National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC)

Chief Executive Officer
MBBS FASBP MAICD

Dr Helen Zorbas is CEO and Executive Director of National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, and CEO of Cancer Australia.  Helen has been responsible for directing a number of national cancer control initiatives to improve evidence-based practice, policy and health service delivery, in both the clinical and psycho-social aspects of cancer care.  Helen has held a number of positions on key national cancer and Government health committees most notably Chair, BreastScreen Australia Evaluation Advisory Committee; member, NHMRC Health Advisory Committee; Chair, Australian Screening Advisory Committee, Quality Improvement & Workforce Working Group; and Chair, Microwave Cancer Review Committee of the NHMRC.  Helen was also Acting Chair of the Board of Cancer Institute NSW from September 2008 to December 2009 and served on that Board from November 2006.  She is currently a member, of the Health Care Committee NHMRC and the Expert Reference Group on Cancer Treatments NHMRC.  Helen also holds a Staff Specialist position at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital Sydney.

Deputy CEO
BA, MA, FAIM

A/Professor Christine Giles brings a wealth of experience in health policy, health services planning and management to her position as General Manager at the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre. Christine’s professional experience covers the public and private sectors in Australia and overseas, where she was an advisor to the World Bank in health policy and reform. Closer to home, Christine has been responsible for the development of state and Commonwealth health policy directions and the design and delivery of health and community services across a range of settings.

Christine holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Politics and Sociology, and a Masters in Public Policy, School of Economics and Business, University of Sydney. She is currently involved in delivering the Masters of Health Policy, Graduate Certificate in Health Policy, and Masters in International Public Health at the University of Sydney.

General Manager
BSc (Hons) PhD

Dr Karen Luxford is General Manager at the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre overseeing programs in cancer control, information, policy and practice. Karen has overseen the development, implementation and evaluation of a number of large national programs in a range of areas across the cancer care continuum. In 2008-2009, Karen was a Harkness Fellow in Healthcare Policy & Practice in the USA and studied exemplar health care organizations focused on patient-centred care and the role of patient feedback in improving service quality. Karen’s interests include new models of care, patient care experience, promoting evidence-based best practice, and health services delivery.  Karen holds a Ph.D. in medical science from the University of Sydney. Karen is an Honorary Associate of the School of Public Health, University of Sydney and Conjoint Lecturer, School of Public Health and Community Medicine, University of NSW.

Karen’s current appointments include: founding member and Secretary of the Executive Committee, Health Services Research Association of Australia & New Zealand; member of The Sax Institute, Guidelines Implementation Research Group; and member of the Cancer Institute NSW Quality and Clinical Effectiveness Advisory Committee.

Finance and Administration Manager
B.Bus, FCPA

Bill joined NBOCC in October 2008 with 25 years experience in the not-for-profit sector, most recently as the CEO of Alzheimer’s Australia NSW. Before that appointment Bill was the CEO of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of New South Wales for 6 years and prior to that he served as their Finance and Administration Manager and Company Secretary for more than 15 years.

Manager, Population Health

David is the Group Executive, Research and Information Science, at the Cancer Council South Australia. He also works under contract for Cancer Australia, the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre and the Cancer Institute NSW. He has Professorial status at Flinders University.

David was Director of the SA Epidemiology Branch from 1980 to 2001 where he administered the State Cancer Registry and established the SA clinical registry network. He was a Board member of the International Association of Cancer Registries from 1996 to 2000, while also Chairman of the Australasian Association of Cancer Registries. He has been an international consultant on cancer registration for WHO and maintains ongoing consultancy roles with cancer registries in the Malaysian States of Penang and Sarawak. David is presently a member of the National BreastScreen Review Reference Committee, the National Quality Management Committee of BreastScreen, the SA BreastScreen Accreditation Committee, and the Cervical Screening National Safety Monitoring Committee. He also Chairs the NSW Cancer Screening Advisory Committee and was Chairman of the Review of the National Pilot Bowel Screening Register in 2004. He is the current Chairman of the Advisory Board of the Biostatistics Collaboration of Australia.

He has authored approximately 160 peer-reviewed journal publications, predominantly on cancer. He was made a Member of the Order of Australia in 2000 for contributions made to cancer epidemiology. He has served on numerous technical committees of the NHMRC, the Cancer Council Australia, state/territory governments and the NZ Health Research Council. David has presented papers and chaired sessions at a large number of national and international scientific forums and supervised postgraduate students at both Masters and Doctoral level. He regularly reviews cancer papers for international journals.

Manager, Primary Care
MBBS, Grad Dip Ed

Dr Thompson is NBOCC’s primary care manager. She is responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of national programs supporting and educating health professionals working in primary care, including general practitioners. Julie has 25 years experience working as a GP in both rural and urban practice and continues to work half time in general practice.

Current appointments: member of Cancer Australia Advisory Council, board member General Practice Divisions- Victoria, member NSW Cancer Institute general practice advisory group, member Victorian Ministerial Advisory Committee on Surgical Services.

Past appointments include: chair Australian Divisions of General Practice, member General Practice Partnerships Advisory Council, member Joint Advisory Group on Population Health, member AHMAC National Mental Health working group, member Pharmaceutical Health and Rationale use of Medicines committee.

