BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Professor Sunil Lakhani was elected to the Breast Cancer Trials (BCT) Board of Directors in July 2017 and was appointed Chair of the Board in September 2021. He is the Executive Director of Research and Senior Staff Specialist at Pathology Queensland and Head of the Breast Group, Centre for Clinical Research, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia.

He is a clinical diagnostic pathologist and heads a research team comprising scientists and clinicians, ensuring a translational focus to the program. His current research interests include lobular carcinoma and its variants, establishing whole genome sequencing for high risk primary familial and sporadic breast cancers and mechanisms and therapeutic developments of brain and distant metastases. He is study pathologist and member of steering and translational committees for the OlympiA clinical trial (PARPi Olaparib in BRCA1/2 early breast cancers).

He was Series Editor of the 4th Edition WHO Tumour Classification Monographs, Volume Editor of the WHO 4th Edition Tumours of the Breast (2012), and standing member of the Board for the WHO 5th Edition (2017-2021).

He is the recipient of the Distinguished Pathologist Medal, International Academy of Pathology (2015); the BCT’s Robert Sutherland Award for Excellence in Translational Research (2016); The Distinguished Fellow Award, The Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia (2017), William O Russell and Joanne Vandenberg Award, MD Anderson Cancer Centre (2017) and The William L. Gerald Award, Memorial Sloane Kettering Cancer Center, New York USA (2021). He is the first recipient of the combined Bruce Cain / A.B.Pearson Award from NZ Societies of Oncology & Pathology (2023).

In 2017, he was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

Mr Luke Bugden is a Partner of a large professional services firm, with over 24 years of experience providing advice to a wide range of public and private entities in a number of different sectors including, infrastructure, manufacturing, utilities, financial services, services, not-for-profit and pharmaceutical. He also worked in New York where he advised a number of foreign investors investing into Australia.

Mr Bugden has extensive experience advising clients on a range of issues including capital management opportunities, financing arrangements and corporate governance. He holds a Bachelor of Commerce (Accounting and Finance) and is a member of the Chartered Accountants of Australia and New Zealand (CA).

Professor Loi is a Medical Oncologist specialized in breast cancer treatment as well as a clinician scientist (group leader) with expertise in genomics, immunology, and drug development at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, in Melbourne, Australia.

She is recognised internationally as a leading clinician scientist whose work has led to new insights into the breast cancer immunology field as well as leading international clinical trials in breast cancer immunotherapy.

To date, she has published over 330 peer-reviewed research articles with a lifetime H-index of >115. Her recent work has been highly influential: she has been ranked in the top 1% of highly cited researchers globally by the Web of Science since 2018. She Co-Chairs the International Breast Cancer Study Group (IBCSG) based in Bern, Switzerland, one of the largest global academic breast cancer trial cooperative groups.

She is a current holder of the Inaugural National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF) of Australia Endowed Chair and in 2021 received the Prime Minister’s Frank Fenner Prize for Life Scientist of the Year.

Mrs Fiona McPhee is a leading fundraising consultant who works with non-profit leaders around the globe. Formerly a senior strategist in one of Australasia’s leading fundraising agencies, Fiona is the Insights Director for the market’s leading fundraising benchmarking and analytics program as well being a sought-after strategist, coach and mentor to fundraising teams and leaders. Before devoting her time to the non-profit sector Fiona was a sales and marketing executive.

Through a research and insights based approach, Fiona’s mission is to inspire boards and organisational leadership to pursue their purpose with precision and drive transformational growth in income so they can do more of the life changing work they exist to do.

Fiona sits on several non-profit boards, is a member of the Fundraising Institute of New Zealand’s Ethics Committee and is an advisor to several social ventures and commercial startups providing services to the non-profit sector. Fiona has written for Fundraising and Philanthropy magazine, FINZ magazine and a variety of fundraising and marketing blogs.

She presents regularly on a variety of organisational culture, strategy and fundraising topics and has presented most recently at the International Fundraising Congress (IFC) Netherlands, FIA national conference, FINZ national conference and the Fundraising and Philanthropy Forum.

Professor Christobel Saunders AO, MB BS, FRCS, FRACS, FAAHMS is the James Stewart Chair of Surgery, the Head of the Department of Surgery at the University of Melbourne (Royal Melbourne Hospital precinct), Director of Medical Research at Melbourne Medical School, Director to the VCCC Alliance Board, and Consultant Surgeon in the Department of General Surgery at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute.

