As many of you have now heard, I will be stepping down from the CEO role by December. It’s time to pass the baton, and for a new leader with international recognition in cancer control to take the alliance into the future.
The VCCC Alliance has been a huge part of my life and the highlight of my career to date. It’s hard to believe it’s been a decade of involvement since I was appointed as one of the first three Research and Education Leads in 2015. It’s been an honour to move into the Chief Executive role.
I’m immensely proud of what we – all of our members, together – have achieved in this time. Two four-year funding rounds of almost $30 million each, two strategic program plans, our current strategy, and long-term initiatives that have spanned all – Data Connect, the Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy, the Centre for Cancer Education, our SKILLED Clinical Trial Internship Program, the Clinical Translational Network (Research and Education Lead program).
Consumers - people who experience cancer - have been placed front and centre and critically, remunerated for their time and efforts, setting a high bar and influencing change around consumer engagement in the sector.
We’ve introduced programs to elevate, pursue, and ultimately, play a role alongside other cancer control agencies, to achieve equity of cancer care - for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, culturally and linguistically diverse communities, and regional and remote communities. Our Equity programs were overwhelmingly funded in 2024 and we’re grateful for the Victorian government’s support in this area.
I’m proud of our extremely hard-working core staff team - a high-performing group of individuals who engage with stakeholders near and far to innovate, bring bold ideas to the table, and implement these. We’ve held three research conferences, a collaborative symposium on International Women’s Day in 2023 around ‘medical misogyny’, and this year's hugely successful Lung Cancer Screening Symposium.
While I’ve reflected on the past, it’s now time to look to ahead. The alliance was the program of work and overarching body established at the same time as the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre – the first of its kind in Australia. Comprehensive Cancer Centres and networks had already been established in the US and Europe, and these are now growing in number in Australia. The model is here to stay.
Cancer networks for education and care are moving ahead in other states – namely Western Australia and South Australia – and of course we have the national body, the Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network, which hosted a brilliant showcase last week with Peter Mac and the VCCC Alliance.
In Victoria, with the re-organisation of health services, it’s more important than ever to have overarching entities to drive interaction and collaboration. This is the way of the future, so I’ll leave you with this message – it’s a case of being an early adopter, or risk being left behind. I’m glad the VCCC Alliance was the former. Together, we now make up 12 members who, over the past decade, have learned how to communicate and educate across organisations with the benefit of cancer patients always front of mind. I have no doubt this will not only continue, but strengthen as the alliance forges an ambitious pathway forward.
It was fantastic to attend the launch of the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute Impact Strategy 2025-2029. Congratulations to Prof Marco Herold and the ONJCRI team. The words of consumer Lisa Briggs: “cancer care should not be about luck or wealth” - underpins this impressive strategy. Kudos to the Hon John Brumby AO for establishing the Impact Fund in his name to support early translation of research discoveries. John reminded us that biomedicine is the “engine room of the Victorian economy”.
July is Sarcoma Awareness Month, which makes it even more timely to highlight some updates in this area. The hugely successful and impactful Zero Childhood Cancer initiative is now extending its reach into adolescents and young adults, and we know sarcoma impacts this age group. The VCCC Alliance will this month host two sarcoma related webinars, on 14 July and 24 July, including featuring speakers from ZERO in the 14 July webinar about the focus on sarcoma in adolescents. These webinars are part of an ongoing collaboration with the Australia New Zealand Sarcoma Association (ANZSA), and we’re fortunate to partner with them during this annual awareness campaign.
Finally hearty congratulations to Prof Mark Dawson on receiving the American Society of Hematology Dameschek award. This is a premier award in the world of haematology for outstanding contributions and previous winners are a who’s who of haematology. Mark’s citation read ”His discoveries have shaped how haematologists think about epigenetic regulation of haematologic malignancies and have provided the field with novel epigenetic therapies and cutting-edge strategies to improve clinical outcomes for patients with blood cancers”. A reminder of how privileged we are to work with people like Mark in Victoria.
