Chair 

Professor Steve Fraser

Co-lead, Exercise and Nutrition for Cancer Research Group, Institute for Physical Activity and Nutrition (IPAN), School of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, Faculty of Health, Deakin University

Professor Fraser is an accredited exercise physiologist (AEP) and clinical exercise researcher. He is passionate about exercise for the prevention and management of common chronic diseases, particularly cancer. He has considerable experience in the development and implementation of clinical exercise intervention trials, with a focus on integrating AEPs in clinical settings to improve health outcomes in individuals with chronic disease.

Prof Fraser has published over 85 manuscripts in relation to clinical exercise. He has supervised 12 PhD students and 20 Honours students, with two PhD and three Honours students winning best thesis awards. He has previously served as Director of the Master of Clinical Exercise Physiology. 

Beyond Deakin, Prof Fraser is a national leader in Exercise and Sports Science, including as Board Director at Exercise and Sport Science Australia (ESSA) and Exercise Group Executive at Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA). He also previously held leadership positions in several councils and committees.   

Speakers

Dave Kane 

Regional Consumer Advocate

Dave Kane lives in Bendigo, Victoria with his wife, Tracie, and has two adult children, Sam and Ruby. He is a mechanic in the public transport sector and previously worked as a mechanic in the aviation sector. Dave was diagnosed with bowel and rectal cancer in 2024 and has undertaken chemotherapy and radiation treatment for the past 12-months. As part of his treatment at Bendigo Health, he has been actively engaging with the hospital's gym and exercise program, building on his deep passion for keeping active.

Dr. Jennifer Mackney PhD 

Clinical Specialist Physiotherapist (Perioperative Medicine), Senior Respiratory Scientist and Clinical Research Fellow, John Hunter Hospital, NSW

Dr Mackney is part of the core clinical team that has advocated for and developed the laboratory-based cardiopulmonary exercise testing service that forms the basis for risk stratification and optimisation for people preparing for major, high-risk surgery at John Hunter Hospital, NSW. She is also the lead for prehabilitation services in the Hunter New England Local Health District.

Dr Mackney has been involved with The University of Newcastle's Bachelor of Physiotherapy program since its inception in the role of student educator, conjoint lecturer, lecturer and most recently honorary lecturer. She has recently been awarded $800,000 through the Cancer Institute NSW’s Accelerated Research Implementation Grant. This funding will support the scaling-up of her prehabilitation model across community settings.

Her expanded program, known as C-SPRITES (Supported Prehabilitation – Improving Fitness, Ensuring Well-Being Before Surgery in People Living with Cancer), builds upon the success of her pilot project. This pilot work helped to further develop the Newcastle prehabilitation model and laid the foundation for its larger-scale implementation in regional and rural communities.

Dr. Janine Porter-Steele OAM

Senior Research Fellow, Griffith University

Since qualifying as a registered nurse in the UK in 1981, Dr Porter-Steele has worked in a variety of clinical, community, and education settings as a midwife and health visitor, nurse and midwifery educator, and latterly as a cancer nurse specialist. She was the Clinical Nurse Manager of the Wesley Hospital Choices Cancer Support Centre (Choices) since it began in 1999 -2024.

Dr Porter-Steele has also been actively involved in the Women’s Wellness Research Programs (WWPs) at Queensland University of Technology (QUT) as a research assistant and then at Griffith University as the Women’s Wellness Research Manager. Latterly she has worked as a senior research fellow at the University of Queensland overseeing several research studies. This role has recently transferred to Griffith University.

Her expertise is in managing side effects of cancer treatment particularly around menopausal and sexuality concerns. She regularly delivers information and support in this area through workshops and presentations at local, national and international settings. She completed her PhD in 2018, which examined the effect of an e-health, lifestyle intervention on improving body image and sexual wellbeing after cancer.

Most recently, Dr Porter-Steele co-facilitated workshops in consumer advocacy and engagement. She has published one thesis, 20 peer reviewed research articles, (two as first author), co-authored four books and presented/co-presented at numerous international and national conferences and community workshops and seminars. She has also been a peer reviewer and has collaborated in grants that have secured over $4m in funding and was recently honoured as a recipient of the prestigious Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) for her services to nursing.

Dr. Mary Kennedy PhD

Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, Edith Cowan University 

Dr Mary Kennedy, PhD, ACSM-EP, is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Implementation Science at the Nutrition and Health Innovation Research Institute, Edith Cowan University. Her research focuses on understanding how to integrate exercise into oncology care pathways.

She serves on the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) Exercise is Medicine Moving Through Cancer Task Force. She is also the founder of the Implementation Science Research Hub in Western Australia. Exercise is more than a career for Dr Kennedy, it is a fundamental part of her daily life. She is a runner who has completed 17 marathons and trained more than 600 people to complete one of their own.

Dr Kennedy leads multiple research projects, and is the recipient of the Cancer Council WA Postdoctoral Research Fellowship, in a bid to make sure every cancer patient in WA receives a referral for exercise from their cancer care team during treatment.