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4^th Interdisciplinary Melanoma / Skin Cancer Centres Meeting

Program now available

Welcome to the 4th Interdisciplinary Melanoma / Skin Cancer Centres Meeting, to take place in Sydney, Australia in November 2010. This meeting will present a unique opportunity for melanoma clinicians and researchers, who are part of multidisciplinary melanoma /skin cancer centres to interact, learn from one another, establish collaborations and set an agenda for the further evolution of multidisciplinary melanoma care and research.

The Meeting will feature Plenary Session speakers who are recognised experts in melanoma treatment and research. These Plenary Sessions will form the scientific backdrop for the meeting, and will highlight problem areas and opportunities in melanoma today.

These Plenary Sessions will set the stage for a series of Concurrent Sessions conducted by clinical and research experts, designed to focus attention and lead to new collaborative approaches in key areas where melanoma centres should be taking the lead.

On behalf of the International Organising Committee we look forward to welcoming you to Sydney, Australia.

International Organising Committee

• Claus Garbe MD
• Axel Hauschild MD
• Josep Malvehy MD
• Vernon Sondak MD
• John Thompson MD

Local Organising Committee

• Associate Professor Grant McArthur
• Dr John Kelly
• Associate Professor Brendon Coventry
• Associate Professor Susan Neuhaus
• Professor Michael Henderson
• Associate Professor Mark Smithers
• Professor Rick Kefford
• Associate Professor Alex Guminski
• Dr Georgina Long
• Associate Professor Fran Boyle
• Dr Angela Hong
• Dr Gerald Fogarty
• Associate Professor Andrew Spillane
• Dr Kerwin Shannon
• Dr Robyn Saw
• Dr Michael Quinn
• Dr Michael Hughes
• Dr George Hruby
• Dr Julie Howle

Invited Speakers

We are pleased to announce that the following invited speakers will be presenting at the 4th Interdisciplinary Melanoma / Skin Cancer Centres Meeting:

• Sanjiv Agarwala (United States of America) - Biography
  Sanjiv S. Agarwala, MD, is Chief of Medical Oncology and Hematology at St. Luke's Cancer Center in Bethlehem, PA and Director of the Melanoma and Renal Cell Cancer Programs. Dr Agarwala is an internationally recognized investigator in the field of melanoma, renal cell carcinoma, immunotherapy and clinical trials. He is a member of several professional organizations, including the American Association for Cancer Research, the American Society of Clinical Oncology, European Society of Medical Oncology and the International Society for Biologic Therapy and has published more than 75 articles in peer-reviewed journals such as The New England Journal of Medicine, Journal of Clinical Oncology, and Clinical Cancer Research.
• Bruce Armstrong (Australia) - Biography
  
  Bruce Armstrong is internationally recognised for his epidemiological research into the causes and prevention of skin cancer, melanoma and other cancers. He received the award for a lifetime of achievement in basic research into melanoma at the 6th World Congress on Melanoma in Vancouver in 2005 and the inaugural New South Wales Premier's award for Outstanding Cancer Researcher of the Year in 2006. He is a Professor of Public Health at The University of Sydney.
  
  
  
  
• Andrew Barbour (Australia) - Biography
  A/Prof Andrew Barbour is a Surgical Oncologist at the Princess Alexandra Hospital with a research interest in the causes and treatment of cancer. Following a PhD in molecular biology and training in General Surgery, his post-fellowship training was undertaken at the Bristol Royal Infirmary and the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre. He returned to Brisbane in 2005. A. Prof Barbour has been active in the conduct of clinical trials at Phase I, II and III levels investigating melanoma, oesophageal, gastric and pancreatic cancers. In addition, he is undertaking laboratory research aimed at the identification of biomarkers in melanoma and oesophageal cancer.
  
