ANZHNCS 2024

Keynote 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.

International Invited speakers

Dr Sue Yom
United States

Dr. Sue S. Yom, MD, PhD, MAS, FASTRO, FAAWR, FACR is the Vice Chair of Strategic Advisory and the Irwin Mark Jacobs and Joan Klein Jacobs Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Radiation Oncology and Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery at the University of California San Francisco.

She is the Editor-in-Chief of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology Biology Physics, Chair of the NRG Oncology Head and Neck Cancer Committee, and the Guidelines and Protocols Committee Co-Chair and Board Member for the Head and Neck Cancer International Group. She is also a Board Member of the RTOG Foundation and the patient advocacy organization Head and Neck Cancer Alliance. She is a Past President of the American Radium Society and was the founding Chair of the ARS Appropriate Use Criteria Committees. She is a member of the NCCN Head and Neck Cancers guidelines committee and AJCC HPV+ Oropharynx Cancer Expert Panel and is a member of the Head and Neck Cancer Resource Panel, Science Education Program Development, and Health Equity Diversity Inclusion Education Committees of the American Society of Radiation Oncology. At UCSF, she serves as Co-Chair of the Oral Head and Neck Site Committee, Contact PI for NRG Oncology, and Full Member in Molecular Oncology for the Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center.

She holds research grants from NIH, industry, and foundations and has been author or co-author on over 250 publications in the medical literature. She has served on expert panels and scientific organizing committees for numerous professional societies.

Dr Ashish Patel
United States

Sponsored by KLS MARTIN AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Dr Ashish Patel is a fellowship-trained Head and Neck Surgical Oncologist and Reconstructive Microsurgeon dedicated to the treatment of patients with head and neck cancers. He obtained his Medical and Dental degrees at New York University and completed Fellowships in Head and Neck Oncology and Microvascular Reconstruction at Providence Cancer Institute in Portland, OR. Dr. Patel's treatment philosophy hinges on comprehensive patient care with a focus on successful cancer treatment while maintaining and restoring quality of life. To Dr. Patel, giving patients back their lives is as important as eliminating cancer. In 2016, he performed the first total jaw reconstruction on the West Coast. Dr. Patel continues to push the envelope and advance the science of surgery through precision medicine, robotic surgery, minimally invasive approaches and patient-specific solutions.

Dr. Patel is proud to be an integral part of the multidisciplinary Providence Head and Neck Cancer Program. He works closely with the clinical team and scientists to offer cutting edge therapies and new approaches to difficult problems.

As the medical director of the Fellowship in Head and Neck Surgery and Reconstructive Microsurgery, Dr. Patel has the privilege of training world-class head and neck surgeons. In addition, he holds academic appointments at Oregon Health and Science University and Washington State University School of Medicine and is active in resident and medical student education.

Dr. Patel lectures nationally and internationally and has published over 60 journal articles, textbook chapters and abstracts. His primary research interests lie in early cancer detection and minimally-invasive facial and oral reconstruction.

Professor Justin Roe
United Kingdom

Justin is a Consultant and Professional Lead for Speech and Language Therapy (SLT) at the Royal Marsden NHS Foundation Trust (RM) in London. In addition to his clinical work, he leads on multidisciplinary rehabilitation service provision to people receiving treatment from head and neck, lung cancers and neuro-oncology services at the Marsden. He also leads the complex laryngology/ airway reconstruction service at Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust. He is a Professor of Practice in Speech and Swallowing Rehabilitation in the Department of Surgery and Cancer at Imperial College London.

Justin has published extensively and contributed to key policy and position papers, acting as an expert adviser to several national organisations. Until this year, he was the Allied Health Professions Council Member for the British Association of Head and Neck Oncologists and is currently SLT Council Member for the British Laryngological Association. He was awarded the Fellowship of the Royal College of Speech and Language Therapists in 2018 and a Member of the Order of the British Empire in the 2022 Queen's New Year's Honours in recognition of his contribution to the SLT profession.

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