Annual Scientific Meeting 2023
Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials ASM
The Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials 2023 Annual Scientific Meeting brought together leading figures in melanoma and skin cancer clinical trials to share the latest findings and foster further innovative research.
The program featured international keynote speakers, presentations on Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials clinical research and consumer sessions.
The Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials ASM was a satellite meeting of the Australasian Melanoma Conference (AMC), held 24-25 March 2023, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
ASM Drinks
Drinks and canapés were held after the ASM to facilitate networking.
Event Details
ASM: 2pm – 5.50 pm (AEST)
Networking Drinks: 6pm – 7pm (AEST)
Date: Thursday, 23 March 2023
Venue: Boulevard B1, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre (BCEC)
The Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials ASM was a face-to-face event only.
Registration fees
Full registration for medical practitioners: $80
Concession for non-medical practitioners: $40
Speakers
The program features two international keynote speakers and a stellar line-up of leaders in their field who will discuss the latest clinical research in melanoma and skin cancer. Updates on Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials’ research portfolio and opportunities for new research collaborations will form part of the meeting. Consumer presentations will also provide a unique perspective on our patient engagement.
International keynote speakers
Prof Harald Kittler
Harald Kittler is a Professor at the Department of Dermatology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria. He leads a research team with a particular focus on in vivo skin imaging and machine learning, and his clinical interests include skin cancer diagnosis, dermatoscopy and dermatopathology. Prof Kittler has worked in the field of in vivo skin imaging for more than 20 years. He has published over 300 scientific articles, with many focusing on skin cancer diagnosis using dermatoscopy and computer-aided diagnosis.
Talk: Clinical trials on AI-assisted diagnosis of melanoma
A/Prof Sapna Patel
A/Prof Sapna Patel is a medical oncologist and Associate Professor, Director of the Uveal Melanoma Program, and Melanoma Fellowship Program Director at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. She is also Chair of the SWOG Cancer Research Network Melanoma Committee and has led several investigator-initiated, multi-institutional, and international clinical trials. Her grant work focuses on translational research characterising tumour and tissue samples from patients receiving treatment.
Talk: SWOG melanoma portfolio: past, present, and future states
Speakers - Melanoma clinical trials
A/Prof Victoria Mar
A/Prof Victoria Mar is a MASC Trials Board member and leads the group’s melanoma trials focused on early diagnosis and surveillance of high-risk individuals. A/Prof Mar is a Fellow of the Australasian College of Dermatologists, Director of the Victorian Melanoma Service at the Alfred Hospital, an NHMRC Early Career Fellow at the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine, Monash University, and is on the Working Party for the Cancer Council Australia Melanoma Guidelines.
Talk: Melanoma clinical trials for early diagnosis and surveillance
A/Prof Robyn Saw
A/Prof Robyn Saw is a Melanoma/Surgical Oncologist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney and she is affiliated with Melanoma Institute Australia. As well as clinical responsibilities, A/Prof Saw is involved in research of surgical and psycho-social melanoma management. She has a strong focus on consumer engagement and improvement of clinical care through education.
Talk: MelMarT-II trial: defining wide excision margins for high risk primary melanoma
Deborah Butler
Deborah Butler has a lived experience with metastatic melanoma, basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. She is a member of the MASC Trials Consumer Advisory Panel and has been a panellist on numerous webinars providing advice and hope to people with metastatic melanoma and brain metastases. Deborah has helped to raise funds for a new technology to treat brain metastases and she is also a volunteer with Melanoma Patients Australia.
Talk: Melanoma clinical trials: a consumer’s perspective
Speakers - Merkel cell carcinoma clinical trials
Dr Wen Xu
Dr Wen Xu is a consultant medical oncologist based at the Princess Alexandra Hospital (PAH) in Brisbane, who has a special interest in melanoma and merkel cell carcinoma. He was elected Chair of the Australasian Merkel Cell Carcinoma Interest Group (AMIGOs) in 2022 and also serves as the Chair of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials Medical Oncology Discipline-Specific Advisory. Dr Xu is Study Chair of the I-MAT trial (Immunotherapy Merkel Adjuvant Trial). He serves as a senior lecturer at the University of Queensland, and a Clinical Associate Professor at Queensland University of Technology.
Talk: Immunotherapy Merkel Adjuvant Trial (I-MAT) and Australasian Merkel Cell Carcinoma Interest Group (AMIGOs)
Associate Professor Shahneen Sandhu
A/Prof Shahneen Sandhu is a consultant medical oncologist and a lead researcher in the Skin and Melanoma Unit at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. A/Prof Sandhu leads clinical, translational and laboratory research in skin cancers with a focus on designing and conducting biologically driven clinical trials to translate laboratory findings into new clinical treatments and studying biomarkers of response and resistance. She has a special interest in Merkel cell carcinoma and is the Study Chair on the GoTHAM trial and is the Deputy Chair of AMIGOs. She is also the Study Chair of the CHARLI trial.
Talk: Merkel cell carcinoma clinical research
John Mason
After being diagnosed with Merkel cell carcinoma, John Mason joined the I-MAT trial. John was able to receive treatment in his hometown of Bundaberg, as the I-MAT trial has several regional sites to ensure more Australians can take part in the trial. Read more about John’s experience with the I-MAT trial here. John is now focused on completing the PhD he commenced before his diagnosis.
