Welcome to the Trials Coordination Forum
Our annual Trials Coordination Forum is a fantastic opportunity for BCT staff and their colleagues from member sites to meet in a relaxed, educational, and informative environment. The 2025 Trials Coordination Forum will provide an update on developments and changes that have occurred within BCT since we last met, introduce some of the newer trials BCT will be launching in the near future, and recap on some of the interesting and important trial results that have been announced.
We will have several presenters providing insights into clinical trials research and a panel discussion on topical issues involving the management of clinical trials. This is a fantastic networking and professional development opportunity, and we hope to see you there.
Meet our Guest Speakers
We are pleased to introduce the following speakers at our 46th Annual Scientific Meeting Trials Coordination Forum.
Tanya Symons
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Tanya Symons
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Dr Tanya Symons is a highly experienced clinical trial trainer and consultant, working across the UK and Australia. She has provided Good Clinical Practice and ethics training to over 80,000 people worldwide.
In the UK, Tanya led the redevelopment of the NIHR Clinical Trials Toolkit and continues to manage its content.
In Australia, she has worked with governments and government-funded organisations and uses her trial experience to ensure that Australia aligns with international best practices.
She has authored or co-authored several national guidelines, including the TGA Australian Clinical Trial Handbook and the NHMRC Safety Reporting and Serious Breach Guidelines, as well as the ACTA/CTIQ Consumer Involvement and Engagement Toolkit.
Sarah Zardawi
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Sarah Zardawi
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Dr Sarah Zardawi is an early-career Medical Oncologist who has also trained in Palliative Medicine. She has a private practice in Maitland, NSW, as well as working as a Clinical Fellow at Breast Cancer Trials.
She completed her advanced training between Calvary Mater Newcastle, Tamworth and Wyong Hospitals, including working as a medial oncology clinical trials fellow in phase Ib-IV clinical trials at Calvary Mater.
Sarah is dedicated to providing compassionate, patient-centered care for patients and their families at all stages of their cancer treatment.
Nick Zdenkowski
Conference Guest Speaker
Nick Zdenkowski
Conference Guest Speaker
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.
Monica Green
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Monica Green
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Dr Monica Green is a member of the cancer research team in the Wellbeing and Preventable Chronic Diseases Division at Menzies. Monica's recent research has involved collaboratively working towards systematic ways of measuring the experiences of care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer. Underpinning this research is the drive to give voice to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia, with the overall goal of contributing to improved cancer outcomes.
Monica has recently completed her PhD through Charles Darwin University, Measuring the experiences of care of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer. This work focused on privileging the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with cancer regarding measurement of patients’ experiences, which is a widely used assessment of healthcare quality. After asking Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and health professionals ‘what to measure’ and ‘how to measure’ regarding cancer care, the team compared this information with existing patient experience measurement tools. Gaps were identified, particularly around cultural issues, and the team developed and tested a new approach: the Indigenous People’s Experiences of Cancer Care Survey (IPECCS). IPECCS interview participants reported many problems experienced during cancer care, and made suggestions for healthcare improvement for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Further research is necessary to improve efficient data collection and use.
This work, with other developments, can help health services to deliver high quality, culturally safe healthcare, in a way that is informed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Leah Lindrea-Morrison
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Leah Lindrea-Morrison
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Leah is a proud Yorta Yorta woman from Shepparton in Victoria. She has worked with the community in education, health and employment services, including the University of Melbourne’s, Department of Rural Health and the Department of Paediatrics STRONG kids, STRONG future team.
She currently works as an Aboriginal Research Assistant at the Border Medical Oncology Research Unit.
Heath Badger
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Heath Badger
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Mr Heath Badger is Breast Cancer Trials' Chief Operating Officer for the Research Department, having more than 20 years of experience in the design, coordination, and conduct of international multicentre collaborative group breast oncology trials.
Heath is a member of BCT’s Scientific Advisory Committee and represents BCT on the Australian Clinical Trials Alliance SIGNet Executive Officers Network.
Carlie Mavin
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Carlie Mavin
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Mrs Carlie Mavin is a Clinical Trials Program Manager at Breast Cancer Trials (BCT).
Carlie has a degree in Business/Social Science and worked in marketing in the mining industry before her aunt’s breast cancer diagnosis prompted a career change in 2008.
Carlie subsequently worked at BCT until 2010, before moving to London and working as a CRA in the pharmaceutical industry.
Carlie returned to BCT in 2014 to re-focus her career on breast cancer research, and has continued to develop her experience in all aspects of multicentre, collaborative clinical trials research.
Ben Harper
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Ben Harper
TC Forum Guest Speaker
Dr Ben Harper is undertaking his final year of medical oncology advanced training at the Calvary Mater Hospital Newcastle as well as working as a Clinical Fellow at Breast Cancer Trials.
His advanced training in the Hunter New England network included rural training at Tamworth hospital and outreach clinics at Moree Hospital.
He has completed a PhD at Western Sydney University involving the design, synthesis, and biological interactions of novel platinum anticancer agents.
Following this, he completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem before pursuing post-graduate medicine with the goal of becoming a Medical Oncologist.
Schedule
Meet and Greet
Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country; Study Coordinator Prize
Heath Badger
Trial Results
Nick Zdenkowski
Follow Up On Remote Pre-Screening Process
Nick Zdenkowski
Medical Review Process
Ben Harper
Morning Tea Break
Quiz 1
Presented by Dominique and Tracey from Breast Cancer Trials.
The Use of Risk Based Trial Consent in Australia
Tanya Symons
Annex 2 of ICH GCP: Guidance for Innovative Trial Designs, Particularly De-centralised Clinical Trials
Tanya Symons
Process Improvement Workshop
Ari Tusek
Quiz 2
Presented by Syed and Ramya from Breast Cancer Trials.
Afternoon Tea Break
Lotjpa Yapaneyepuk (Talk Together) About Cancer Trials: Improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People's Access to Cancer Clinical Trials in Regional Victoria
Monica Green
Leah Lindrea-Morrison
New Trials and Updates
Carlie Mavin
Quiz Results
Kind Words from Attendees
Hear from those who have attended the session in previous years.
"The Trials Coordination Forum was very useful for me to take information back to my team and implement. The BCT staff were very helpful and supportive."
"It was great to meet with the Breast Cancer Trials staff on the Wednesday at the Trials Coordination Forum. I also found the Q&A session enlightening."
"The Trials Coordination Forum offered a great opportunity to meet other Trial Coordinators, and it was good to hear about new methods of care."
"The content and topics discussed were very relevant to practice, and I appreciate the patient centric approaches and discussion of decentralised trials."
"Eleanor Allan's topics were particularly engaging. I also found that getting into groups and discussing challenges and scenarios with BCT staff was very beneficial."
"The Trials Coordination Forum program was of a very high standard and offered an interesting variety of discussions. It was also great to network with BCT staff."