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Invited Speakers
International Invited Speakers
Professor Renata Ferrarotto
United States
Dr. Ferrarotto is a Professor and Director of Head and Neck Oncology Clinical Research of Department of Thoracic/Head and Neck Medical Oncology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. In this role, she dedicates time to patient care as well as to clinical and translational research. Her work focuses on the clinical development of new therapeutic strategies and novel methods for prediction and evaluation of treatment effects for patients with head and neck malignancies.
Beyond the most common head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, Dr. Ferrarotto has a special interest in rare cancers of the head and neck, particularly salivary gland cancers. She has conducted multiple investigator-initiated trials in the curative intent and metastatic settings.
Dr. Ferrarotto was a recipient of the ASCO Career Development Award in 2016, the Khalifa grant in 2016, a Stiefel grant in 2018, an Institutional Research Grant in 2020, three pilot grants from the Adenoid Cystic Carcinoma Research Foundation in 2000, 2021, and 2022, a DOD Impact Award in 2021, and an R03 grant in 2022.
Professor Clifton (Dave) Fuller
United States
Dr. Clifton (Dave) Fuller is Professor (tenured) and Distinguished Educator in the Department of Radiation Oncology, Head and Neck Section, at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer. He is an NIH Established Investigator physician-scientist with research focused on development of quantitative spatial (imaging)/non-spatial (semantic) informatics models of both oncologic outcomes and iatrogenic sequelae after head and neck cancer, integrated into patient care through prospective clinical trials.
After NIH NIA T25 pre-doctoral, NCI R25- and NCRR M01-funded medical student research experiences, Dr. Fuller gained expertise in human imaging physics in a NIBIB T32-supported joint PhD-residency program, before an NCI K12 Paul Calabresi Fellowship in clinical trials and imaging informatics as junior faculty. He is double-boarded, with certification in Clinical Informatics in addition to Radiation Oncology. This expertise led to a NCI P50-funded SPORE Career Development Award and subsequent research independence as Primary Investigator on 7 NIH R01-equivalent awards and two NSF awards.
Dr. Fuller also serves as co-PI of an NIBIB R25 physician-scientist fellowship program, and an NCI postdoctoral T32 grant to train the next generation of image-guided scientists. In 2021 he received the MD Anderson Distinguished Research Faculty Mentor award, and in 2023 was inducted into the Kenneth I. Shine, M.D. Academy of Health Science Education, a University of Texas System-wide scholastic honor society. In his institutional roles as Medical Director (Program in Image-guided cancer therapy), Research Director (Stiefel Oropharyngeal Cancer Research Program), and Divisional Lead (Radiation Oncology Strategic Initiatives), he is committed to multi-disciplinary research and patient-centric technology development.
Professor Hisham Mehanna
United Kingdom
Professor Hisham Mehanna is the Deputy Pro-Vice Chancellor, Chair of Head and Neck Surgery, and Director of the Institute of Head and Neck Studies and Education, at the University of Birmingham, UK.
Hisham’s clinical interests are recurrence head and neck cancer surgery. He established and ran the UK’s first clinic dedicated to the multi-disciplinary treatment of head and neck and thyroid cancer recurrence.
Hisham has a keen interest in clinical and translational research, heading a research team of 20 researchers, and holding over £17 million in research grants. The main area of his research revolves around improving the management of head and neck cancer through the use of innovative treatments and dynamic risk stratification and assessment. His research spans translational research, early and late phase clinical trials. He is chief investigator of several multicentre and multinational clinical trials, including the PET NECK trial (published in the NEJM in 2016), and the De-escalate study (Lancet 2018) and EPIC HPV (Lancet Onc 2023).
He is also the President of the Head and Neck Cancer International Group (the umbrella organisation of 22 national clinical trials groups), and past President of the British Association of Head Neck Oncologists (BAHNO), and past Chair of the UK’s National Cancer Research Institute’s head and neck group, responsible for all head and neck cancer research in the UK.
Professor Heather Starmer
United States
Professor Heather Starmer is a Speech-Language Pathologist and Board-Certified Specialist in Swallowing and Swallowing Disorders. She is a clinical Professor in the Department of Otolaryngology - Head & Neck Surgery at Stanford University and the Director of Head and Neck Speech and Swallowing Rehabilitation at the Stanford Cancer Center.
Professor Starmer's clinical and research interests include the communication and swallowing outcomes of individuals with head and neck cancer. She has a particular interest in the role head and neck lymphedema plays in swallowing outcomes.
Chris O’Brien Oration Keynote speaker
Professor June Corry
Australia (VIC)
Professor Corry was the Head of the Peter MacCallum Cancer Center Head & Neck Service for 15 years and is now working with GenesisCare St Vincents Hospital Melbourne as a Head & Neck radiation oncology and Chair of the GCC National Research Group.
Professor Corry has served as the President of the ANZHNCS, TROG Executive/Publications/ ANROTAT committees, and the Chair of WCMICS and VCOG. She was a founding member of IAOO and currently co-PI with NPC IAEA project. She is on the editorial board of JCO, IJROBP, OO and Head & Neck journals. She has published over 140 manuscripts in peer-reviewed journals and multiple book chapters. She has a strong belief in collaborative clinical research and patient advocacy.
Contact Us
Meeting Organiser:
Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, Conferences & Events Department
250-290 Spring Street, East Melbourne VIC 3002 Australia
T : +61 3 9249 1150
E : anzhncs.asm@surgeons.org