Dr Oliver Klein
Dr Oliver Klein
Clinician Scientist, Cancer Immunobiology Program
Medical Oncologist
Dr Oliver Klein has undertaken his training in Medical Oncology and Clinical Haematology in Germany before coming to Australia in 2005 to join the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the Austin Hospital. He has worked for several years as a postdoctoral and clinical research fellow being actively involved in melanoma and cancer immunotherapy research.
Dr Klein has extensive experience in the management of patients with melanoma and a particular interest in immuno-oncology. He has lead an investigator initiated clinical trial that demonstrated unprecedented clinical efficacy of immunotherapy using checkpoint inhibitors in patients with advanced rare cancers. He holds public hospital appointments with the Austin Hospital and the Olivia Newton John Cancer Centre where he heads up an immuno-oncology clinic.
Dr Klein’s research is focused on exploring the most up to date and novel way to treat cancer by harnessing the body’s immune system’s ability to fight cancer. He currently is involved in numerous clinical trials and continues to publish in scientific journals and present at national and international conferences.
Dr Klein is committed to providing the latest and most advanced care available to treat cancer. He believes that a strong connection between the patient and the treating oncologist is important in getting the best outcomes for patients with cancer.
Dr Belinda Yeo
Dr Belinda Yeo
Clinician Scientist, Metastasis Research Laboratory
Medical Oncologist
I am a passionate clinician who thoroughly enjoys looking after patients with breast cancer.
I joined the team at ONJCRI in 2016, having spent the last four years in clinical and laboratory-based breast cancer research at The Royal Marsden Trust and Institute of Cancer Research in London, UK.
My translational research has focused on trying to find better ways to estimate recurrence risk in patients diagnosed with oestrogen-receptor positive early breast cancer, with the ultimate aim of personalising therapies for those patients who have the most to gain from them. Clinicians, nurse-specialists, scientists and clinical trialists make up our collaborative team, to help to deliver the best possible care to breast cancer patients.
A/Prof David Williams
A/Prof David Williams
Clinician Scientist
Anatomical Pathologist
Pathology is essential for enabling the delivery of personalised cancer treatment as it allows us to identify molecular changes that influence cancer behaviour and predict response to therapies. I enjoy working with researchers at ONJCRI towards furthering our understanding in this area so that we can identify new therapies to improve patient care.
My main clinical practice focus areas are in the diagnosis of gastrointestinal, breast, urological and renal pathology, with an interest in molecular diagnostics for targeted therapies. I regularly present pathology to the colorectal, hepatobiliary and breast cancer unit multidisciplinary meetings at Austin Health, and I collaborate with researchers at ONJCRI to help validate findings in human cancer samples.
My research primarily focuses on identifying biomarkers associated with patient outcomes and treatment response in gastrointestinal cancers, studying cohort and clinical trial samples. In 2012, I completed my PhD at the University of Melbourne, where I identified immunological targets in colorectal cancers with microsatellite instability. I have ongoing interests in the evaluation and characterisation of immune infiltrates in colorectal cancer, and in the identification of biomarkers associated with response to cancer therapies.
A/Prof Eliza Hawkes
A/Prof Eliza Hawkes
Clinician Scientist, Tumour Targeting Laboratory
Medical Oncologist
Lymphoma Lead, Austin Health
I want to improve the lives of patients with lymphoma, not only by contributing to the global research efforts to improve disease-related outcomes, but also by reducing the exposure to toxicity from current treatments through tailored medical treatment and better survivorship care post-treatment.
My areas of medical responsibility are lymphoma, haematology survivorship care and gastrointestinal cancers. I am the Lymphoma Lead at the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research and Wellness Centre at Austin Health. I also work at Monash University in the Transfusion Research Unit where I am clinical lymphoma lead for the national Lymphoma and Related Diseases Registry (LaRDR).
My research interests involve the use of immunotherapy drugs and other novel therapies in the treatment of lymphoma. My research program focuses on novel ways of combining these drugs with standard lymphoma treatments, as well as gaining better insight into how these new drugs work by using blood, tissue and imaging markers to predict which patients are likely to benefit from them. These insights come from a large portfolio of clinical trials I have designed myself and in collaboration with experts around Australia and the world.
