Join HSANZ
HSANZ congratulates Rithin Nedumannil on being awarded an HSANZ / Leukaemia Foundation PhD scholarship to commence in 2025.
Rithin Nedumannil is a dual-trained haematologist, currently completing a Fellowship in Acute Leukaemia and Myelodysplastic Syndrome at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and the Royal Melbourne Hospital. He has research interests in the use of novel targeted therapies in myeloid malignancies and the molecular mechanisms that lead to treatment resistance.
Lay summary of project:
Acute myeloid leukaemia (AML) is an aggressive blood cancer with poor survival outcomes and around 900 people are diagnosed with the condition in Australia each year. A protein called menin is essential for the growth of cancer cells in certain subtypes of AML. Menin inhibitors are a promising therapy that has recently shown potential in treating these AML subtypes. However, resistance to this therapy can develop, making the treatment less effective over time. Dr Nedumannil’s research will use advanced technologies to investigate this resistance in an attempt to identify which genetic and epigenetic changes help leukaemia cells survive despite menin inhibition. By integrating data from these cutting-edge techniques, Dr Nedumannil hopes to uncover new therapeutic approaches to overcome resistance. This research has the potential to significantly improve outcomes for patients with menin-dependent AML by providing a deeper understanding of the disease and paving the way for more effective therapies.
HSANZ is pleased to be a partner with ASH 2025 for the Highlights of ASH in Asia-Pacific meeting in Yokohama, Japan from 22 - 23 February.
HSANZ funds an HSANZ / ASH Abstract award each year, and we hope you will support our trainee members and Council members who attend.
If you are not attending ASH next week, make a booking for Japan to hear the highlights:
At the 2025 Highlights of ASH in Asia-Pacific, you can join leading international faculty to recap standout abstracts from the annual meeting and prepare for how rapidly evolving developments in classical and malignant hematology will affect your practice.
Experience interactive discussions and small-group networking! Register now for the only official Highlights of ASH in Asia-Pacific: https://www.hematology.org/meetings/highlights/asia
Clinical Associate Professor Tracy King was unable to attend Blood this year to receive the HSANZ Leadership in Haematology Award in Brisbane, so was invited to the NSW meeting last night to receive her Award from Council member Adam Bryant. Tracy was the co-founder and past President of the HSANZ Nurses Group and has been tireless in haematology and specifically Myeloma both in Australia and globally. She is recognised internationally for her research and leadership in Myeloma
The photographer was very busy as usual at Blood and below are a few photos from the conference and Gala Dinner, including your Council under the jacaranda tree
Blood 2024 was a huge success, with compliments received from both delegates and sponsors, saying that this was a very friendly and collaborative conference.
One of the most important, rewarding and positive aspects of the Society is the support we provide for members to pursue haematology research through our Scholarships and Fellowships programs.
It is with great pleasure that we congratulate this year's recipients.
HSANZ LEUKAEMIA FOUNDATION NEW INVESTIGATOR PHD SCHOLARSHIPS 2024 FOR 2025
Elizabeth Goodall
Elizabeth Goodall is a clinical haematologist and early career researcher at Monash Health, with specific interest in the patient’s end-to-end experience throughout their journey of lymphoma. Her PhD will examine the current gaps in Patient Reported Outcome Measure (PRO/Ms) collection and reporting, and then develop a more uniform reporting structure to accurately measure the patient’s experience during their cancer care. She aims to develop a framework that allows the streamlined use of patient-reported information to guide future drug development for better cancer therapies.
Sean Harrop
Sean Harrop is a dual-trained haematologist, currently undertaking a Fellowship in Aggressive Lymphoma at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He has research interests in novel immunotherapies in lymphoma and the mechanisms that lead to treatment resistance.
It is still unclear how CD4+ T cells contribute to killing DLBCL tumour cells after TCE treatment and if, in some circumstances, they have deleterious effects leading to disease progression or relapse. In his PhD project, Sean aims to dissect these T cell responses to TCE therapy and identify new immune targets for future combination therapies for DLBCL patients.
HSANZ New Investigator PhD Scholarship 2024 for 2025
Nathanael Lucas
Nathanael Lucas is a final year Joint FRACP/FRCPA Paediatric Haematology trainee who completed the majority of his training in Christchurch, New Zealand, and recently completed a Fellowship in Paediatric Haematology/Cellular Therapies at Manchester Children’s Hospital. He has a special interest in Inherited Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes and optimising treatment for New Zealand patients.