• Boris Bastian (United States of America)
• Jurgen Becker (Germany) - Biography
  
  Jürgen C. Becker is Professor of Dermatology and Immunology at the Julius-Maximilians-University in Würzburg, Germany. He received his M.D. from the Medical School Hanover and after residency training in Dermatology at the Julius-Maximilians-University. In 1994 he joined the laboratory of Ralph A. Reisfeld at the Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, to study the effects of immune modulating drugs. He continued this work at the Danish Cancer Society, Copenhagen, where he received his Ph.D. in Immunology. Becker became Assistant Professor in 1997 and has held his present position since 2003. He is Deputy Director of the Department of Dermatology, University of Würzburg. His research interests include the characterisation of cellular und humoral immune responses, both in the setting of neoplastic and autoimmune diseases as well their modulation; genetic and epigenetic aberrations in cancer; as well as therapeutic interventions to treat cancer. He actively conducts clinical trials. He published more than 200 scientific papers on these topics, is member of steering committees of several scientific organisations and serves as associate editor and reviewer both for international journals as well as expert for funding organisations.
• Taryn Bessen (Australia) - Biography
  Dr Taryn Bessen is a Senior Staff Radiologist at the Royal Adelaide Hospital, and currently undertaking a PhD at the University of Adelaide. She is experienced in evidence-based imaging, systems and process improvement, and health services research within radiology. She has won an APA award and a National Breast Cancer Foundation Doctoral Scholarship for her PhD, which aims to use health economic modelling to define the optimal follow-up schedule for women in complete remission after primary treatment for early breast cancer. Taryn plans to use the experience she acquires from her PhD to help develop evidence based imaging guidelines for follow-up of other malignancies.
• Fran Boyle (Australia)
• Klaus Busam (United States of America)
• Phyllis Butow (Australia) - Biography
  
  Phyllis Butow BA (Hons) Dip Ed; MPH, M Clin Psych, PhD, has worked for over 20 years in the areas of Psycho-Oncology and health communication. She is currently Professor and NHMRC Principal Research Fellow in the School of Psychology, University of Sydney. She co-directs the Centre for Medical Psychology and Evidence-based Decision-making (CeMPED) , and chairs the Australian Psycho-Oncology Co-operative Trials Group (PoCoG). Much of her research concerns the impact of communication strategies on doctor and patient outcomes, and this has been translated into a number of resources and communication skills modules for cancer health professionals, distributed by the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC), the Centre for Genetic Education, Cancer Institute NSW and Palliative Care Australia. Much of her work is featured in the Australian Psychosocial Clinical Practice Guidelines for Adults with Cancer. Since 1995, Prof Butow has won 81 peer reviewed grants, and has over 250 publications in peer reviewed journals, most of which relate to psychological issues in cancer. In 2009, Prof Butow was awarded the Bernard Fox Memorial Award by the International Psycho-Oncology Society in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the field of Psycho-Oncology. 
• Dan Coit (United States of America) - Biography
  
   
• Rober Coffin - Biography
  Robert Coffin, founded BioVex in 1999. Prior to founding BioVex, Dr. Coffin was Lecturer in Virology and Gene Therapy at University College London where he ran a research group studying basic virology and developing virus-based technology for development into therapeutic products, and Honorary Senior Lecturer at the Institute of Child Health, also in London. Dr Coffin received his PhD from Imperial College in London in 1991.
• Diona Damian (Australia) - Biography
  
  Diona Damian is Associate Professor of Dermatology at the University of Sydney and Clinical Academic in dermatology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Her research interests focus on the role of cutaneous immunity in the causation, prevention and treatment of skin cancer.
  
  
  
  
  
  
• Alexander Eggermont (Netherlands) - Biography
  Alexander M.M. Eggermont, MD, PhD, Full Professor and Head of Surgical Oncology, Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam. Also holds Chair in Experimental Surgical Oncology and the Joseph Maisin Chair in Oncology (Catholic University Leuven, Belgium). PhD thesis on "Interferon and IFN-Inducers in the Treatment of Cancer" at the Erasmus University Rotterdam (1987)
  
  Clinical Specialties / Research:
  Melanoma, Sarcoma, Drug Development, Biomarkers. Past Chair EORTC Melanoma Group, chairs Adjuvant Therapy Committee. Directs Laboratory Experimental Surgical Oncology. Over 30 PhD theses in research programs. Authored/coauthored > 550 peer reviewed publications, book chapters and monographs.
  
