Corporate Governance
CTA is governed by a Board of Directors who are responsible for the strategic direction of the organisation, corporate governance and management of the Chief Executive Officer. The Board comprises of eight members, five of whom are appointed by our member institutions, and three who are independently appointed by the Board.
Associate Professor Jayesh Desai has been our Board Chairperson since 2021.
Our Board members ensure the mix of skills required to inform the strategic direction of Cancer Trials Australia and monitor our performance.
Chairperson: Professor Jayesh Desai
Metropolitan Sites Representative
MBBS FRACP
Jayesh has extensive experience in translational research applied to early drug development, particularly in sarcomas and in colorectal cancer. He heads the Phase I/Early Drug Development program, is Deputy-Director of the Parkville Cancer Clinical Trials Unit (PCCTU), leads Peter Mac’s efforts in its formal engagements with Industry Alliances and Partnerships and has recently been appointed as the Associate Director Clinical Research at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Jayesh has been the Chair of the Cancer Trials Australia (CTA) Phase I Drug Development Program for a number of years, and has been Principal Investigator on 30 clinical trials over the last 5 years including 25 Phase I and 1st in human trials. These have been both investigator initiated, as well as collaborative trials with Pharma and Biotechs, across a broad array of agents including kinase inhibitors and novel immuno-oncology agents/combinations. He has authored/co-authored approximately 130 publications in journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature, The Lancet and the Journal of Clinical Oncology.
Professor Clare Scott
Medical Research Institute Representative
MBBS PhD FRACP FAAHMS
Professor Clare Scott holds the Chair in Gynaecological Cancer at the University of Melbourne and is Joint Division Head of Clinical Translation and a Laboratory Head at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Women’s and Royal Melbourne Hospitals. She has 25 years’ experience in clinical cancer genetics, including working in Familial Cancer Clinics. Her clinical expertise is in gynaecological cancers and coordinating care for patients with rare cancers. Her laboratory focuses on drug resistance in ovarian cancer and other rare cancer types, generating patient-specific models to understand and avert resistance to targeted therapeutics. In particular, she has been a leader in developing PARP inhibitor therapy for ovarian cancer, which has resulted in unprecedented efficacy. She has 119 career publications with an H-Index of 54.
Professor Scott chairs the COSA Rare Cancer group and the Board of the International Rare Cancer Initiative (IRCI) and has been awarded Clinical Fellowships from the Victorian Cancer Agency (2011, 2017), the Sir Edward Dunlop Cancer Research Fellowship from the Cancer Council Victoria (2012) and in 2018, the Jeannie Ferris Recognition Award in Gynaecological Cancer from Cancer Australia. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.
Dr Sophia Frentzas
Metropolitan Sites Representative
MBBS BSc (Hons1) PhD FRACP
Sophia is a Medical Oncologist at Monash Health and an Adjunct Senior Lecturer at Monash University. She leads the Early Phase Clinical Trials Unit at the Clinical Trials Centre (CTC) of the Monash Health Translational Precinct (MHTP), and also focuses on treating Gynaecological and Gastrointestinal malignancies. She has undertaken specialty training, research fellowships in the Drug Development Unit, and translational research at the Royal Marsden Hospital and Institute of Cancer Research (ICR) in London. She has completed a laboratory PhD (ICR, London), focusing on delineating mechanisms of resistance to anti-angiogenic therapy in colorectal cancers.
Her main research interests are focused on novel and personal approaches for the treatment of solid tumours, particularly in targeting aberrant pathways for angiogenesis, immuno-oncology, and on the investigation of strategies to overcome resistance to conventionally employed therapeutic agents. In particular, she has an interest in clinical, tissue, and imaging biomarker correlates of systemic therapy, sensitivity and resistance, as evidenced by her published translational work in advanced colorectal cancer.
Her research has been published in a number of peer-reviewed, high impact factor journals, and abstracts, and she has also published in book chapters. Since commencing at Monash Health in February 2018, She has brought >35 new national & international clinical trials to CTC and is the Monash Health PI on more than 20 Phase I-III studies. She also sits on the Steering Group of the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) Program to accelerate novel therapies, the Steering Group of the Monash Partners Comprehensive Cancer Consortium (MPCCC) for Precision Oncology, the ANZGOG Ovarian Tumour Type Working Group, and EDEN Endometrial Cancer Working Group. She is an active member of the European Society of Medical Oncology (ESMO), American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO), American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), and Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA), Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG), and Australia New Zealand Gynaecological Oncology Group (ANZGOG).
