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JULY 2016
Research Profile - Dr Mike Fay
MBChB FRACP FRANZCR
Radiation Oncologist– Genesis Cancer Care and Calvary Mater Newcastle
Conjoint Senior Lecturer – University of Newcastle and University of Queensland
Research Interests
My background is in oncology (both medical and radiation) and I’m very interested in novel medical imaging.   This is especially in PET and its role as a game-changer in oncology diagnosis and treatment.  Traditionally PET imaging has used 18FDG as a tracer but this does not work so well in the brain.  Our group has been interested in the development of new tracers (18F-DOPA and 18F-MISO) for brain tumours and in applying these tools to problems in radiobiology.  Most of this research has been using these tools to help understand reasons for treatment failure and improve treatment for glioblastoma - the most aggressive and malignant brain tumour.  Advanced imaging provides tools to investigate radiobiological mechanisms underlying treatment.  I’m hopeful we can show that advanced imaging can be a good way of investigating new agents in an efficient manner with smaller numbers of patients than traditional randomised trials.
 
Research Collaborations
  • Dr Jennette Sakoff and Prof Steve Ackland, Medical Oncology Lab, (Calvary Mater Newcastle)
  • Assoc Prof Joerg Lehmann and Dr Miriam Barry, Medical Physics (Calvary Mater Newcastle)
  • Prof Jenny Martin, Clinical Pharmacology (University of Newcastle)
  • Prof Stephen Rose, CSIRO Imaging Hub (Herson, Brisbane)
  • Dr Paul Thomas, PET Imaging Group (Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane)
  • Dr L Jeffree, Neurosurgery Department (Royal Brisbane Hospital, Brisbane)
  • Dr C Phillips, Neuro-oncology Unit, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre (Melbourne, Victoria) Co-operative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO) Trans-Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG)
  • Prof Chris O’Callaghan,  National Cancer Institute of Canada (NCIC) – (London, Ontario)
  • Prof H P Rodemann, Department of Radiobiology and Environmental Toxicology, Eberhard Karls Universität (Tübingen, Germany)
     
Recent Achievements
We have recently been successful in getting our trial in elderly patients with glioblastoma presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Annual Scientific Meeting at a plenary session. (https://www.asco.org/about-asco/press-center/news-releases/elderly-patients-glioblastoma-live-longer-chemoradiation-using)
 
This study has shown that for elderly patients with glioblastoma who had been previously treated with radiotherapy alone -  they actually do significantly better with abbreviated radiotherapy and chemotherapy. This is not at the price of significantly increased toxicity. The presence of a biomarker (methylated MGMT promoter) significantly predicted for response to chemotherapy. (see Figure 1 below).
 
Figure 1: Survival curves from the NCIC CE6 trial
 

 
University of Newcastle Newsroom Article (Monday 6th June 2016): Brain Cancer Clinical Trial Breakthrough

Future Research Directions
I’m hopeful we can get some of the advanced imaging we have been doing in Brisbane available for patients in the Hunter. This should be achieved by the formation of the Australian Brain Cancer Imaging Consortium in collaboration with the Co-operative Trials Group for Neuro-Oncology (COGNO).  This will allow novel PET tracers to be sent around the country.  We are fortunate locally to have the Mark Hughes Foundation funding research for patients with brain cancer.
 
Research Profile: Dr Mike Fay

Flagship Programs


Implementation Science Flagship Program - Steering Committee Membership Expanded
 
The Implementation Science Flagship Program is pleased to welcome two new members to the Steering Committee, Professor Amanda Baker & Ms Rachel Pitt.
Professor Amanda Baker is a clinical psychologist and NHMRC Senior Research Fellow, bringing a wealth of experience to the steering committee as a representative of mental health clinical research. She is Co-Director of the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Mental Health and Substance Use. Her clinical interests are in the treatment of mental ill health and tobacco, alcohol and illicit drug use and motivational interventions for health behaviour change. Amanda is a Chief Investigator on the NHMRC trial  'Eating as Treatment (EAT) in Head and Neck Cancer’ and supervises several research higher degree students involved in the EAT trial.
Ms Rachel Pitt is a registered nurse working as an Oncology Nurse Practitioner at Manning Rural Referral Hospital. With a keen interest in research, Rachel joins the steering committee as a representative of both oncology nursing research and research conducted in rural clinical settings. She was a participant in the rural research capacity building program run by HETI to increase research capacity in rural areas and has completed a qualitative study on the experience on undergoing surgery for colorectal cancer in rural NSW. Rachel is committed to promoting nursing research and research that improves the patient experience.
The primary objective of the Implementation Science Flagship Steering Committee is to focus research efforts within HCRA to facilitate the translation of research into policy and practice, primarily through the implementation and evaluation of strategies designed to reduce the evidence-practice gaps in cancer care and service delivery.
 
HCRA members are encouraged to speak with their relevant representatives on the Steering Committee if they have any questions regarding the initiatives offered via the Implementation Science Flagship Program or to raise ideas for consideration of the committee. The full list of Steering Committee members and their contact details can be viewed here.

