Our People

Our Executive Members head each of our collection sites across Australian and oversee strategic and operational direction of the APCB. Each of our executive members, current and past, were instrumental in setting up the APCB. They contributed with their ‘in-house’ biospecimens to form a National APCB BioResource, actively sought and gained funding to expand the APCB.

  • Professor Judith ClementsDistinguished Professor Judith Clements is the Executive Chair of the APCB. Judith is the Queensland Node Head of the APCB, a NHMRC Principal Research Fellow, Program Leader of the Queensland University of Technology Cancer Research Program and Scientific Director of the Australian Prostate Cancer Research Centre, Queensland. For more nearly 20 years Professor Clements also led the Cancer Research Program at QUT, which aimed to more clearly understand the molecular and cellular basis for the development, progression, and metastasis of prostate and other cancers such as breast, ovary, endometrial and lung. Professor Clements personal research over the past 30 years has focused on mechanistic and translational studies of the role of the current biomarker for prostate cancer, prostate specific antigen (PSA), and the related kallikrein serine peptidases in prostate cancer in order to determine their potential as therapeutic targets and/or clinical markers of disease progression.
  • Professor Lisa Horvath is the New South Wales Node Head and the Director of the Department of Medical Oncology and Senior Staff Specialist at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse and a Visiting Scientist at the Garvan Institute for Medical Research/The Kinghorn Cancer Centre. She has an active clinical practice and is involved with a large number of clinical trials in prostate, lung and colorectal cancers in addition to phase I trial work. Her research interest is predominantly on tissue biomarkers of prognosis in localised prostate cancer and drug resistance in castrate resistant prostate cancer. 
  • Professor Lisa Butler is the South Australian Node Head and a Cancer Council SA Beat Cancer Principal Cancer Research Fellow in the Freemasons Centre for Male Health and Wellbeing (FCMHW) and the Adelaide Medical School at the University of Adelaide, and heads the Prostate Cancer Research Group at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI). She holds key executive positions in the FCMHW, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and the Australian and New Zealand Urogenital and Prostate Cancer Trials Group. Professor Butler has established an internationally-recognised research program focused on targeting androgen signalling in prostate cancer, discovering innovative biomarkers of response to treatment, and testing the efficacy of novel drugs for prostate cancer.
  • Dr Renea Taylor is a Senior Lecturer and Research Fellow in the Department of Physiology and Biomedicine Discovery Institute, Monash University.  Dr Taylor is an early career basic researcher with a broad background in endocrinology and prostate cancer biology and is a member of the Prostate Cancer Research Group at Monash University. She has established a translational approach to her research, developing and applying clinically relevant models to study prostate cancer, in collaboration with urology, pathology and oncology colleagues. Dr Taylor’s specific training and expertise are in several key research areas including stromal-epithelial interactions, tumour microenvironment, steroid receptor biology and developmental biology.

 

The BioResource Management Committee (BMC)

The BMC was established to develop and implement the strategic and operational direction of the APCB. The committee composition is multidisciplinary and covers all nodes and state interests and is therefore considered national and international Best Practice. BMC members include the executive committee listed above along with the following members:

  • Dr Kris Rasiah-Consultant Urologist at the Royal North Shore Hospital, Sydney, NSW.
  • Associate Professor Frank Gardiner- Consultant Urologist at the Royal Brisbane Hospital and the University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD.
  • Mr John Stead– Consumer Representative, QLD.
  • Associate Professor  Jyotsna Batra– Senior Research Fellow, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, QLD.

The APCB Tissue Access Committee (TAC)

The TAC was established to oversee applications for access to biospecimens from the APCB repository. All full applications for biospecimen access much be approved by the TAC before samples are distributed from the APCB to researchers.

  • Associate Professor James Kench– Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney, Pathology Representative, NSW.
  • Dr Gianluca Severi– Cancer Council Victoria, Melbourne, Biostatistics Representative, VIC.
  • Dr Grant Buchanan– University of Adelaide, Molecular Biology Representative, SA.
  • Dr Elizabeth Williams– Queensland University of Technology, Cell Biology representative, QLD
  • Dr Kate Mahon– Sydney Cancer Centre, Sydney, Medical Oncology Representative, NSW.
  • Dr Niall Corcoran– Royal Melbourne Hospital, Melbourne, Urology Representative, VIC.

Historical contributions – the beginnings of APCB

The APCB in its current form would have not been possible without the instrumental contribution of the below Executive Members across Australia.

04_Gail_Risbridger_white_high_323318Professor Gail Risbridger is the Victorian Node Head of the APCB and is also the Director of the Prostate and Breast Cancer Research Program at Monash University, Melbourne, Victoria. Professor Risbridger is a career academic and researcher who has spent over 20 years understanding the endocrinology of male reproductive tract organs, especially the testis and prostate gland. Professor Risbridger leads an internationally recognised research team of investigators working on prostate cancer and andrology related projects and currently holds the position of Deputy Dean, Special Projects and Chair for Research, Centres and Institutes. Professor Risbridger has particular research interests in the biology of the stromal-epithelial cell interactions in normal and tumour tissue and has pioneered the use of stem cells for recombination studies combining stem cell biology with endocrinology.

Professor Wayne Tilley was the initial South Australian Node Head and is also the Director of the Dame Roma Mitchell Cancer Research Laboratories, at the University of Adelaide. Professor Tilley has developed a research program on hormone action in breast and prostate cancer, and played an integral role in the development of the Adelaide Prostate Cancer Research Centre and the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health. Professor Tilley’s laboratory has made major contributions to understanding the molecular mechanisms of resistance to hormonal therapies used in the treatment of prostate cancer  and a current major research focus is the development of new treatments for prostate cancer that target the androgen receptor.

Vale Professor Rob Sutherland FAA AO (1947-2012) established the New South Wales Node Head of the APCB. Professor Sutherland was Director of the Cancer Research Program at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research for 27 years, inaugural Director of The Kinghorn Cancer Centre and Senior Principal Research Fellow of the National Health and Medical Research Council. Professor Sutherland established one of Australia’s most successful cancer research programs, initially in the fields of breast and prostate cancer but later diversifying into many other solid cancers. Professor Sutherland will be missed by his colleagues and friends from the APCB.