  International Functions:
  Current President of the European Academy of Cancer Sciences, Past President of ECCO, Past President of EORTC, Past Member of the Board of ASCO, Editor in Chief European Journal of Cancer.
  
  Coordinates:
  Prof. Alexander M.M. Eggermont, MD,PhD Erasmus University Medical Center - Daniel den Hoed Cancer Center Department of Surgical Oncology, 301 Groene Hilledijk, 3075 EA Rotterdam, Netherlands Email: a.eggermont@erasmusmc.nl
  
• Gerald Fogarty (Australia) - Biography
  
  Gerald Fogarty trained in Radiation Oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, Australia’s largest Cancer Centre. He has subspecialty interests in Skin and Prostate cancer. He is the Director of Radiation Oncology, Mater Hospital, Sydney, and also works at St Vincent’s Hospital, Australia’s largest prostate brachytherapy centre. He is the principal investigator of a phase 3 international trial studying the role of Whole Brain Radiotherapy (WBRT) following local treatment of intracranial metastases of melanoma. He has over 20 first author publications, 15 posters and many conference presentations. He has a keen interest in education.
  
• Claus Garbe (Germany)
• Pedram Gerami (United States of America) - Biography
  
  Pedram Gerami is a dermatologist, dermatopathologist and investigator focused in melanoma.   He is a full time academic faculty member of the Northwestern University department of dermatology.  His residency in dermatology and fellowship in dermatopathology were done at the University of Iowa and the University of Chicago respectively.  His clinical activities include a  ½ day per week pigmented lesion clinic.  His expertise in dermatopathology involves the histopathologic diagnosis of melanocytic neoplasms using standard histology and molecular techniques.  His research involves using molecular techniques such as fluorescent in situ hybridization to identify chromosomal aberrations in melanoma for diagnostic and prognostic purposes.
• Jeffrey Gershenwald (United States of America)
• Pascale Guitera (Australia) - Biography
  
  Pascale Guitera is a dermatologist from Paris, and achieved the most prestigious medal available to medical graduates (Médaille d’Argent) in 2002. She completed a MSc in gene therapy at the Genocentre of Evry in 1999. Because of this record she was awarded a fellowship in the largest Dermatology Department in Paris (Hopital Saint-Louis) and practiced there 2002-2004. Then, she was appointed as a research dermatologist at the Curie Institute, one of France’s leading scientific institutions (5 Nobel Prizes). She has completed a PhD in collaboration with the Curie Institute on instrumentations for the diagnosis of skin tumours (dermoscopy, digital monitoring, total body photography, in vivo reflectance confocal microscopy, 75MHz high frequency ultrasound, magnetic resonance spectroscopy, and multiphoton microscopy) at the Sydney Melanoma Diagnostic Centre and the Department of Dermatology, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, Sydney. She has developed in particular the diagnosis of melanocytic lesions with  in vivo confocal microscopy1,2. She was also responsible for the Extreme High-risk clinic at the unit. Because of her achievements during her stay in RPAH, she has been awarded the Australasian College of Dermatologist Fellowship in April 2007. She is now practicing at the 2 melanoma unit locations (RPAH and North shore) and holding an academic position at Sydney University.
• Alex Guminsky (Australia)
• Jun Guo (Peoples Republic of China) - Biography
  Dr. Jun Guo, chief physician and professor, is the director of Dept. of Melanoma and renal cancer of Peking University Cancer hospital. He holds multiple positions, such as the executive board member of Chinese Society of Clinical Oncology (CSCO), president of expert committee on Melanoma and also Renal cancer of CSCO, Chair of Society for Melanoma Research in Asia & Pacific area, overseas consultant of Melanoma International Foundation (MIF). He is responsible for "China melanoma treatment guidelines "and"NCCN Melanoma Guidelines Chinese version".
  
