VCCC Annual Report 2018-19
This year's triumph has been bringing to life the innovative, game-changing programs that make up the VCCC Strategic Research Plan 2017-20.
Due to the unfolding COVID-19 situation, the VCCC has put a hold on all non-urgent events and meetings.
If you have already registered for an event, we will contact you directly, where possible events and activities will be delivered online or postponed.
Thank you for your patience and cooperation during this period.
Peter Mac is Australia’s only integrated cancer research, treatment and education centre, with multidisciplinary teams that provide care informed by precision in fundamental, translational and clinical research.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (Melbourne Health) provides high-quality cancer treatment programs, translational research, and surgical and medical expertise, as well as other key support services such as clinical care and emergency medicine.
Australia’s first ranked research university and medical school, the university provides academic and research expertise to the alliance.
The Women’s provides specialist cancer services for women with breast and gynecological cancer and conducts research into the treatment and care of women with cancer, as well as the specific impacts of gender on cancer.
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is one of Australia’s leading biomedical research organisations, with a strong national and international reputation for performing highly influential basic and translational research.
The Children’s Cancer Centre is the only provider of complex children’s cancer care and stem cell transplantation in Victoria and is a leader in the research and treatment of childhood cancer.
Western Health is the largest provider of treatment for colorectal cancer and a leader in the treatment of upper gastro-intestinal cancers with programs in breast, lung, genitourinary, gynaecology and haematological cancer.
Western Health has on-site radiation therapy and chemotherapy facilities and has a strong palliative care service.
A leader in palliative care practice and complex cancer surgery, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne also provides oncology and haematology services, on-site radiation therapy and chemotherapy facilities, in addition the hospital houses the Victorian-wide psycho-oncology service.
The hospital shares its campus with St Vincent's Institute, which has fundamental and clinical researchers working on mechanisms of cancer and diseases of cancer survivorship.
The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre at Austin Health provides world-leading specialist treatment and holistic care including clinical trials both independently and in partnership with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI) – a leader in the development of experimental and breakthrough cancer treatments only metres from where patients are cared for.
The MCRI is a leader in understanding the underlying mechanisms and treatment of paediatric cancer and is home to the Children’s Cancer Tissue bank; a world class resource for researchers studying rare solid tumours and leukemia.
Peter Mac is Australia’s only integrated cancer research, treatment and education centre, with multidisciplinary teams that provide care informed by precision in fundamental, translational and clinical research.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (Melbourne Health) provides high-quality cancer treatment programs, translational research, and surgical and medical expertise, as well as other key support services such as clinical care and emergency medicine.
Australia’s first ranked research university and medical school, the university provides academic and research expertise to the alliance.
The Women’s provides specialist cancer services for women with breast and gynecological cancer and conducts research into the treatment and care of women with cancer, as well as the specific impacts of gender on cancer.
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is one of Australia’s leading biomedical research organisations, with a strong national and international reputation for performing highly influential basic and translational research.
The Children’s Cancer Centre is the only provider of complex children’s cancer care and stem cell transplantation in Victoria and is a leader in the research and treatment of childhood cancer.
Western Health is the largest provider of treatment for colorectal cancer and a leader in the treatment of upper gastro-intestinal cancers with programs in breast, lung, genitourinary, gynaecology and haematological cancer.
Western Health has on-site radiation therapy and chemotherapy facilities and has a strong palliative care service.
A leader in palliative care practice and complex cancer surgery, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne also provides oncology and haematology services, on-site radiation therapy and chemotherapy facilities, in addition the hospital houses the Victorian-wide psycho-oncology service.
The hospital shares its campus with St Vincent's Institute, which has fundamental and clinical researchers working on mechanisms of cancer and diseases of cancer survivorship.
The Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness & Research Centre at Austin Health provides world-leading specialist treatment and holistic care including clinical trials both independently and in partnership with the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute (ONJCRI) – a leader in the development of experimental and breakthrough cancer treatments only metres from where patients are cared for.
The MCRI is a leader in understanding the underlying mechanisms and treatment of paediatric cancer and is home to the Children’s Cancer Tissue bank; a world class resource for researchers studying rare solid tumours and leukemia.
Victoria’s cancer sector has the opportunity to provide a structured, comprehensive response to the challenges presented by COVID-19.
This special Monday Lunch Live Stream will share knowledge, systems and processes required to effectively support patients with cancer in the months ahead and provide opportunities for questions and discussion.
New and important networks have been developed by the VCCC Building Capacity Through Efficiency Program which is aligning efforts across the state.
Recent activities have included the implementation of the SiteDocs platform into 16 metropolitan and regional clinical trial sites, and supporting a Research Radiation Oncology Medical Physicist to establish the role of a dedicated clinical trial physicist and broaden collaborations.
Standardising treatments for pancreatic cancer is an ongoing challenge – for a range of reasons.
Last year, the VCCC held the annual Pancreatic Cancer Symposium co-convened by Professor Peter Gibbs, Research and Education Lead in Gastro-intestinal Cancers and Dr Belinda Lee, consultant medical oncologist, Royal Melbourne Hospital and Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. The December meeting sought to address an identified gap in agreed treatment standards in early and borderline resectable pancreatic cancer.
A 2019 report in Forbes; Why Women are Natural Born Leaders maintains that once women land leadership positions they excel - often surpassing men - because they have developed ‘soft skills’ necessary for effective leadership.
Traits like empathy, communication, and listening are qualities that serve women well when in management positions. Professor Kristjanson proposed that leadership traits are not necessarily gender-specific and that the ability to motivate individuals and teams around shared values is a more-likely success factor in inclusive leadership.
Alfred Cancer Trials will implement their first cancer clinical trial using the teletrial model with support from the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC).
Funded by COSA, the Alfred Cancer Trials team will use the VCCC teletrial framework and processes to conduct a cancer clinical trial across three sites.
Natural language processing of clinical notes: can it help health professionals?
Patient notes represent a potential treasure trove of data locked away in a fortress of text and language. Natural Language Processing (NLP) could hold the key to unlocking this for use by health professionals.
Sitting at the intersection of data science and human language, NLP is a field of Artificial Intelligence that gives the machines the ability to read, understand and derive meaning from human language.
Supporting high-quality clinical trials and cohort studies that address important gaps in knowledge, leading to relevant and implementable findings for the benefit of human health. This grant opportunity is open to research proposals for clinical trials and/or cohort studies of any size – that is, they may be large or small clinical trials or cohort studies.
Cancer Council Victoria offers Postdoctoral Fellowships to Victorian scientists who have recently completed a PhD and who would benefit from an additional 6 or 12 months of support to achieve a significant milestone in the research based on their thesis work. There are two rounds each year in February and August.
The application must establish that the research will be greatly enhanced by having the candidate spend a further 6 or 12 months with the same research group (i.e., where the recipient was a PhD candidate).