Causes of Bone Marrow Failure (BMF) can be inherited or acquired. Inherited conditions often present at earlier ages and may be associated with additional clinical features and specific genetic findings in some, but not all, patients. In contrast, onset of acquired BMF can occur at any age. Early diagnosis and treatment can improve treatment outcomes of these conditions, some of which can progress to haematological and other cancers. Nathanael aims to expand the Aplastic Anaemia & Other Bone Marrow Failure Syndromes Registry (AAR) to include and analyse data from New Zealand, then create a model that can help determine whether a patient is more likely to have a germline or acquired BMF. Lastly, he wants to examine certain mutations known or suspected to be more prevalent in indigenous populations, and understand the implications of these diseases for patients and their families.
HSANZ New Investigator Clinical Fellowships 2024 for 2025 - we acknowledge support from Janssen and Novartis
Katie Lewis
Katie Lewis is an early career clinical and laboratory haematologist based in Perth, Western Australia. Her professional interests include genetic haematopathology, flow cytometry and the diagnosis and management of acute leukaemias. She is the recipient of a 2024 Western Australian Cancer Fellowship and is currently undertaking twelve months of haematopathology training in cytogenetics, to complete a RCPA extension of scope of practice certification.
Trung Ngo
Trung Ngo is a final year haematology trainee. He is interested in the intersect between myeloid malignancies and molecular studies. He will be based in the genomics laboratory at University College London Hospitals (UCLH).
Trung will focus on identifying biomarkers in myeloproliferative neoplasm with reduced life expectancy due to a predisposition to thrombosis and transformation to myelofibrosis or acute leukaemia. A clear map of the genomic landscape of essential thrombocythaemia is an area of unmet need. Trung will be based in UCLH’s spatial transcriptomics facility, where he will focus on identifying biomarkers in myeloproliferative neoplasms to aid with diagnosis and therapeutic targets.
HSANZ / ALLG Clinical Trials Fellowship 2024 for 2025
Arina Martynchyk
Arina Martynchyk is a qualified Haematologist from Ukraine. She had been working at the Department of Lymohoproliferative Diseases of the National Cancer Institute in Kyiv from 2007 to 2022, where Arina and her colleagues set up autologous stem cell transplantation. In 2022 she relocated to Australia where she is retraining as a haematologist (due to the requirement of AHPRA) and working as a Research Fellow at Austin Health and ONJ Cancer Research Institute.
Arina and her colleagues’ research project “Hearing Patient Voices in Blood Cancer Research: Patient Reported Outcome use, implementation and reporting in trials conducted by the ALLG” aims to fully analyse the use of Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs), methodology and results reported in ALLG clinical trials. The results will help to define the optimal PROs and the most appropriate timepoints of their application, improve development of new trials, aim to inform patient experience of treatments employed by the high-quality studies of the ALLG, and enhance the reputation for PRO research of this leading national trial group.
Albert Baikie Memorial Medal and Award
Yin Yuan (right), presented by President Peng Lee
At the HSANZ AGM Two Life Members were welcomed:
Anthony (Tony) Dodds
Pauline Warburton
HSANZ Mentorship in Haematology Award
Ian Irving
HSANZ Leadership in Haematology Award
Tracy King
Carl de Gruchy Medal and Oration
Prof Paula Marlton
Pitney Fellow 2025-2026
Prof Wendy Erber
HSANZ Nurses Group Awards
Best First Time Oral Presenter: Emily Minopoulos with Andy Steele, HSANZ Nurses Group Lead
Best Poster: Robyn Western
Best Oral Presentation: Ty Simpson
HSANZ Nurses Travel Grants
The Australian Government Department of Health and Aged Care has commenced a new Medicines Repurposing Program (MRP) to expand treatment options and improve health outcomes for Australians.
The MRP will identify new uses for existing medicines registered on the Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods (ARTG). It aims to facilitate and encourage the ARTG registration and consideration by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) for listings on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS).
More information on the Medicines Repurposing Program is available on the TGA website.
Identification of potential medicines suitable for repurposing
The program will work with clinicians, health organisations, patient groups, researchers, pharmaceutical companies and other interested members of the public to identify opportunities for repurposing.
Individuals and organisations, can propose new uses for existing medicines, supported by accepted clinical practice and/or publicly available literature, through the nomination form. The program is encouraging nominations with a clear public health benefit substantiated by evidence of established clinical practice.
Submit your candidate medicine nomination
The program is now open for nominations via the candidate nomination form.
Nominations will be assessed in batches on a rolling basis to allow review of eligible medicines at the Advisory Committee on Medicines (ACM) meetings which are held at regular intervals. While there is no cut-off date for nomination submission, nominations submitted by Wednesday, 17 April 2024 will be considered at the June 2024 ACM meeting. Eligible candidate nominations received after 17 April 2024 will be presented at subsequent ACM meetings.
Program overview webinars
The program is hosting webinars for interested parties, focusing on the candidate nomination process.
Online webinars are scheduled for 11:00-11:30pm AEDT Tuesday 12 March and 2:00-2:30pm AEDT Tuesday 19 March 2024.