  
  
  
• Martin Haskett (Australia) - Biography
  
  Martin Haskett has been a Consultant Dermatologist at the Victorian Melanoma Service since 2002 and over the past 5 years has conducted a study to assess the efficacy and role of imiquimod cream in the management of patients with lentigo maligna. This has been particularly beneficial in the multidisciplinary setting of the VMS by ensuring that patients have had access to surgical, radiological and medical treatment options to help resolve the many clinical dilemmas produced by this form of melanoma.
  
  
  
• Axel Hauschild (Germany) - Biography
  
  Board certificates in Dermatology, Venerology, Allergology, Phlebology and Dermato-Oncology
  
  Main Specialities: Melanoma, CTCL, Dermato-Oncology, Dermatologic surgery, General Dermatology, Clinical trials, Physicians Education
  
  Clinical Studies: Principal investigator of 42 clinical studies (i.e. melanoma, cutaneous lymphomas, epithelial skin cancers, genital warts, etc)
  
  More than 350 national and international scientific lectures
  
  Reviewer for 26 national and international scientific journals on Oncology and Dermatology
• Ciaran Healy (United Kingdom)- Biography
  Ciaran Healy MD is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon at Guy's and St Thomas' Hospitals. A founding member of the multidisciplinary Melanoma skin cancer service he has developed innovative techniques for melanoma surgical management and contributed to the design of the surgical aspects of the UK National Melanoma Database.
  
  
  
  
  
• Michael Henderson (Australia)
• Angela Hong (Australia) - Biography
  A/Professor Angela Hong (MBBS, MMed, PhD, FRANZCR) is a Clinical Associate Professor at the University of Sydney. She completed her medical degree at University of Sydney in 1994. She then focused on radiation biology research at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Centre and the University of California, Davis before returning to Sydney to begin training. She was awarded the Kaye Scott prize for outstanding performance in her fellowship examination. In 2004, Dr Hong completed her PhD at the University of Sydney. Dr Hong sub-specializes in the management of skin cancer and treatment of brain tumour with Gammaknife. Her principal research interests are in the field of radiation therapy in the management of melanoma.
• George Hruby (Australia)
• Harald J. Hoekstra - Biography
  Prof. dr. H.J. Hoekstra received his surgical oncology training at the Groningen University Medical Center (UMCG), The Netherlands and Surgery Branch, National Cancer Institute (NCI), Bethesda, Maryland. Currently responsible for the melanoma and sarcoma program of the Division of Surgical Oncology of the UMCG. His research is focused on the surgical part of combined modality treatment of melanoma and sarcoma, the use of new diagnostic imaging technology in staging and treatment evaluation of these tumors, see Pubmed. Member of the EORTC melanoma group, the Multicenter Selective Lymphadencetomy Trial (MSLT) group and the Selective Lymph Node working Group (SLNWGP).
• Michael Izard (Australia) - Biography
  Michael A. Izard ADM MBBS FRANZCR MMedHum completed basic medical training at the University of London and subsequently Radiation Oncology in Sydney and Princess Margaret Hospital, Toronto. He is now based in private practice at Sydney's Mater Hospital and Macquarie University Hospital, holding Clinical Senior Lecturer positions at both the University of Sydney and the Australian School of Advanced Medicine. He has been involved with the start-up of the Australian Gamma Knife program at Macquarie University Hospital, where cerebral metastases form a significant part of the Units' workload.
  
• Nadine Kasparian (Australia) - Biography
  Nadine Kasparian is a Psychologist and NHMRC Postdoctoral Clinical Research Fellow in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of New South Wales. Over the past nine years, she has developed a research program focused on the development of strategies and resources to meet the psychological and supportive care needs of individuals affected by melanoma and their families. This program has focused particularly on the needs of individuals at high risk of developing melanoma, and included one of the first studies to examine psychological and behavioural responses to genetic testing for melanoma risk. In recognition of this work Nadine was awarded the prestigious Australian Psychological Society Award for Excellent PhD Thesis in 2008. Nadine is also Principal Psychologist at the Heart Centre for Children, The Children’s Hospital at Westmead.
  
