VICTORIAN COMPREHENSIVE CANCER CENTR

Thursday 9 September 2021

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EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR'S MESSAGE

Making our mark despite widespread disruption

This week, we hosted two gatherings that gave a real sense of the progress we are making on the strategic vision for this world-class cancer alliance.

The Annual General Meeting held this morning was a great chance to take stock of what has been achieved in a challenging but exciting year for us. And earlier this week, the Distributed Leadership Summit was a rare chance to get a helicopter view of how our collective impact model works in practice.

Latest News

VCCC Alliance engaging in Aboriginal health

The VCCC Alliance's new Health Equity Program has been established to address areas where a difference can be made to overcome disparities in cancer-related health research and care.

A vital part of the program’s work is to appoint a Research and Education Lead, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health to provide leadership and support to identify and address inequities, as outlined in the VCCC Alliance Strategic Program Plan 2021-24.

Health Equity Program Steering Group consumer representative Melissa Sheldon has been living with cancer for more than a decade and said listening and being flexible will be essential to gaining trust.

CCI breaks new ground for pulmonary oligometastases treatment

A groundbreaking study emerging from the Centre for Cancer Immunotherapy (CCI) – a joint initiative between the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the University of Melbourne and the VCCC Alliance – has become the latest achievement for the innovative collaboration.

SAFRON II, led by Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s Associate Professor Shankar Siva and supported through the VCCC Alliance Immunotherapy program, addresses a previously unresolved question around the most efficient way to deliver Stereotactic Ablative Radiotherapy (SABR) to patients with low volume metastatic (oligometastatic) pulmonary disease.

New technologies to improve the diagnosis of sarcoma

A new initiative driven by the VCCC Alliance Sarcoma Research and Education Lead program is seeking to improve access to novel sarcoma diagnostic pipelines leading to better diagnoses and treatment options for patients with sarcoma.

An inaugural meeting in August brought together pathologists with expertise in sarcoma from Victorian institutions, including St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, The Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Health, in both the paediatric and adult sarcoma space.

Annual Report

The theme for the VCCC Alliance’s Annual Report 2020-21 is The Great Reset, reflecting the progression from our Strategic Research Plan 2017-20 to our new Strategic Program Plan, overlaid by our experiences and lessons as research, health and academic institutions during a pandemic.

There is much to celebrate despite a very challenging year for the health and medical sectors, and people affected by cancer.

Advocating for cancer care in the face of the pandemic

Throughout the pandemic, the Victorian COVID-19 Cancer Taskforce has been providing advocacy, guidance, support and education to ensure the needs of the cancer workforce and patients stay on the radar amidst all the other pressures and priorities.

Over the past two months, three themes have dominated the taskforce agenda: vaccination for patients affected by cancer; the impact of the pandemic on the cancer workforce - particularly nursing - and ongoing concerns about delayed cancer diagnoses as people put off routine checks.

Evaluation Manager

We are seeking an Evaluation Manager to join our team to further develop and lead the operationalisation of our program logic-based evaluation framework.

The framework has been developed to monitor progress and evaluate the impact of strategic goals and specific programs of work to enable effective monitoring and evaluation of the VCCC Alliance Strategic Program Plan, 2020-24.

Research and Education Lead Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health

We are seeking a VCCC Alliance Research and Education Lead for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health.

The role will be a member of our distributed leadership team and will be instrumental as we embark on an ambitious program of work to identify and address inequity within cancer patient outcomes across Victoria and Australia.

Upcoming Events

9

SEP

Nurse-led Research Hub Online Workshops

Research-based workshops for nurses

Book now ›

13

SEP

Monday Lunch Livestream

Towards inclusion of CALD people in clinical trials

Book now ›

17

SEP

VCCC Alliance Clinical Leadership Online Workshop

Best practice teamwork. Evidence and best practices in teamworking in clinical settings.

Book now ›

20

SEP

Monday Lunch Livestream

Incidental detection of prostate cancer with computed tomography scans

Book now ›

27

SEP

Monday Lunch Live COVID-19 drug discovery special

Antiviral treatments for COVID-19 - the role of CRISPR-Cas13 with Professor Sharon Lewin

Book now ›

7

OCT

VCCC Alliance Clinical Research Online Workshop

Learn the basics for designing a research project

Book now ›

19

OCT

VCCC Alliance head and neck cancer ethics seminar series

Seminar three: The ethics of progress in head and neck cancer

Book now ›

Education & Training

Annual postdoctoral symposium showcases exciting developments in current research

The 4th VCCC Alliance Postdoctoral Symposium: Advances in Cancer Research this Friday 10 September will showcase some of the most exciting developments from early and mid-career researchers in basic, translational and clinical research nationwide.

Due to COVID-19, the popular event will take place virtually for the first time, giving Victorian researchers a rare opportunity to compare notes with peers from across the country.

VCCC Alliance Clinical Trials Assistant promotes Research Week

Applications for the VCCC Alliance SKILLED Clinical Trials Internship Program closed this week and the selection process is underway for regional and metropolitan Clinical Trial Assistants and Study Coordinators for 2022.

Jacqueline Lake is currently a Clinical Trials Assistant Intern in the clinical trials team at Northeast Health Wangaratta and featured in a video for Research Week this week.

Spotlight on...

2021 Peter Mac Virtual Research Student Open Day

Peter Mac provides a world-class research education program at a leading Australian cancer research institution for students from Australian and international universities.

Their Virtual Research Student Open Day is a great opportunity for you to find out more information about studying at Peter Mac and hear about projects available for Honours, Masters and PhD in 2022.

At this event you will get to talk to potential supervisors and current research students about projects and student life at Peter Mac.

2021 PeterMac Virtual Research Student Open Day will be held on Thursday 16 September 2021, 4.30 - 7.00 PM AEST.

Be part of a clinical trial to protect patients from COVID-19 and other viral infections

Peter Mac is enrolling patients in their C-SMART clinical trial.

Led by Peter Mac and the National Centre for Infections in Cancer (NCIC), the trial will test the effectiveness of a daily nasal spray in protecting patients affected by cancer and others who are immune-compromised against COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses.

Professor Monica Slavin said, “With the highly transmissible Delta variant of COVID-19 still out there, we need to better understand how to protect our most vulnerable for whom the nasal spray may add another layer of protection on top of vaccination.”

Read more about the C-SMART trial and patient eligibility.

Find out more ›

COSA Earlybird closes Friday 10 September

Every registered delegate will have access to content live and on-demand for 12 months. Register now for COSA'S 48th Annual Scientific Meeting...100% digital and online. 16-18 November 2021.