NOVEL THERAPY FOR PANCREATIC CANCERS, TARGETING MOLECULAR FOUNDATION
Dr Michael KC Lee,
Medical Oncologist,
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre,
Melbourne, Australia
RESEARCHER PROFILE
Filmed in Melbourne, Australia | February 2026
Dr Michael Lee is an experienced medical oncologist, sub-specialising in gastrointestinal cancers and neuroendocrine tumours at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
He plays a key role in molecular tumour boards at VCCC Alliance (Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre) and MPCCC (Monash Partners Comprehensive Cancer Consortium), ensuring the accurate and effective use of precision medicine in cancer care across the state.
His care philosophy, embodied in his practice name, “Can-Therapy,” promotes a CAN-do approach to CANcer care: empowering patients to thrive beyond cancer through cutting-edge research and personalised, values-driven care. Beyond the clinic, he leads research as a clinician scientist, developing therapeutic strategies that target RNA processing – the molecular blueprint cancer hijacks to fuel its growth and resistance – by altering its sequence is like changing words in a sentence to redefine cancer’s trajectory.
Supported by Pancare Foundation, the Paul Dear Post Doctoral Fellowship and his industry collaboration, his work aims to revolutionise outcomes for patients with this aggressive cancer by targeting its molecular foundation.
He is a recognised expert in pancreatic cancer care, combining research insights with exceptional patient care, while also providing comprehensive treatment for all cancer types.
Source: Supplied
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8075-3608
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Big data research in maternal, perinatal and renal health epidemiology
Dr Erandi Hewawasam is a Research Fellow at the National Perinatal Epidemiology and Statistics Unit within the Centre for Big Data Research in Health at University of New South Wales (UNSW). Her work focuses on maternal and reproductive health, chronic diseases (e.g., kidney disease, endometriosis), and early-life outcomes. She is the Program Manager for the Fertility Medicine Data Asset for Australia (FM-DATA), an MRFF-funded national infrastructure project linking fertility, hospital, Medicare, pharmaceutical, and perinatal datasets covering more than 40 million individuals. She also coordinates the Early Life Course Platform, integrating around 20 New South Wales and Australian federal administrative datasets to support population health research.
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Interventions for improving outcomes of children who are deaf or hard of hearing
Professor Teresa Ching is a Conjoint Professor at NextSense Institute and Macquarie University, and an Honorary Professor at the University of Queensland in Australia. Her current research focuses on devising culturally sensitive practices in early detection and intervention to maximise children’s outcomes. Working with international colleagues, her current research is also directed towards developing global guidelines and recommendations for hearing screening beyond the newborn period, so that all children can benefit from early detection and intervention. The ultimate goal is to attain equity of care and outcomes for all children with hearing difficulties.
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Brain ageing, dementia and psychiatric disorders
Professor Perminder Sachdev graduated from the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi, in 1978 and completed his MD in Psychiatry there in 1983. Following time in New Zealand, he relocated to Australia, where he completed psychiatric training and a PhD at UNSW in 1991. His doctoral work examined ethnopsychological concepts in Māori culture. His early research focused on drug-induced movement disorders, including akathisia, tardive dyskinesia and neuroleptic malignant syndrome, while his later work has centred on dementia and pre-dementia syndromes, particularly neuroimaging, biomarkers and risk factors.
