary education and private legal sectors for over 15 years. She holds degrees in Law, Psychology and a Master of Public Health.
Jane Gaspar - Research Associate, The University of Notre Dame
Topic: General practice management of positive screened participants of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program
Jane Gaspar is a Research Associate at the University of Notre Dame. She has experience in qualitative and mixed-method research methods. Her interests are in health and mental health research with a focus on program evaluation and the exploration of sociocultural influences.
Professor Caroline Bulsara - Qualitative Researcher, The University of Notre Dame
Topic: General practice management of positive screened participants of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program
Professor Caroline Bulsara is a qualitative researcher within the Institute Health Research at the University of Notre Dame with her main areas of research focus are psycho-oncology, patient empowerment, primary health care delivery from the patient perspective.
She currently supervises PhD and Masters students mostly within the nursing and heath related disciplines and her main methodological areas of expertise are qualitative research and community participatory research.
Kathleen O’Connor - Manager Screening & Projects, Cancer Network WA
Topic: Interval cancer rates in the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program in WA
Kathleen O’Connor has worked in cancer diagnosis, screening, and prevention for over 30 years. Kath started her career as a cytologist in pathology laboratories, working in Australia, the UK, and the Middle East, before moving into public health and working in cancer prevention programmes.
Kathleen manages the implementation of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program in WA and is also working on the planning for a National Lung Cancer Screening Program, anticipated from July 2025.
Leanne Pilkington - Aboriginal Cancer Lead, Manager Child and Adolescent Health Service
Topic: Weaving knowledges to strengthen and improve Aboriginal cancer care: WA Aboriginal Health Cancer Collaborative
Leanne Pilkington is a proud Nyoongar yorga from Binjarep country in Western Australia. Coming from a long line of strong Aboriginal women, family and culture are important to her and one of her greatest joys is teaching her grandchildren Nyoongar ways.
With a career spanning Health, Aged Care, and Education since 1982, Leanne is passionate about Aboriginal Health, especially Women’s Health and cancer awareness. She has presented at various global conferences and contributed to cross-cultural awareness training programs within WA. Leanne has been on Cancer Council WA’s Aboriginal Advisory Group since 2007 and currently the Aboriginal Health Cancer Collaborative Lead with Cancer Network WA. She is on Cancer Australia’s Leadership Group on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cancer control as well as the working group for Cultural safety in cancer Services grant program. She has won several awards but her most important one is written on her coffee cup – “World’s Best Nanna”.
Dr Sandra Thompson - Director of the Western Australian Centre for Rural Health (WACRH) and Professor of Rural Health, University of Western Australia
Topic: A whispered sort of stuff
Dr Sandra Thompson is a public health physician with wide ranging experience related to addressing health disparities. Her research interests include rural and Aboriginal health, prevention and care, developing and strengthening partnerships in program delivery, quality improvement and health systems strengthening, and community capacity building.
In 2022 she was awarded a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia (General Division) in the Australia Day Honours for significant service to tertiary education, to rural and regional health, and to Indigenous health. She has been involved in research related to Aboriginal cancer over many years.
Emma Taylor - Research Officer, WACRH
Topic: What makes a high performing cancer service with respect to Aboriginal people with cancer
Emma Taylor is a Research Officer at the Western Australian Centre for Rural Health and is based in Geraldton. Since 2015, Emma has been involved with a national study to identify how Australian cancer services are working to meet the needs of Indigenous cancer patients.
She has also been involved with research into developing and supporting the Indigenous health workforce, specifically the factors affecting the retention of Indigenous health professionals and students.
Lenny Papertalk - Community Development Officer, WACRH
Topic: Whisper no more: Listening to the needs of Aboriginal people and skilling service providers
Lenny Papertalk is a Yamatji woman who grew up in Mullewa and completed a BAppSci in Indigenous Community Management and Development, a Diploma of Management and a Master of Social Work. She has worked in multiples roles including as a Research Assistant on several projects. Lenny has outstanding leadership skills and strong connections to local community and agencies supporting a partnership approach that enables creative solutions to the complex social problems that many Aboriginal people face. She has contributed to multiple projects related to cancer.
Lenny received the 2024 World Indigenous Cancer Conference award for her advocacy in Geraldton and Mullewa. The award recognised her commitment to Indigenous cancer care, noting Lenny's impactful voice and dedication have significantly enhanced cancer care for Indigenous communities and was selected from a field of international candidates.