Corporate Communications Manager

Jane Salisbury has worked in marketing, sales, media and PR for the past ten years, co-ordinating marketing and sales for grid-interactive solar energy company Pacific Solar for three years, followed by four years with Barnardos Australia as PR & Communications Manager. In her present role at National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre, Jane communicates with NBOCC’s key stakeholders and multiple audiences and oversees the Public Affairs and Communications team, which deals with media, website, events and marketing, public information campaigns and other communication projects, with all the challenges of reaching different target audiences with important health messages in the 'information' era.

Program Manager, Ovarian Cancer
MA MPH

Jane joined the National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre in March 2002.  Before joining NBOCC Jane worked with Medical Benefits Fund of Australia (MBF) in the Health Management Division, in the areas of preventive health and quality assurance.  Jane works in projects across all aspects of ovarian cancer, including the development and review of clinical practice guidelines and information for consumers.

Program Manager
RN, BHSc, MPH

Caroline joined the National Breast Cancer Centre (NBCC)* in January 2001. On joining the NBCC* Caroline was responsible for coordinating the development and implementation of the BreastScreen NSW Radiology Training Program. Caroline is currently responsible for the management of a range of program areas including the NBOCC’s Communication Skills Training Initiative.

Program Manager
BA

Ornella joined NBOCC in July 2005. Ornella works across a range of projects including the development of clinical practice guidelines and consumer information. Ornella has a background in behavioural sciences and psychology and has been working in health for nine years. Prior to working at NBOCC Ornella worked for NSW Health, Shine SA (Sexual Health, Information, Networking and Education), and Children, Youth and Women’s Health Service, SA developing and facilitating a range of health promotion programs including sexual health and relationship education programs for young people, women, and health professionals.

Manager Policy & Public Affairs
BA (Comms)

Bree Stevens is the Manager Policy and Public Affairs with National Breast and Ovarian Cancer Centre (NBOCC). Bree commenced her career in public affairs in 2001 and since this time has gained considerable experience through roles in the corporate, government and not-for-profit sectors. Bree has specialised in the health sector since 2003 when she joined the Hunter New England Health public affairs team and has been responsible for the media and public affairs activities of NBOCC since January 2005. Bree is responsible for supporting an informed and coordinated response by NBOCC to priority health issues and ensuring NBOCC’s evidence base and initiatives are promoted to inform government policy, national and international media, and key stakeholders in the cancer community.

Program Manager

Heidi Wilcoxon joined NBOCC in June 2006. Heidi works across a range of projects including the development of clinical practice guidelines, research in multidisciplinary care and post-surgical care and management of the Polo Ralph Lauren Pink Pony Campaign. Heidi has a background in health psychology, completing a research thesis on the role of support groups for women with breast cancer and is currently completing a Master of Public Health. Prior to working at NBOCC Heidi worked in London for England’s national healthcare regulator on quality improvement research and programs. Heidi has also worked for The Cancer Council NSW on a large cancer survivorship study. Heidi’s psychology background includes counselling for Sydney City Mission and work as a behavioural therapist for children with autism.

E-Communications Manager
BA

Lisa Robinson has worked as E-Communications Manager with the NBOCC since June 2003 overseeing the redevelopment and management of the suite of NBOCC websites. Before joining the NBOCC, Lisa has worked in several marketing and communication roles before specialising in the Internet.  Lisa has managed a range of website projects for OzEmail, Macquarie Bank, AMP and Tourism New South Wales.

Alessia Campagna	Corporate Communications Officer
Dr Anne Nelson	Evidence Review and Research Leader
Bill Northcote	Finance and Administration Manager
Bree Stevens	Manager Policy & Public Affairs
Caroline Nehill	Program Manager
Christine Hyde	Office Coordinator
A/Professor Christine Giles	Deputy CEO
Professor David Roder	Manager Population Health
Emma Hanks	Senior Project Officer
Emma Lonsdale	Project Officer
Erin Sharp	Media Officer
Fiona Booth	Executive Assistant, CEO
Fleur Webster	Coordinator Data Projects
Georgina Marr	Program Coordinator
Hannah Nancarrow	Senior Project Officer - ATSI Programs for the Supporting Women in Rural Areas Project
Dr Helen Zorbas	Chief Executive Officer
Heidi Wilcoxon	Program Manager
Jane Francis	Program Manager - Ovarian cancer
Jane Salisbury	Corporate Communications Manager
Janelle Webb	Project Officer
Janice Peterson	Project Officer
Dr Julie Thompson	Manager Primary Care
Julie Binakaj	Finance Officer
Dr Karen Luxford	General Manager
Katrina Anderson	Project Officer - Research
Kevin Comlossy	Senior Project Officer - Rural
Lisa Robinson	E-Communications Manager
Ornella Care	Program Manager
Phillipa Hastings	Project Officer
Robert Cotter	Resource Assistant
Roman Balla	Graphic Designer/Production Coordinator
Rosemary Wade	Senior Project Officer - Research
Trenna Morris	Senior Project Officer
Dr Vivienne Milch	Clinical Leader