• John Kirkwood (United States of America) - Biography
  John M. Kirkwood is a board certified Medical Oncologist who was the founding Associate Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, where he has been the Director of the Melanoma Center since 1985. Dr. Kirkwood graduated as Senior Scholar from Oberlin College in 1969, working upon tumor immunology for several years with Lloyd Old at Memorial Sloan-Kettering before entering Yale Medical School. He received his MD in 1973 and completed residency in Medicine at Yale New Haven Hospital, and Fellowship in Medical Oncology at Harvard's Dana Farber Cancer Institute before returning to the faculty of Medicine at Yale from 1978-1985.
  
  Dr. Kirkwood's seminal work on the immunological therapy of melanoma at Yale grew with his relocation to the Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, where he pioneered the application of antibodies, cytokines, interferons, vaccines and adoptive cellular immunotherapy for melanoma, and developed the first FDA-approved adjuvant therapy effective for melanoma in 1996 (high-dose interferon). He has led an interdisciplinary program that offers cutting-edge therapies for virtually all settings of advanced and high-risk melanoma, as well as the prevention of melanoma. Dr. Kirkwood has been the Chairman of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group's Melanoma Committee for the last 22 years, and in that capacity has led multiple ECOG and US intergroup trials of new therapies for melanoma, as well as an increasing number of international studies that are now ongoing.
  
  Dr. Kirkwood has published 295 peer-reviewed articles and more than 160 reviews, chapters, and monographs. He has received numerous awards including the Milstein Prize of the International Society of Interferon and Cytokine Research and in 2005 received both the Wings of Hope award of the Melanoma Research Foundation, as well as the Grand Prize of the European Society of Cytokine Research. He is on the Editorial Boards of multiple journals including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Research and Clinical Cancer Research.
  
• Josep Malvehy (Spain)
• Graham Mann (Australia) - Biography
  
  Graham Mann is an Associate Professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney. He helps lead melanoma research programs of the National Health and Medical Research Council and Cancer Institute NSW, with teams in the Westmead Millennium Institute and Melanoma Institute Australia. These programs are engaged in all aspects of melanoma control, from population-based studies of genetic and environmental susceptibility to melanoma, and psychosocial aspects of melanoma risk, to molecular markers of diagnosis, prognosis and response to treatment. Recent successes have included the discovery of novel genetic risk factors in the Australian population. He is an Associate Dean (Research Strategy) in Sydney Medical School and Chair of the University of Sydney Cancer Research Network.
• Jane Messina (United States of America) - Biography
  
  After completing a residency in anatomic and clinical pathology and fellowship in dermatopathology, Dr. Messina joined the faculty at University of South Florida College of Medicine in 1994, where she is currently Professor of Pathology and Dermatology. She has been codirector of the dermatopathology fellowship at USF since 2004, and serves as staff dermatopathologist for both USF Dermatopathology laboratory and the Cutaneous Oncology program at Moffitt Cancer Center, which currently treats over 1,500 melanoma patients annually. Her research interests include pathology of the sentinel node, biomarkers of prognosis in cutaneous melanoma, and etiology and treatment of Merkel cell carcinoma.
  
• Martin Mihm (United States of America) - Biography
  
  Dr. Mihm graduated “Summa cum laude” from Duquesne University in 1955 and he obtained his medical degree from the University of Pittsburgh in 1961. He specialized in Dermatology, Pathology, and Dermatopathology. He is currently clinical professor of dermatology and pathology at Harvard Medical School and director and co-director of the melanoma programs at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and the Dana Farber Cancer Institute as well as co-director of the EORTC melanoma pathology program. Dr. Mihm holds now five adjunct professorships at different medical schools in the United States. His research interests have principally been related to malignant melanoma and the molecular aspects of host response as well as the identification and treatment of vascular anomalies.
• Rachel Morton (Australia) - Biography
  Rachael Morton is a Research Fellow and PhD candidate in health economics at the University of Sydney. She completed a Master of ScMed(Clin Epi)(Hons) and was the Clinical Trials Manager at the Sydney Melanoma Unit. Rachael has published on the cost-effectiveness of sentinel node biopsy in melanoma; the diagnostic accuracy of serial chest x-ray in follow up of high-risk melanoma patients; and the reproducibility of lymphoscintigraphy in cutaneous melanoma. She is an executive member of the Australia and New Zealand Melanoma Trials Group (ANZMTG). Her research interests include patient preferences for treatment in chronic disease, medical decision making, and cancer epidemiology.
• Omgo Nieweg (Netherlands) - Biography
  