Please note that the content being presented at both Medicines Repurposing webinars will be the same.
Share with your networks
We encourage you to share this information with your members and stakeholders. Please use the following links:
· Medicines Repurposing Program on the TGA website
· Webinar registration
The MRP has been developed in consultation with stakeholders and we thank all the contributors for their inputs that have helped shape the program. As a newly created program, we will continue to work with stakeholders to refine processes to best ensure the program meet its goals.
The HSANZ New Zealand branch meeting will be held in Hamilton, 9-11th May 2024. Attendees from across New Zealand and Australia are welcome to attend. The line-up of speakers from both nations and from further afield will cover a wide range of haematological fields. Of course, no work without play is never a good idea and the social function is always great fun with plenty of dancing to be had. The NZ organising Committee look forward to you joining them. Information can be found at:
Registration form or link
HSANZ has endorsed the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA) VAD Guidelines, Section 2: Vessel Health and Preservation
The launch event will be on Tuesday 19 March 2023
In 2021, CNSA launched the first topic of the Vascular Access Clinical Practice Guidelines: Patency, occlusion prevention and management. These guidelines have been implemented in healthcare settings across the country.
Since then, CNSA's Vascular Access Device and Infusion Therapy (VAD & IT) SPN has been working hard to draft Section 2: Vessel Health and Preservation, which incorporates device selection and difficult intravenous access for patients with cancer.
We invite you to join us for the on-line launch event on Tuesday 19 March - click here to find out more.
The Department of Health & Aged Care makes funding available through the Specialist Training Program (STP) for Support Projects.
There is now an opportunity to apply for Commonwealth funding for Specialist Training Program (STP) support projects through the Royal Australian College of Physicians (RACP). Final review and approval is made by the Department of Health and Aged Care.
The College seeks your assistance to notify your Haematology Society of Australia & New Zealand colleagues about this funding opportunity.
New 2024-2025 STP support projects applications are now open
The RACP is accepting new applications for upcoming support projects that provide support for, and clearly benefit, existing STP trainees in settings outside traditional metropolitan teaching hospitals, including regional, rural, remote and private facilities.
Cultural safety training
Projects that provide cultural safety training in Indigenous healthcare settings will also be considered, and these can be whole of college activities aimed at cultural and/or behavioural change.
The Department will only approve STP support projects that are clearly and specifically supporting trainees in existing STP posts. While Support Project resources developed may also be relevant to the College’s broader training requirements, it is important to differentiate between projects that benefit all trainees and those aimed at trainees in STP posts as part of your application.
Please refer to the STP page of the RACP website for details on how to apply, key dates and what are the priority projects the Department is looking to support over the next 24 months.
Applications must be received on or before Monday, 11 March 2024.
Despite the Australian health workforce becoming increasingly diverse, women from culturally or racially diverse backgrounds continue to face barriers relating to both gender and racial and cultural background. These barriers contribute to their under-representation in the profession and ultimately negative disparate outcomes for patients and healthcare professionals.
As part of our Link and Grow pillar of activities, The Link at ANU is delivering a Mentoring Program in 2024 which aims to grow the careers of mid-career culturally diverse (non-Anglo Celtic) women in medicine. The inaugural pilot program has been developed in partnership with Franklin Women and facilitated by Seredis Leadership consultants. It will also support mentors to better understand the unique experiences of culturally diverse women in the workplace and to become inclusive mentors and leaders.
The Link and Grow Mentoring Program is a 6-month virtual program that combines informal mentoring sessions between mentees and mentors, with facilitated and structured workshops and events. The workshops provide career, mentoring and inclusive leadership development of mentees and mentors. They also provide a safe place for participants to network, and to share and reflect on the experiences of culturally diverse women in medicine and discuss the role of leaders in shifting culture within teams and workplaces.
Individuals who identify as culturally or racially diverse women, and who are at the middle stage of their career (~3-12 years post fellowship), looking for a mentor and peer-support community to grow their careers. We expect mentees will want to mentor within the program in future.
Individuals of any gender who are trained in medicine and who are now in leadership roles in the healthcare and health and medical research sector. This includes but is not restricted to clinician researchers, specialist medical practitioners or executives who are committed to inclusive leadership practices. Mentors are not required to identify as culturally diverse.
Applications are open to individuals who would like to participate in the 2024 Mentoring Program as either mentees or mentors until Friday 29 March 2024.
There is a participation fee for Mentees to take part in this 6-month, expertly facilitated mentoring program. If you are interested in taking part, please contact the Link via email at international.health@anu.edu.au for associated costs. There is no fee for mentors to participate
© 2023 Haematology Society of Australia & New Zealand All Rights Reserved.
Privacy Policy