Dr Sam Harris
Regional Site Representative
MBBS
Sam graduated from Adelaide University Medical School and has extensive postgraduate general medical, oncological and palliative care experience. He completed his physician training at the Austin Health Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital in Melbourne.
In 2013, he completed medical oncology advanced training at Bendigo Health, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Austin Repatriation Hospital. His final year was a clinical trials fellowship in breast cancer, gastro-intestinal tumours and genitourinary cancers.
Between 2014 and 2016 Sam undertook a fellowship at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London, United Kingdom, working initially in the Sarcoma Unit and subsequently with Professor Johann De Bono in the Drug Development Unit (phase 1 trials) and the prostate team. During this time he worked on the early phase trials of multiple drugs entering or soon to be entering clinical practice across many areas of oncology including lung, breast, prostate, ovarian cancer and melanoma, as well as with immunotherapy.
Sam is a currently a medical oncologist at the Bendigo Health Oncology Unit where he is the Clinical Lead for the Oncology Trials Unit. Sam’s specialty areas are in breast cancer, melanoma and lung cancer and general oncology. He is the Bendigo Health representative and a previous chairperson for the Regional Trials Network – Victoria.
Trisha Barton
Independent
GAICD CA
Trisha is a Non-Executive Director and Chair of the Finance, Audit and Risk Subcommittee. She has a Bachelor of Business in Accounting, and is a Member of Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ), Registered Tax Agent and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD).
As a Partner of large global professional services firms for over 10 years, Trisha has provided specialist strategic growth, finance, investment and taxation advice on a diverse range of transactional and compliance projects for large corporate and multinational organisations, including corporate acquisitions and divestments, restructures, IPOs, privatisations and private equity investments. Her experience includes clients and projects across many sectors including the health sector.
Trisha is also an Independent Member of the Finance & Investment Committee of the Australian Medical Association Ltd.
Dr Dishan Herath
Metropolitan Sites Representative
MBBS FRACP
Dr Dishan (Dish) Herath is the Chief Medical Officer at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Clinical Director of Western and Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Services (WCMICS) and Chair of the Clinical Research Advisory Committee of the VCCC alliance. He was previously head of Cancer Services at Western Health and the Chief Medical Information Officer at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
He is a medical oncologist with an interest in lung cancer and previously worked as a nuclear medicine/PET physician. His clinical trials experience includes site Principal Investigator roles for multiple phase II and III trials.
Michelle Wright
FAICD GAICD GAIST BEc/LLB LLM
Michelle is a board member with extensive experience in governance in the health and financial services sectors. She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a Fulbright Scholar.
Her background is in commercial law where she practiced primarily in information technology and intellectual property law, providing legal services and advice to nab (ASX:NAB) and Telstra (ASX:TLS). She has qualifications in economics as well as law. She is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors.
Michelle’s previous roles in the health sector have included Board Member of the Medical Board of Australia and Chair of its Finance Committee; Chairperson, Patient Review Panel; Independent Board Committee Member of Cancer Council Victoria Risk, Audit and Compliance Committee and Finance Committee; Consumer Advisor, NHMRC Medical Research Future Fund Grant Assessment Committee; Board Member, Eastern Health; Legal Member, Alfred Health Ethics Advisory Committee; and Legal Member, Monash University HREC.
Dr Kurt Lackovic
CEO and Board Secretary
PhD MBA GAICD
Dr Lackovic commenced as CEO of Cancer Trials Australia in January 2017.
Kurt has a PhD in chemistry, MBA from Melbourne Business School, is a graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, and a member of the Licensing Executives Society of Australia and New Zealand, AusBiotech and the NHMRC Research Translation Faculty.
Kurt has extensive experience in leading complex academic and clinical programs, strong connections to industry, and strategic linkages to senior executives in Government, and major teaching Hospitals. In previous roles he has worked in early stage drug discovery with a focus on oncology targets, managed the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute’s High Throughput Screening Facility, led multiple Cancer Therapeutics CRC projects involving national and international partners, and has overseen day-to-day management of the Melbourne Genomics Health Alliance.
View Kurt’s LinkedIn profile
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