Talk: The I-MAT trial: a consumer’s perspective
Speakers - Uveal melanoma clinical trials
Prof Anthony Joshua
Prof Anthony Joshua is the Chair of the Australasian Ocular Melanoma Alliance (AOMA) and leads the Australian arm of the global Uveal Melanoma Registry. He is Head of Department, Department of Medical Oncology at the Kinghorn Cancer Centre, St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and the Clinical Science Lead at the Garvan Medical Research Institute in Sydney. He is also a Professor at the St Vincent’s Clinical School, University of NSW. Prof Joshua’s research interests include circulating tumour DNA, tumour heterogeneity and autophagy.
Talk: Finally! Progress in uveal melanoma
Dr Tim Luckett
Dr Tim Luckett is a Co-Executive of CQUEST, the cancer quality of life technical service that supports the Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Groups funded by Cancer Australia, and is delivered by the University of Technology Sydney. Dr Luckett’s research lies at the intersection between health, social and implementation sciences. He is especially interested to learn from people with cancer and other illnesses about successful strategies for self-management and coping. Dr Luckett is also current Co-Chair of PaCCSC – the ANZ Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative.
Talk: Content validation of quality of life questionnaire items for people with metastatic uveal melanoma
Susan Vine
Susan Vine was diagnosed with ocular melanoma in 2005 and underwent enucleation (removal of the eye) within two weeks of her diagnosis. She has been supporting other ocular melanoma patients since 2011, and founded the OcuMel Australia and New Zealand Support Group in 2017.
Talk: Ocular melanoma: a consumer’s perspective
Speaker - Keratinocyte cancer clinical trials
Prof Kiarash Khosrotehrani
Prof Kiarash Khosrotehrani leads the Experimental Dermatology Group at the University of Queensland Frazer Institute within the Translational Research Institute in Brisbane. He is also the Deputy Director of the Australian Skin and Skin Cancer Research Centre in Brisbane. Prof Khosrotehrani is a Fellow of the Australian College of Dermatologists, director of Dermatology at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, also practicing at the Prince Charles Hospital and the Skin and Cancer Foundation’s Queensland Institute of Dermatology. Prof Khosrotehrani is leading innovative clinical trials in wound healing, keratinocyte cancers and melanoma.
Talk: SiroSkin trial: reducing the burden of skin cancers in organ transplant recipients
Speakers - Primary and supportive care
Prof David Whiteman
Prof David Whiteman is a medical epidemiologist with a special interest in the causes, control and prevention of cancer. He has an international reputation for research into melanoma and skin cancer, and the public health aspects of cancer control. Prof Whiteman is currently the Senior Scientist, Cancer Control Group at QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute.
Talk: Melanoma prevention, detection and control
A/Prof Melissa Eastgate
A/Prof Melissa Eastgate is the Deputy Director of Medical Oncology at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and is the acting Executive Director of the Cancer Care Stream in Metro North. A/Prof Eastgate is actively involved in clinical trials research with melanoma and gastrointestinal cancer. She has a strong interest in enabling access to care for patients, having provided outreach services to Bundaberg for nine years, and is currently leading the Telechemotherapy Service for patients in Longreach and Barcaldine.
Talk: Regional access to clinical trials
Speaker - MASC Trials operations
Gabrielle Byars
Gabrielle Byars is Chief Executive of Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials. She brings 14 years’ of cross-industry management experience in US- and Australian-led, multi-centre clinical studies and early phase investigator-initiated research in diabetes (device) and gastroenterology (vaccine). She has a biomedical background and notable success in technical projects with a variety of university and industry stakeholders in the biotechnology and medical technology industries.
Talk: Update on MASC Trials operations
Meeting Chair
Prof Mark Shackelton
Prof Shackleton is Chair of the Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials Board of Directors. He is also Director of Oncology at Alfred Health, Professor of Oncology at Monash University, Director of Cancer Trials Australia, and a Victorian Cancer Agency Clinical Research Fellow. After training in medical oncology in Melbourne, he undertook PhD studies at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and post-doctoral work at the University of Michigan, receiving several major prizes including the 2012 Australian Science Minister’s Prize for Life Scientist of the Year.
Who should attend?
The meeting is relevant to those who represent the many disciplines critical to our work including:
Oncologists
Surgeons
Radiation specialists
Nurses
Dermatologists
Allied health professionals
Health economists
Epidemiologists
Statisticians
Ophthalmologists
Research scientists
Research students
Clinical trial coordinators
Data managers
Consumers / patient advocates and their families
Sponsors
Platinum sponsors
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Gold sponsors
Sponsorship opportunities available
Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials offers a range of benefits to sponsors of its Annual Scientific Meetings. If your company is interested in sponsoring this event, please email hello@masc.org.au for further details. Customised sponsorship packages are available.
Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials ASM 2023 organising committee
- Prof Mark Shackleton, Board Chair of Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials, Director of Oncology at Alfred Health, Professor of Oncology at Monash University, and Director of Cancer Trials Australia
- Alison Button-Sloan, Chair, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials Consumer Advisory Panel
- Gabrielle Byars, CEO, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials
- Merrin Morrison, Marketing and Communications Manager, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials
- Ayeshini Sella Hewage, Clinical Trials Assistant, Melanoma and Skin Cancer Trials
Contact
Email: hello@masc.org.au
Phone: +61 3 9903 9022