Chair 

Dr Liz Connolly
Medical oncologist and clinician researcher, Chris O Brien Lifehouse (COBLH), the Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) and the University of Sydney

Dr Connolly is an early career medical oncologist and clinician researcher. She is currently undertaking full time PhD research in sarcoma proteomics, after completing a sarcoma clinical research fellowship at COBLH. Her interests include sarcoma, rare cancers and AYA care.

Speakers 

Prof David Thomas
Chief Science and Strategy Officer, Omico

Prof Thomas is the founder and Chief Science and Strategy Officer of Omico, established in 2019. An NHMRC L3 Investigator, he is also the inaugural Director of the Centre for Molecular Oncology at the University of New South Wales. Omico brought together researchers and clinicians to translate research into new therapeutic options for patients with cancer. As a clinician-scientist, his focus is on the application of genomic technologies to the understanding and management of cancer, particularly sarcoma.

He has also led the development of sarcoma research in Australia for the past 20 years, having founded the Australasian Sarcoma Study Group in 2008. His work directly led to creation of a national research infrastructure for this population, and more specifically he changed clinical practice globally for giant cell tumour of bone, and effective early detection strategies for patients with Li-Fraumeni Syndrome. Finally, he has played a key role in adolescent and young adult oncology (AYAO) as inaugural Director of OnTrac@PeterMac, the first major AYA cancer program in Australia, which formed the basis of the Youth Cancer Services now present in all states and territories.

Dr Loretta Lau
Molecular Oncologist and Paediatric Oncologist, Zero Childhood Cancer, Kids Cancer Centre, Sydney Children's Hospital; Conjoint Senior Lecturer, School of Women’s and Children’s Health, UNSW

In her capacity as molecular oncologist in the ZERO Program, Loretta provides precision medicine expertise to the ZERO clinical curation team and Preclinical Drug Testing Core (PDTC). She plays a crucial role in the ZERO trial and is a key member of the national Multidisciplinary Tumour Board (MTB) which provides clinical treatment recommendations for patients enrolled on ZERO.

Aidan Taylor
Consumer

At the age of 21, Aidan was diagnosed with dedifferentiated liposarcoma. After five rounds of chemotherapy and a major surgery, he recovered well and managed to return clear scans for about two years. Unexpectedly, a routine scan revealed another baseball-sized tumour near his right kidney and both were surgically removed.

With the relative ineffectiveness of chemotherapy during his first round of treatment, his tumour was sent for molecular testing. It showed a high frequency of mutation, and thus the possibility of combination immunotherapy being an effective treatment. After another tumour was revealed deep in his pelvis that was deemed inoperable, he began immunotherapy. This opportunity would not have been possible without the results of molecular sequencing, and he hopes this will be his road to recovery.