FOUNDING MEMBERS RECOGNISED IN AUSTRALIA DAY HONOURS

Breast Cancer Trials congratulates founding members Professor John Collins and Professor John Simes for their recognition in the 2020 Australia Day Honours.

Professor John Simes has been recognised with an Order of Australia for distinguished service to education, and to medicine, in the field of cancer research and clinical trials.

Professor Simes was a founding member of BCT, was a BCT Board Director from 1991 to 2014, received the BCT Alan Coates Award for Excellence in Clinical Trials Research in 2016 and has been the group’s statistician.

As Director of the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre he has co-led a team of researchers over 25 years (currently 200 staff), collaborating on over 100 multicentre trials with 70,000 participants and 800 clinical investigators. These randomised trials have led to major advances in health care for patients with cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, neonatal disease and other disease areas of major health burden.

As a Founding Director and current Board Member of the Sydney Catalyst Translational Cancer Research Centre, Professor Simes has co-led a consortium of over 400 cancer researchers and clinicians from the University of Sydney, 6 research institutes and 8 hospitals undertaking full range of translational research in cancer (T1-T3).

He has played a key leadership role in several major clinical trials in cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and neonatal medicine in most aspects of trial design, conduct, analysis and integrating trial evidence. These studies have led to gains in survival and quality of life in several cancers including breast, colorectal, testicular and ovarian; better health outcomes in cardiovascular disease and diabetes with statins and fibrates; more effective care for premature neonates and the use of aspirin to prevent recurrent thrombo-embolic disease.

He has also helped establish or expand several clinical trial groups or networks including as a Director and Group Coordinator, Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group, deputy chair Cooperative Group in NeuroOncology and a Founding Director of the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance.

Professor John Collins has also been recognised as a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for significant service to medicine, particularly to breast cancer treatment.

Professor Collins was a founding member of BCT and a member of our Scientific Advisory Committee from 1992 to 2012. Professor Collins received the BCT Gold Medal in 2006 and was awarded Associate Professor (Honorary) at the University of Melbourne in 2003.

His work as a surgeon and his contribution to our clinical trials is recognised through The John Collins Fellow Medal and Travel Grant (currently open to applications for 2020), which was established to encourage potential academic Breast Cancer Surgeons to become involved in clinical trials research. Recipients receive support to attend the BCT Annual Scientific Meeting.

Professor Collins’ career achievements include: Head of the Breast Unit at The Royal Melbourne Hospital from 1996-2006, a member of the BreastScreen Victoria Board of Management from 2009-2016, President of the International Breast Cancer Study Group Foundation Council from 1998-2005, Former Chair of the Breast Group of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia, and Former Member and Chair of both the Breast Adjuvant Subcommittee and the Breast Study Committee at Cancer Council Victoria.

Professor Simes and Professor Collins have been an instrumental in clinical trials research in Australia and New Zealand, and we thank them for their service to the field and to the BCT research program.

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