Prof Hui Gan
Prof Hui Gan
Clinical Research Lead (ONJCRI Executive Team)
Clinician Scientist, Tumour Targeting Laboratory
Co-Director, Centre for Research Excellence in Brain Cancer
Director, Cancer Clinical Trials Centre, Austin Health
I completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery at the University of Melbourne before training in the care of cancer patients and becoming a Fellow of The Royal Australasian College of Physicians (Medical Oncology). I have a PhD from the University of Melbourne (Medicine), as well having completed Drug Development Fellowship at the Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto.
As a clinician at Austin Health, my main areas of responsibility are to care and manage patients with solid malignancies, particularly those with tumours of the brain, and head and neck. I also lead the Phase 1 Program for patients seeking novel treatments after they have exhausted standard of care treatments. In addition to direct patient care, I am the Medical Director for Cancer Clinical Trials at the Austin Hospital.
As a clinician-scientist at the ONJCRI, my research interests include the development of novel drugs for cancer patients, especially those with brain tumours. Whilst working with many types of biological treatments, a key focus are the development of novel antibody based treatments, particularly those targeting tumour specific targets on the tumour surface and tumour microenvironment. I have played a substantial role in the translation of many such drugs into the clinic, including several targeting the ErbB and Eph receptor tyrosine kinases.
Dr Chun Yew Fong
Dr Chun Yew Fong
Clinician Scientist
Haematologist
Acute Leukaemia and Myelodysplasia Lead, Austin Health
Acute leukaemia and myelodysplasia are amongst the most aggressive cancers that we treat. I am passionate about improving the lives of patients dealing with these life-changing cancers through the implementation of new technologies and novel treatments, whilst also delivering compassionate clinical care.
I am a clinical haematologist and the Medical Lead for Acute Leukaemias and Myelodysplasia at the Olivia Newton John Cancer and Wellness Centre, which is based at Austin Health. I share a dual role within ONJCRI as a Clinician Scientist Fellow and am also the Myeloid/Acute Leukaemia Tumour Group Chair for Clinical Trials Australia.
My current role focuses on the implementation of new technologies in translational research and novel therapeutic approaches in the clinic. In particular, I am the lead investigator on clinical trials exploring the implementation of epigenetic-targeted therapies in acute leukaemia. I am also involved in developing next generation sequencing technologies for routine clinical use in tracking minimal residual disease in leukaemia patients.
Following completion of dual physician and pathology clinical training in Melbourne, I embarked upon scientific training at Cambridge University and completed a PhD at Melbourne University which investigated epigenetic therapies. I have been intimately involved in the pre-clinical and clinical development of BET inhibitors and have been published in Nature, Blood, Leukemia & Lymphoma.
Prof Andrew Scott AM
Prof Andrew Scott AM
Head, Tumour Targeting Program
Head, Tumour Targeting Laboratory
Co-Director, Centre for Research Excellence in Brain Cancer
Director, Department Of Molecular Imaging And Therapy, Austin Health
Throughout my research career as a translational clinician-scientist, I have had an abiding interest in the mechanisms of tumour cell growth, as well as the development of innovative strategies to improve diagnosis and therapy for cancer patients.
My major research focus areas have been in defining and characterising antigen and receptor targets for cancer therapy, signaling and metabolic pathways in cancer cells, antibody-based therapy and immune regulation of tumours, and molecular imaging of cancer.
I have developed a program to translate our laboratory discoveries to use in the clinic, which has so far led to ten novel antibodies and recombinant proteins progressing successfully through first-in-human, Phase I and II cancer trials. This program has delivered 21 patents and the licensing of seven discoveries to Pharma and Biotech.
I have published more than 360 peer-reviewed papers and 22 book chapters, principally in the areas of oncology and molecular imaging. I have been invited to publish reviews in leading journals including Nature Reviews Cancer, Nature Reviews Clinical Oncology and Cancer Research.
I am actively involved in the training and mentoring of young scientists and clinicians, and am currently supervising several doctoral students, postdoctoral fellows and nuclear medicine trainees.
Another focus of my work is strategic planning for training, health care policy, and molecular imaging and nuclear medicine therapy advocacy within the US, European, South American, Asia-Oceania, and African regions, as well as with the IAEA and WHO. I am former president of the World Federation of Nuclear Medicine and Biology, the peak global nuclear medicine organisation.
My national leadership roles include being a founding board member and the current chair of Cancer Trials Australia, as well as a board member of the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) since 2007. I also participate in policy and governance activities with the Australian Government.