  Omgo E. Nieweg received the M.D. (1976) and Ph.D. (1983) degrees at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. After completing residencies in nuclear medicine and surgery, he trained in surgical oncology at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas 1990-1991. He subsequently joined The Netherlands Cancer Institute in Amsterdam where he works as a staff member at the Melanoma Center. Lymphatic mapping is one of his research interests. Dr. Nieweg is the author or coauthor of over 300 journal articles and book chapters.
  
  
  
• Michael Poulsen (Australia) - Biography
  A/Prof Poulsen is the Director of Radiation Oncology Mater Centre in Brisbane. He has a major interest in head and neck cancer and skin cancer with over 90 published articles and chapters. In 2010 he completed his Doctorate in Medicine on the subject of "Merkel cell carcinoma of the skin: a new treatment strategy." He has completed one of the few prospective trials in Merkel cell carcinoma and is principal investigator in the MP3 trial which is a TROG Phase II study looking at PET and chemoradiotherapy in Stage I-III disease. His work on Merkel cell carcinoma is known and respected internationally.
• Antoni Ribas - Biography
  
  Antoni Ribas, M.D. is Associate Professor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). He was trained at the University of Barcelona, Spain, with postdoctoral research and clinical fellowship at UCLA. He is the Director of the Tumor Immunology Program at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center (JCCC), a permanent committee member of the National Cancer Institute (NCI) grant review panels and an elected member of the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI). Dr. Ribas is a physician-scientist conducting laboratory and clinical research focused in malignant melanoma, including adoptive cell transfer with T cell receptor (TCR) engineered lymphocytes, anti-CTLA4 antibodies, targeted therapies for melanoma oncogenes and nanoparticle-siRNA.
  
  
• Darren Shafren (Australia)
• Brinda Shivalingham
• Mark Smithers (Australia) - Biography
  University of Queensland – Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery 1977
  Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons 1985
  Fellow of the Royal College of Surgeons of England 1986
  
  Associate Professor, Department of Surgery, University of Qld.
  Director, Upper Gastro-intestinal and Soft Tissue Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital.
  Chairman, Queensland Melanoma Project
  Medical Director, Melanoma Patients Australia
  
  Research interests:
  Our unit has a number of active trials Phase I-III in the management of primary melanoma and recurrent melanoma. These trials vary from locally based studies to collaboration in national and international studies.
  
  
• Vernon Sondak (United States of America) - Biography
  
  Dr Sondak is Chair of the Department of Cutaneous Oncology and Director of Surgical Education at Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida.  He is a Professor in the Departments of Oncologic Sciences and Surgery at the University of South Florida, College of Medicine. 
  
  Dr. Sondak is a leader in studies of surgical treatment of melanoma and cutaneous malignancies, particularly in the application of sentinel lymph node biopsy to the staging of melanomas, sarcomas and non-melanoma skin cancers. 
  Dr Sondak is the author or coauthor of 230 articles in peer-reviewed publications, 124 abstracts, and 8 books and 64 book chapters.
  
  
• Andrew Spillane (Australia) - Biography
  
  Andrew Spillane is Associate Professor of Surgical Oncology at The University of Sydney Northern Clinical School. He specialises in melanoma, breast cancer and soft tissue tumours. After completing his general surgical training Andrew had extensive training in surgical oncology during a fellowship at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. During that time he completed a MD thesis on soft tissue sarcomas. Andrew is actively involved in quality assurance assessment in surgery and promoting clinical trial involvement by surgeons. He is involved in clinical research on many aspects of melanoma and breast cancer management.
  
