Focus on...
Focus on... is designed to give members of the Cancer Research Network a snapshot of the work that we have been doing and what we have planned for the future.
Funding
"Near miss" funding
The Cancer Research Network recently prompted the introduction of “near miss” funding from the University of Sydney Cancer Research Fund for some University applicants for Cancer Institute NSW Research Innovation Grants and thus substantially increased the number of applications for these grants. 10 of 18 Cancer Institute grants were awarded to University of Sydney applicants and 7 “near miss” grants have been recommended for award.
Special interest groups
Biomedical Imaging and Tumour Microenvironment
Two investigator-prompted and led special interest groups (SIGs) have recently been established within the Network; the Biomedical Imaging SIG (Prof Clive Baldock, Institute of Medical Physics) and the Tumour Microenvironment SIG (A/Prof Jenny Byrne, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead). A Biomedical Imaging Symposium is planned for November, and a Tumour Microenvironment Workshop will be held on Tuesday 23 June 2009.
Health Services Research
The Health Services Research SIG, led by A/Prof Jane Young, holds a regular journal club on the last Thursday of the month from 4.00 - 5.00pm in the Edward Ford Building, University of Sydney. The group will next meet on 25 June 2009.
Working groups
Cancer Biospecimen Resources
The Cancer Biospecimen Resource Working Group, chaired by A/Prof Christine Clarke, aims to strengthen cancer biobanking at the University of Sydney, its teaching hospitals and affiliated research institutes. At the last working group meeting, the decision was taken to convene the Sydney Cancer Biobank Consortium. The Consortium will benefit all biobanks involved by fostering the sharing of expertise and information. The Consortium recently applied for a Cancer Institute NSW Research Infrastructure grant to provide non-physical infrastructure to improve biospecimen collection and data management.
Translational Research
The Translational Research Working Group, Prof Roger Reddel, Prof Mathew Vadas and Prof Trevor Hambley, is planning a review of research translation pathways at the University of Sydney.
Cancer Education
The Cancer Education Working Group has been established and met on Monday 25 May 2009 to discuss opportunities to develop undergraduate cancer education at the University of Sydney. Members of the group include: Prof Martin Tattersall (Chair; Nominee, Dean of Medicine), Prof Richard Christopherson (Nominee, Dean of Science); Dr Thomas Grewal (Nominee; Dean of Pharmacy); Dr Sharon Kilbreath (Faculty of Health Sciences); Prof Kate White (Faculty of Nursing and Midwifery); and self-nominees Prof Des Richardson; Dr Scott Byrne; Dr Qihan Dong; Dr Geraldine O’Neill; and A/Prof Nehmat Houssami.
Postgraduate Students
The Postgraduate Student Working Group has been formed and met on Tuesday 19 May to discuss issues and activities of importance to postgraduate and Honours students doing research on cancer. Members of the group include: Dr Prunella Blinman (Chair); Ben Smith (Camperdown, Psycho-oncology); Soumya Joseph (Camperdown, Science); Bhagwant Sekhon (Camperdown, Pharmacy); and Casina Khan (Northern, Medicine). A Postgraduate Student Scientific Meeting will be held on Friday 6 November. The meeting will provide students with the opportunity to present, as well as learn about professional development opportunities.
Events
Sydney Cancer Conference 2010
Following the successful inaugural Sydney Cancer Conference 2008, planning is well underway for Sydney Cancer Conference 2010. SCC2010 will be held from 14 - 16 July 2010 at The University of Sydney. The theme for the conference is ‘Profiling risk, personalising treatment, predicting outcomes.’
Cancer Research Symposium 2009
The one-day University of Sydney Cancer Research Network Symposium will be held on Thursday 23 July 2009 at the Kolling Institute of Medical Research, Royal North Shore Hospital. A/Prof Debbie Marsh and colleagues have put together a great program, which will be announced soon!
Public Lecture Series
The Network will be launching its Public Lecture Series on Cancer at 5.30pm on Thursday 9 July 2009 at the Eastern Avenue Auditorium, the University of Sydney. The inaugural lecture titled ‘Cancer: Hitting the Target’, will be presented by Professor Rick Kefford. It is kindly supported by the Cancer Council NSW. Please encourage your colleagues, students, family and friends to join us. All welcome!