Cancer Research

The Cancer Research Division was formed in May 2014 in an effort to enhance the cancer research focus across the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine’s clinical and public health activities. The program is led by Professor John Zalcberg, a medical oncologist and cancer researcher with over 20 years’ experience.

The Cancer Research Division primarily works to create and maintain clinical quality registries with a view to improving health care and patient outcomes. Within these registries, population-based data on diagnosis, treatment and outcomes is collected and assessed. The information is used to highlight variations in care, and is fed back to health services in benchmarked reports. By identifying areas for improvement, health services can implement changes to advance and streamline care.

The Cancer Research Division's work currently includes clinical quality registries in:

  • Lung Cancer
  • Upper Gastrointestinal Cancers arising in the pancreas, oesophagus, stomach, liver and biliary system; and a connected multi-state quality improvement project in pancreas cancer
  • Ovarian Cancer (pilot module of the National Gynae-Oncology Registry)

A project in melanoma is also in development.

The Cancer Research Division enjoys a strong connection with health service providers, patient advocacy groups, and policy makers. It is working at multiple levels to try to streamline the development of new projects and encourage the integration of research into day-to-day clinical practice.

Registries operated by the Cancer Research Division

PhD opportunities

The Cancer Research Division invites potential PhD candidates interested in cancer health services research to apply to join our supportive group. Scholarships are available for Australian candidates. Information on our current PhD opportunities can be found here:

The Team

Emilia Agalianos – Executive Assistant to Professor John Zalcberg
Dr Ri Scarborough – Cancer Research Program Manager
Jennifer Holland – Project Coordinator, Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Registry
Margaret Brand – Project Manager, Victorian Lung Cancer Registry
Dr Victoria Mar – Senior Lecturer
Dr Liane Ioannou – Research Associate
Natalie Heriot – Research Officer
Elysia Greenhill – Research Assistant
Maddy Quinn – Research Assistant
Claire Zammit – Research Assistant