Sunit Sarkar

Dr Sunit Sarkar is a passionate medical oncologist at Icon Cancer Hobart. In 2010 he completed his Bachelor of Medicine, and Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) at Monash University and spent the early years of his medical training at Box Hill Hospital.

Dr Sarkar subsequently completed his specialist medical oncology training at the Royal Hobart Hospital, Box Hill Hospital, and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, gaining extensive experience in managing a broad range of cancers.

Dr Sarkar is a strong advocate for clinical research and clinical trials in both his private practice and role as medical oncology consultant at Calvary St. John’s Hospital and Royal Hobart Hospital.

He is a fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians (FRACP) and recently completed a breast cancer fellowship at Nepean Hospital.

His clinical experience covers a broad range of solid tumor malignancies with a special interest in breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, lung cancer, melanoma, neuro-oncology ,and skin cancer.

Shelley Potter

Sanjeev Kumar

Sanjeev is a Medical Oncologist and Clinician Scientist who grew up in country NSW, before completing undergraduate medical studies at the University of New South Wales in 2006. He trained as a Medical Oncologist at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse and in the United Kingdom.

Sanjeev moved to Cambridge (UK) in 2015 to undertake a fellowship in the Addenbrooke’s Hospital Cancer Drug Development Unit. He was then awarded a University of Cambridge scholarship in 2016 to complete a cancer molecular biology PhD at the Cancer Research UK Cambridge Institute, with a focus on Oestrogen receptor-positive breast cancer. Simultaneously, he ran a UK-wide clinical trial for patients with ER-positive breast cancer.

Sanjeev has returned to Australia to continue his clinical and academic focus on breast cancer with positions at Lifehouse, The Kinghorn Cancer Centre and the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. He has a keen interest in the education of trainees, public engagement and clinical trials.

Sanjay Warrier

Dr Sanjay Warrier is dedicated to the professional development of current and future surgeons. He is an Associate Professor of the University of Sydney with the Royal Prince Alfred Academic Institute, a lead researcher with the Institute, and has goals of developing a culture of academia within the Breast Department.

In 2013, Sanjay’s work on Hedgehog signaling, in collaboration with the Garvan Institute, won the Patron’s Prize at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital for best scientific research.

He is also the current Chairman of Post-Fellowship Training for BreastSurgANZ, a role that involves training future breast surgeons in both Australia and New Zealand.

A significant milestone for Sanjay was being co-founder of the first Postgraduate Degree specific to breast surgery, the Master of Advanced Surgery (Breast Surgery) at the University of Sydney.

Sanjay is a committed researcher in breast cancer surgery and medicine and has presented at many national and international conferences. These include being asked to present at the San Antonio Breast Symposium, the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), and the Cancer Institute in Bangkok (Thailand), as well as other guest presentations in Berlin (Germany), Singapore, Queenstown (New Zealand), Auckland (New Zealand) and across Australia.

In 2023, Sanjay was invited to join the Smith & Nephew’s Global SCC (Surgical Site Complication) Prevention Council Advisory Board which convened in London, England.

Associate Professor Sanjay Warrier is the immediate Past President of BreastSurgANZ, co-Chair of Post Fellowship Training, long-standing member of both the BreastSurgANZ Membership and Oncoplastic Committees, and sits on advisory committees with the NSW Ministry of Health and the Cancer Institute. He also sits on the Sydney Breast Cancer Foundation committee and the Research Faculty at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse.

Sanjay is passionate about utilising novel techniques and innovative technologies to offer his patients the best options available. He was the first surgeon in Australia to utilise SPY technology for breast reconstruction surgery, and was the first surgeon in the Southern Hemisphere to perform robotic breast surgery. He was also an early adopter of volume replacement techniques for breast conserving surgery, and the first to utilise 3D printing for breast assessment and surgery planning.

Sandy Simon

Sandy Simon is a resident medical officer at the Prince of Wales Hospital (POWH) who is passionate about gender equality.

She is a UNSW graduate, with an exceptional academic record as well as active involvement in leadership through being president of the UNSW Rural Allied Health and Medical Society.

Her advocacy and leadership have extended into her medical career, being secretary of the POWH Resident Medical Officers’ Association.

In this capacity, she is organising the inaugural Prince of Wales Hospital Women in Medicine Night. Outside of medicine, Sandy enjoys being outdoors, hiking,g and spending time with family and friends.

Nick Zdenkowski

Dr Zdenkowski is a Medical Oncologist and Medical Advisor with Breast Cancer Trials.

He is the Chair of the BCT Scientific Advisory Committee and sits on the international PALLAS trial Steering Committee. He works on a broad range of breast cancer research, including shared decision-making, clinical trials, and patient-reported outcomes, particularly around neoadjuvant systemic therapy.

His PhD project resulted in the development of a decision aid for patients considering neoadjuvant systemic therapy for breast cancer. He has published widely, from patient-reported outcomes, and systematic reviews through to clinical trial outcomes. His clinical practice is at Lake Macquarie Private Hospital and Maitland Private Hospital in the Hunter Region in NSW Australia.

Michelle Li

Dr Michelle Li is an early-career clinician researcher with a demonstrated strong interest in breast cancer.
Her research was presented as an abstract at the San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium in
2023, which was a real-world retrospective study characterising the incidence of HER2-low in
metastatic breast cancer patients at a metropolitan cancer center in Melbourne, Australia.

