Ms Brenda Nevidjon

Brenda Marion Nevidjon, RN, MSN, FAAN, president-elect of the International Society of Nurses in Cancer Care has had an extraordinary nursing career of leadership in service and education.   It is distinguished by her being first, such as being the first nurse and first woman to be chief operating officer of Duke University Hospital or being in the inaugural class of the Robert Wood Johnson Executive Nurse Fellowship Program.  Through diverse clinical and administrative experiences in Canada, Switzerland and the United States, she has devoted her energy to bridging practice settings and academic environments to advance patient care, creating innovative work environments, promoting scholarship in practitioners, and developing leaders.  She also has helped develop professional nursing organizations at the local, national, and international levels and has made lasting contributions to the Oncology Nursing Society.

She has contributed extensively to the nursing literature and mentors to develop their power and voice through publication.  Her diverse contributions include two volumes of oncology nurses’ narratives as well as books, articles and chapters on oncology topics and articles and book chapters on administrative topics.

Currently a professor at the Duke University School of Nursing, Ms. Nevidjon teaches graduate students in nursing and healthcare leadership programs.  She consults with organizations related to work culture, team building, and leadership development.  She also is a graduate of the Johnson & Johnson - Wharton Fellows Program in Management for Nurse Executives and is a fellow in the American Academy of Nursing.

Dr Kimberley Alexander

Kimberly Alexander is a Lecturer for the School of Nursing, Queensland University of Technology, Australia.  She is a registered nurse with a clinical background in oncology.  Kimberly has a Bachelor of Nursing and a Bachelor of Health Science in Public Health.  Her PhD investigated the relationship between quality of life and genetics in men with prostate cancer.  Given her cross-disciplinary experience in epidemiology, genetics, and nursing – Kimberly’s program of research focuses broadly on genetics and health outcomes. 

Ms Beth Faiman

Beth Faiman PhDc, RN, MSN, APRN- BC, AOCN®
The Nurse Practitioner, Multiple Myeloma Program
Cleveland Clinic Foundation
PhD Candidate and Ruth L. Kirchstein Research Fellow at Case Western Reserve University Cleveland, Ohio

Beth Faiman received a bachelor of science in nursing and registered nurse certification at Ursuline College in Pepper Pike, Ohio, completed in 1996. She received a master of science in nursing and certification as an adult nurse practitioner at Kent State University in Kent, Ohio in 2002. She holds an advanced oncology nurse certification through ONCC.
She is currently employed as an Adult Nurse Practitioner in the department of Hematologic Oncology and Blood Disorders at the Cleveland Clinic in Cleveland, Ohio.  She is also a full-time pre-doctoral research fellow and PhD Candidate at the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve in Cleveland, Ohio pursuing a PhD in nursing research. She is adjunct faculty at Ursuline College, Case Western Reserve University and Kent State University. She is recipient of the 2012 Oncology Nursing Society Excellence in Medical Oncology Award.
Ms. Faiman is an active author, presenter, and educator on the topic of multiple myeloma, plasma cell dyscrasias, general cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as management of skeletal and other cancer complications. She is an appointed delegate on the International Myeloma Foundation Nurse Leadership Board. She is Editor-in-Chief of The Oncology Nurse APN/PA.  She has authored many book chapters relating to diagnosis and management of multiple myeloma, blood disorders and has written numerous manuscripts relating to the diagnosis and treatment of myeloma, palliation, and cancer symptom management.  

Ms Kim Hobbs

Kim Hobbs has a Masters Degree in Social Work, and building upon a solid base of clinical care, is passionate about constantly improving interventions to address supportive care needs for people with cancer throughout all stages of treatment and recovery. Assessing intimacy and sexuality concerns should be an integral component of comprehensive cancer care for all people with cancer and their partners.  In addition to a long career in clinical practice (the last several years specialising in gynaecological cancers), she has also been involved in a range of other activities including research, the development of educational resources for both clinicians and consumers, and presentations at conferences and workshops which focus on sexuality.