HCRA Research Support Survey
Want to WIN a $500 Research Award?

All HCRA members are invited to complete the 2016 HCRA Research Support Initiatives - Member Survey.

The HCRA Executive and Flagship Steering Committees are continuously reviewing the HCRA led research support initiatives that are and/or could be made available to HCRA members throughout the remainder of the HCRA TCRC grant.

To help with future planning, we would like to invite feedback from our membership to best determine the initiatives that are most needed and/or will produce the best outcomes for HCRA and our members.
 
Now is the time to tell us how HCRA should prioritise the support offered to our membership.
 
As a thank you for your time and valuable feedback, all respondents will go into the draw for a $500 Research Award.
COMPLETE THE SURVEY

HCRA and HCB Operation Team Members
Jenna Bowen (Pictured Left) our new Blood Biobanking Officer and Bianca Bartlett (Pictured Right) our new SBC Liaison Officer. Find out more about their expertise and contact details Read Here
Ann is the Finance Officer for HCRA.  Her role is to manage the finances for all HCRA operational and research budgets. Ann has a background in management accounting and financial analysis across the commercial and not-for-profit sectors.  She holds a B.Com (Finance) and MBA. Ann can be contacted via email at: hcra-finance@newcastle.edu.au

Latest Membership News

2016 Implementation Science Pilot Projects & Literature Reviews

In May the Implementation Science Flagship Steering Committee awarded funding to 7 projects to be conducted as part of this Flagship program. Congratulations to these HCRA members and their multidisciplinary teams who have received support from this recent funding round. The list of projects supported can be viewed here.
 
There have now been 14 pilot projects & 7 literature reviews funded via the Implementation Science Flagship Program, with the funding possible as part of the CINSW Translational Cancer Research Centre grant awarded to HCRA in 2014. While the Steering Committee is yet to review how successful this investment of funds has been, some preliminary reporting on the projects completed (9 in total) has shown that, to date, this initiative has enabled 9 HCRA ECRs to have leading roles in the development and management of projects, and further involvement from 12 PhD students across the projects. All projects have involved multidisciplinary collaboration between UON, HMRI and HNE LHD researchers and some have attracted clinical department buy-in and in-kind support from industry partners.

HCRA are looking forward to sharing the research outcomes made possible from this initial funding over the life of the HCRA TCRC grant. The full list of projects supported via the Implementation Science Flagship program can be viewed here.

UoN Faculty of Health and Medicine Pilot Grants

Congratulations to our HCRA researchers who were successful in obtaining UoN Faculty of Health and Medicine Pilot Grants.
 
Ashleigh Guillaumier - A feasibility pilot study of electronic nicotine devices for smoking cessation with alcohol and other drug (AOG) treatment clients

Gillian Gould - Collaborations for indigenous counselling and nicotine (ICAN) QUIT in pregnancy intervention


HCRA Rapid Fire News

Find all the latest grant opportunities, seminars and conferences in our latest edition  (Wednesday 29th June 2016). Read Here

HCRA Newsroom

Highlighting our Hunter researchers and their achievements. Read Here

The overarching theme of this Symposium is “Leading translational research for improved patient outcomes”.

This Symposium will cover the full spectrum of the translational research-to-practice continuum from basic science to clinical research and implementation research. We believe bringing together people from diverse research and clinical areas will ensure an invaluable forum for all participants.

Abstract Submissions

HCRA members are invited to submit an abstract from any area of translational cancer research for oral and poster presentations at this year's Symposium.

Key Dates

  • Friday 1st July 2016: Abstract submissions open
  • Friday 19th August 2016: Abstract submissions close
  • Monday 12th September 2016: Notification of presentation outcomes sent

Further Details

Read the 2016 Call for Abstract Guidelines (PDF 101KB)

Download the 2016 Call for Abstract Submission Template (DOC 562KB)

To be considered, completed abstracts (using the template found above) must be emailed as a MS Word document to hcra@newcastle.edu.au by Friday 19th August 2016
REGISTER NOW

Membership Grant Opportunities
CLICK HERE FOR GUIDELINES AND APPLICATION FORMS

Publication of the Month

 

Oncotarget
 

Activation of protein phosphatase 2A in FLT3+ acute myeloid leukamia cells enhances the cytotoxicity of FLT3 tyrosine kinase inhibitors

Amanda M Smith, Matthew D Dunn, Erwin M Lee, Celeste Harrison, Richard Kahl, Hayley Flanagan, Nikita Panicker, Bratali Mashkani, Anthony S Don, Jonathan Morris, Hamish Toop, Richard B Lock, Jason A Powell, Daniel Thomas, Mark A Guthridge, Andrew Moore, Leonie K Ashman, Kathryn A Skelding, Anoop Enjeti, Nicole M Verrills.
READ HERE
We are always looking for information and news items to share with our members. If you have any news, information or feedback, please send it to us at hcra@newcastle.edu.au
For more information on Hunter Cancer Research Alliance please refer to our website www.hcra.com.au
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Hunter Cancer Research Alliance · Calvary Mater Newcastle · Waratah, NSW 2298 · Australia

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