Christobel is internationally recognised as one of Australia’s most prominent research-orientated cancer surgeons. She has substantially contributed to breast cancer research, including clinical trials of new treatments, and psychosocial, translational and health services research.

In recognition of her sustained career excellence and innovation, Christobel has been publicly acknowledged through numerous awards and honours including the Order of Australia 2018, the Uccio Querci della Rovere Award (2018), WA Women’s Hall of Fame Inductee (2018), WA Scientist of the Year (2017), Cancer Council WA Career Achievement Award (2021) and was elected to the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Science in 2016.

She has performed research for >30 years evaluating the efficacy and utility of therapy for early breast cancer. In the past five years, Christobel has published over 200 peer-reviewed journal articles.

She sits on the boards of several health and research organisations including as Vice-President for ‘All.Can International’ and on the boards of ‘All.Can Australia’, Breast Cancer Trials (BCT), the Australian Centre for Value-Based Health Care and PathWest. Christobel is closely involved in strategic planning and management of health and cancer services in Australia including being a member of the Medicare Review Advisory Committee, panel member of the Medical Services Advisory Committee, past President of the Breast Surgical Society of ANZ, and past Advisory Council member of Cancer Australia.

She was also the Inaugural Chair of the state Health Service Provider, PathWest Laboratory Medicine.

Professor Andrew Spillane is a Professor of Surgical Oncology at The University of Sydney. He specialises in the surgical management of breast cancer and melanoma. Professor Spillane is a senior VMO surgeon at the Mater North Sydney and Royal North Shore Hospitals.

He is a member of the BCT Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) and BCT Very Early Breast Cancer subgroup. He is past President of BreastSurgANZ and a board member / Deputy Chair of Melanoma and Skin Cancer (MASC) Trials (formerly the ANZMTG). He is a member of the BCNA Medical Advisory Committee and Faculty Member of Melanoma Institute Australia.

Professor Spillane is Breast sub-editor for the ANZ Journal of Surgery, and an editorial board member of the Annals of Surgical Oncology and the Journal of Surgical Oncology. He is founding co-director and malignant disease unit of study co-ordinator of the University of Sydney’s Graduate Certificate in Advanced Breast Surgery.

Andrew’s research interests include neoadjuvant therapy, surgical clinical trials, promoting involvement of surgeons in multidisciplinary clinical trials, issues around quality assurance in surgery, and safe introduction of new surgical techniques and safe de-escalation of surgery.

He is involved in clinical and translational research on aspects of breast cancer and melanoma research including trial management committee of the multiple international trials and a member of the International Neoadjuvant Melanoma Consortium. He has been an author on about 290 peer reviewed publications and co-authored 4 book chapters and chief investigator on multiple existing and recent NHMRC and MRFF grants.

Associate Professor Nicholas Wilcken was the Chair of the Breast Cancer Trials (BCT) Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) from 2011 to March 2017. Associate Professor Wilcken is the Director of Medical Oncology at the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Westmead, and Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Sydney.

His clinical interests are mainly in breast cancer and his research interests include systematic reviews and breast cancer clinical trials. He is currently the Co-ordinating Editor of the Cochrane Collaboration’s Breast Cancer Group.

He has been an invited expert panel member for previous St Gallen Early Breast Cancer Consensus Conferences in Switzerland and is a member of the Steering Committee of the Early Breast Cancer Trialists’ Collaborative Group, based in Oxford, UK.

Mrs Larissa Willoughby is a Principal of a professional consulting services firm, Australian Environmental Auditors (AEA), with over 28 years of experience providing advice to public and private entities in relation to site contamination and managing risk to human health and the environment.

Larissa has a lived experience of breast cancer, being diagnosed in 2012, and is a confirmed BRCA1 gene mutation carrier. Having completed chemotherapy, bi-lateral mastectomy and reconstruction, she has also participated in research feedback on post-reconstruction outcomes.

As a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, she is passionate about being a director on a board where she can apply her professional experience in risk management, governance and auditing, combined with her lived experience as a BRCA1 gene carrier and breast cancer survivor.

Dr Sheridan Wilson is a Medical Oncologist at Auckland City Hospital in New Zealand. Sheridan is clinical lead for the medical oncology team providing systemic treatment across the Auckland region and in 2018 she established a pilot program at Auckland City Hospital for neoadjuvant treatment of breast cancer.

Sheridan sits on the assessment committee for Cancer Research Trust New Zealand and is a member of breast cancer working groups for Te Aho o Te Kahu (Control Agency).