  
• Jonathan Stretch (Australia)
• Alessandro Testori (Italy)
• John Thompson (Australia) - Biography
  
  Professor John Thompson, MBBS, BSc(Med), MD, FRACS, FACS is the Executive Director of the Melanoma Institute Australia and Professor of Melanoma and Surgical Oncology of the University of Sydney.  He is author of over 450 peer-reviewed articles and holds positions on the editorial boards of several international journals.  He is the immediate past President of the International Sentinel Node Society, Chairman of the Australian and New Zealand Melanoma Trials Group, and Chairman of the NSW Melanoma Network.  He is also a member of the Melanoma Staging Committee of the American Joint Committee on Cancer.  His principal current research interests are in the fields of lymphatic mapping and sentinel node biopsy for melanoma, and regional chemotherapy techniques for limb tumours which cannot be treated surgically. 
• Hensin Tsao (United States of America)
• Hisashi Uhara (Japan) - Biography
  
  Senior Assistant Professor, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Asahi 3-1-1, Matsumoto, 390-8621, Japan
  
  EDUCATUON
  1979 - 1986 Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo, Japan, MD
  1994 Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto, Japan, PhD
  
  POSTDOCTORAL TRAINING
  1986-1987 Resident in Dermatology, Shinshu University School of Medicine 1988-1990 Resident (Voluntary) in Pathology and Dermatology, National Cancer Center, Chuoku, Tokyo, Japan
  
  APPOINTMENTS
  1987-1988 Assistant, Shinshu University School of Medicine
  1990-1991 Chief, Dermatology Clinic, Japanese Red Cross Society Suwa Hospital, Suwa, Japan
  1991-1995 Assistant, Shinshu University School of Medicine
  1993-2003 Visiting instructor, Matsumoto Dental University, Shiojiri, Japan
  1995- Present Senior Assistant Professor, Shinshu University School of Medicine
• Julie Winstanley (Australia)
• Jonathan Zager (United States of America) - Biography
  
  Dr. Zager is an assistant member and surgical oncologist in both the Cutaneous Oncology and Sarcoma Programs at the Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Florida.  He is an assistant professor of surgery in the departments of Oncological Sciences and Surgery at the University of South Florida.
  
  Dr. Zager earned a medical degree at the Sackler School of Medicine, New York State/ American program at the University of Tel Aviv in Israel.  He completed a general surgery residency at Montefiore Medical Center, part of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York.  Dr Zager has also completed a research fellowship in surgical oncology at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York as well as a clinical surgical oncology fellowship at the University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. 
  
  Dr Zager is board certified by the American Board of Surgeons with a subspecialty in surgical oncology. 
  
  Dr Zager has published more than 60 articles, reviews, and book chapters. He has presented nearly 100 talks at both national and international surgical and oncology meetings.  He currently serves on committees of numerous national and international work groups and societies such as the Society of Surgical Oncology and the Sentinel Node Oncology Foundation.   He is a member of the editorial board for The World Journal of Surgical Oncology, and currently serves on the program committee for Florida Society of Clinical Oncology and the Regional Cancer Therapies Annual Meeting.   
  
  His research interests are in treating cutaneous melanoma as well as non melanoma skin cancers and soft tissue sarcomas (both extremity and retroperitoneal sarcomas). He has a particular interest in minimally invasive limb perfusions (or isolated limb infusions) for extremity in transit or recurrent melanoma as well as serves as the PI on the Pivotal Delcath Liver Perfusion Phase III trial. He has also developed an interest in intraoperative PET probe directed surgery for difficult to localize metastatic lesions.

Scientific Program Committee

• Jonathan Stretch (Co-Convenor)
• John Thompson (Co-Convenor)
• Diona Damian (Co-Convenor)
• Bruce Armstrong
• Rod Dunbar
• Pascale Guitera
• Nikolas Haass
• Nicholas Hayward
• Peter Hersey
• Richard Kefford
• Graham Mann
• Scott Menzies
• Richard Scolyer
• Graham Stevens