Mr Dan Mellor

Dan Mellor is the Deputy Director of Pharmacy at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne, a post he has held since 2006.  Dan completed his Masters Degree in Pharmacy in the UK and worked in both NHS and private hospitals before moving to Australia.  He holds a post-graduate qualification in clinical oncology research from the University of Melbourne and is currently completing a part-time PhD in Cancer Pharmacogenomics at Monash University.
Dan is Chair of the COSA Cancer Pharmacists Group (CPG) and is an active member of the COSA Council.  He tutors both undergraduate (clinical cancer pharmacy at RMIT) and postgraduate pharmacists and teaches on CPG and SHPA cancer pharmacy courses.
Dan is a pharmacy registration examiner for AHPRA and consults with multiple pharmaceutical companies at an international level.  He is frequently invited to speak at national and international conferences.  Dan is active in pharmacy research and has authored 15 peer-reviewed publications and 25 conference posters in recent years.  Dan’s achievements have been recognized by the SHPA when he became the 2012 recipient of the SHPA William Mercer Young Achiever’s Award recognising an outstanding contribution to hospital pharmacy.

Ms Janine Porter-Steele

Janine undertook her training in the UK as an RN, midwife and health visitor, completed a Bachelor of Nursing at QUT and Masters in Nursing Leadership at ACU, and is now the Manager of the Wesley Hospital Kim Walters Choices Program in Brisbane  which offers support and information to women, men and their families who are affected by breast and gynaecological cancers.  Janine is a Breast Care and Women's Health Nurse with special interests in menopause, sexuality and cancer and depression. She is currently undertaking Phd studies in the area of breast cancer and sexuality and is also employed as a research officer at QUT School of Nursing.

Dr Margaret Redelman

Margaret received her medical degree in Sydney and sexuality training in the USA. She then worked in Sexually Transmitted Diseases Clinics, Family Planning Clinics and General Practice for many years. She now works in private practice in Bondi Junction, Sydney, as a medical sex and relationship therapist. Her work covers positive male and female sexuality, sexual dysfunctions and the interpersonal relationships of both heterosexual and homosexual couples.
She is a guest lecturer and public speaker on topics of sexuality. She has published articles on sexuality in accredited medical journals and participates in research for the treatment of male and female sexual function.
She is on the executive committee of SAS (Society for Australian Sexologists) and has clinical accreditation from SAS. She was President of ASSERT (Australian Society Sexuality Educators Researchers and Therapists) National from 2004 to 2009. She was President of the 18^th World Association for Sexual Health (WAS) Congress held in Sydney in 2007. She is the current president elect on the Asia-Oceania Federation for Sexology (AOFS) and will be President of the 13^th AOFS Conference to be held in Brisbane in 2014.

Associate Professor Jane Turner

Jane Turner is Associate Professor in the Discipline of Psychiatry at the University of Queensland. She is responsible for the teaching of Psychiatry in the Medical Programme of UQ, and had worked for over 20 years as a consultation-liaison psychiatrist in oncology at RBWH. She has been extensively involved in the development and implementation of clinical practice guidelines, and had led a state-wide initiative to develop a sustainable model of communication skills training in oncology. Her research and clinical interests focus on the emotional impact of advanced cancer, especially on families, and the development of innovative models of psychosocial care in oncology. She has recently completed a multi-site RCT of a brief psychosocial intervention for depressed cancer patients delivered by trained front-line health professionals, and has NHMRC funding for a nurse-delivered survivorship intervention for patients who have completed treatment for head and neck cancer.

Professor Ross Young

Professor Ross Young was appointed Executive Dean, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in 2013.  He was previously Executive Director, Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI), QUT, from 2006 -2012.  He is also a Visiting Research Fellow at the Alcohol Research Center, University of California, Los Angeles and a Senior Clinical Psychologist at the Alcohol and Drug Assessment Unit, Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane.  Professor Young’s previous roles include Director of the Behaviour Research and Therapy Centre (Psychiatry) at The University of Queensland where he also undertook his PhD studies in the School of Psychology.  Professor Young completed undergraduate psychology and postgraduate clinical psychology studies at The University of Otago, New Zealand.
Professor Young’s research interests lie in the integration of psychological and biological risk factors in mental illness. His research includes work in substance misuse, PTSD, schizophrenia, anxiety disorders and more broadly in behavioural medicine. This includes work in pharmacogenomics and the development of personalised medicine via the use of diagnostic gene chips. Professor Young is widely published and has over 170 published papers in genetic, medical, psychiatric and psychological journals.

Professor Young serves on a number of Boards including Cancer Council Queensland, Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation, Mantle (Pty) Ltd and is Patron of The Association of Relatives and Families of the Mentally Ill (ARAFMI) Queensland. He has also assisted with the development of cognitive behavioural treatments for substance misuse disorder and PTSD.