Following this, she was accepted into a competitive Clinical Trials and Translational Research
Fellowship at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and has spent this year working under the
mentorship of Professor Sherene Loi.

She is currently the sub-investigator on all clinical trials in the breast trials portfolio, which includes both early and late-phase studies across all breast
cancer subtypes and stages of disease. Many of these trials are sponsored by Breast Cancer Trials, including
OPTIMA, OLIO, CAPTURE, and TUGETHER.

Her involvement has included the active recruitment of
trial participants, documentation of trial reviews, interpretation of trial protocols and
appropriate management of trial-related adverse events.

Martha Hickey

Professor Martha Hickey is Australia’s leading research gynecologist with a clinical and research focus on menopause.

In addition to leading Australia’s largest menopause service, her research has driven evidence-based care in menopause internationally including new treatments, models of care, evidence synthesis, and clinical guidelines.

Critically, her research has embedded the patient voice into menopause research. Despite being Australian, Professor Hickey is the “menopause expert” for the 2022 UK NICE guidelines and also leads the Lancet Clinical Series on Menopause.

In her clinical practice, she established the first multidisciplinary service for managing menopause after cancer, now replicated across 7 countries.

Lesley Stafford

Associate Professor Lesley Stafford is a clinical psychologist who works predominantly with women diagnosed with breast cancer and women considered at high risk of developing breast or ovarian cancer.

She is a Principal Fellow in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne.

Lesley's research interests focus on understanding, and intervening in, the psychosocial factors contributing to the burden of disease associated with breast and gynecological cancer.

She has a strong interest in translating research into clinical practice.

Lesley Fallowfield

Professor Dame Lesley Fallowfield is Professor of Psycho-oncology at Brighton & Sussex Medical School, University of Sussex where she is Director of the Sussex Health Outcomes Research & Education in Cancer (SHORE-C) group.

Dame Lesley originally trained as a nurse at Guy’s Hospital, London but then did a BSc in Experimental Psychology at Sussex. Research for her doctorate examining the perceptual correlates of optic nerve damage in demyelinating diseases was completed at the Universities of Sussex and Cambridge.

In 1991 she became the full-time Director of a Psychosocial Oncology Group and in 1997 was awarded the first European Chair in Psycho-oncology from University College, London. Her research interests are wide and include the measurement of quality of life in clinical trials of cancer therapy and the training of communication skills for health care professionals in cancer.

She has published over 500 papers, many book chapters, 3 textbooks and numerous evidence-based educational materials for the teaching of communication skills. She lectures and runs training workshops throughout the world in psychosocial oncology, quality of life assessment and communication skills.

She is a Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences, an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Cancer Physicians UK and was made a Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in 2016.

Emma Crowley

Emma is a member of the Breast Cancer Trials Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP), and was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer in 2012, when she was just 24 years old.

Adam Ofri

Dr Adam Ofri is a specialist in Breast Oncology and a General Surgeon at Mater Hospital, North Sydney.

Dr Adam Ofri undertook his surgical training at the coveted Northern Network in Sydney and was awarded his fellowship of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS) in 2020.

He was awarded his Full Member status to BreastSurgANZ in 2023, after completing two years of post-fellowship training.

His first year was at St Vincent’s Private Hospital (NSW) and his second year was at the high-volume public tertiary hospital - Sir Charles Gairdner (WA). He has been exposed to large volumes of benign and malignant disease and is well-trained in oncoplastic surgery.

Adam has a strong academic drive. He completed his Masters of Surgery in 2013, is a Senior Clinical Lecturer for the University of Sydney, and a Clinical Research Fellow at the Academic Institute of Surgery at Royal Prince Alfred. He is the 2023 Breast Cancer Trials’ Clinical Research Fellow and has been awarded the John Collins Fellow Medal & Travel Grant. He has been involved in multiple international presentations and publications.

Adam has a passion for de-escalating breast cancer management, thereby reducing unnecessary patient morbidity. He is the Primary Investigator for both the ANZ TAD Registry, as well as the DCISionRT RCT, both focusing on reducing the extent of treatment patients receive.

He also has a strong interest in Preventative Care - with a focus on Tailored Breast Screening as well as Breast Cancer Risk Assessment.

Adam Brufsky

Dr Brufsky is board-certified in internal medicine and medical oncology by the American Board of Internal Medicine and is an active member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology and the American Association for Cancer Research.

He has published numerous abstracts and research articles in leading journals, including the Journal of Clinical Investigation, Journal of Clinical Oncology and Lancet.

Dr Brufsky is principal investigator on a number of research grants funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Susan G. Komen Foundation and the U.S. Army Breast Cancer Research Program.

He is currently the principal investigator of the Pittsburgh Breast Cancer Consortium, a U.S. Department of Defense-funded program to increase community access to innovative clinical trials for the treatment of metastatic breast cancer, as well as a number of other breast cancer studies.

Dr Brufsky received his medical degree and doctorate from the University of Connecticut School of Medicine. He completed his residency in internal medicine at Brigham and Women's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and a fellowship in medical oncology and bone marrow transplantation at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.

Prior to joining the University of Pittsburgh, Dr Brufsky served as an associate physician and instructor in medicine at Harvard Medical School.