Monday Lunch Live

World Cancer Day 2026 – United by Unique

2 February 2026

How can we create an inclusive cancer care system?

For World Cancer Day 2026, the global theme United by Unique recognises that every person’s cancer experience is shaped by their life circumstances, identities and support needs. An inclusive cancer system must respond to this diversity with understanding, flexibility and equity.

This cross-sector panel brings together experts, advocates and people with lived experience to explore how cancer care can better support people living with mental health challenges or disability alongside cancer. Through a United by Unique lens, the panel examines how intersecting health, social and community systems can unintentionally create barriers to care, and highlight practical, collaborative solutions already emerging across Victoria.

Join us as we discuss how we can work together, across disciplines and organisations, to close the care gap and build a cancer system that works for everyone.

Chair

Melissa Le Mesurier
Director, VCCC Alliance Board, and Chair, Cancer Consumer Advisory Commitee

Melissa Le Mesurier has a long-held passion for medical research. She was the founding Chair of the Royal Children’s Hospital Cystic Fibrosis Research Trust (1999-2009), which has raised more than $3m for research and funded about 20 clinical fellows.

In 2017, Melissa received an unexpected diagnosis of bladder cancer, and following successful treatment (thanks to early detection and participation in a clinical trial), her commitment to make a difference for other patients only grew. She became involved with the Australian and New Zealand Urological and Prostate Cancer Trials Group (ANZUP) and still serves on their Consumer Advisory Panel.

Melissa is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and currently also serves as a Director of the Lung Foundation Australia. 

Speakers

Prof Mei Krishnasamy
VCCC Alliance Cancer Nursing Lead; Professor of Nursing, University of Melbourne

Prof Mei Krishnasamy is Professor of Nursing in the Department of Nursing at the University of Melbourne, the VCCC Alliance Cancer Nursing Lead, and honorary Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Services Research in Cancer at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. Mei's career has been defined by a commitment to advancing equity of access to evidence-informed cancer care by developing the capability of nurses to develop and implement value-based health service innovation. She has an established record of collaborative co-design research focusing on the development and evaluation of approaches of care and strategies targeted at improving patient and carer experiences of living with cancer, demands of treatment and symptom profiles, linking experience of care innovation to improved patient outcomes. .

Louise Pearson
Lived Experience Leader

Louise is an experienced grief and bereavement Counsellor and Mental Health Social Worker, specialising in Gestalt Psychotherapy. She runs a private practice providing counselling to people who are bereaved, support to people with disabilities, and those who have chronic or life-limiting illnesses. She assists them to adjust to the often-changing nature of their conditions as they progress.

Louise has lived experience of both disability and diagnoses of cancer. At ten months old, her eyes were both removed, leaving her totally blind, when it was discovered that she had a cancer called Retinoblastoma. Some fifty years later, she was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, and has been lucky enough to live with it (through the treatments on offer), for over four-and-a-half years now.

Over this time, she has gained valuable insight into how the system works; where things are done well with inclusion in mind, and also where the gaps in service provision are felt by people with disabilities. As someone who is passionate about creating change, she will be happy to share some of these insights with you, believing that if she encourages even a small number of professionals to pause, reflect, or try something new, it will have achieved its purpose.

Prof Sarah Wilson
CEO, Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Sarah is a leading international researcher in brain and mental health with a sustained track record in research translation embedded in co-design with people with lived experience. She is a Professor of Clinical Neuropsychology, with more than 30 years of experience in the Victorian public and private health sectors working with people with complex mental health conditions. She also has more than 15 years of executive and senior leadership experience, with former roles including Pro Vice-Chancellor (Student Life), and Head of the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne. Sarah’s sustained contributions to health and social sciences research have been recognised through dual fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. 

A/Prof George Disney
Principal Research Fellow, NDIS, Melbourne School of Population and Global Health, University of Melbourne

George is a social epidemiologist. His current research focuses on analysing the determinants of the (avoidable) gap in health between people with and without disabilities. Much of that research focuses on how government could and should act on the social determinants of health to reduce health inequalities for people with disability. He is currently leading a qual / quant project on smoking among people with intellectual disability, a study of the 'disability pay gap' and the quantitative component of two large government projects on uneven and inequitable utilisation of the National Disability Insurance Scheme.
George is an expert health inequalities researcher. He is passionate about improving the health of the whole population at the same time as eliminating avoidable and unnecessary health inequalities. To support this work, one strand of his research is specifically focussed on improving methods for estimating, monitoring and presenting health inequalities to policy makers, users of health statistics and the general public.

Panel

A/Prof Cathy Daniel
Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Nurse, the Royal Melbourne Hospital;
Associate Professor, Australian Catholic University

A/Prof Daniel is a credentialled mental health nurse with 35 years' of experience, the Vice President of the Australian College of Mental Health Nurse, Board Director for Mental Health Professionals Network, and member of the Royal Melbourne Hospital Mental Health Research Committee. Since 2003, she has been a Consultation Liaison Psychiatry Nurse at the Royal Melbourne Hospital and focuses on reducing restrictive interventions in acute health and the ED, aiming to minimise harm, stigma, and enhance therapeutic engagement. This work reflects a commitment to evidence-based strategies that improve outcomes for both patients, families, and staff.

Alison Stanyer
Client Participation Manager, Scope Australia 

Alison Stanyer is the Client Participation Manager at Scope. She holds a Bachelor of Applied Science in Disability Studies and is an experienced professional with over 15 years in the disability sector. Alison has a background in case management and leadership and is committed to amplifying the voices and aspirations of people with disability. Alison’s work with Scope enables her to play a pivotal role in creating an inclusive environment that ensures meaningful participation for individuals with disability.

Kate Barber
Team Lead, Counselling Service,  Cancer Council Victoria 

Prof Sarah Wilson
CEO, Victorian Collaborative Centre for Mental Health and Wellbeing

Louise Pearson
Lived Experience Leader