Meet the ARC Portal Team

Professor Clare Scott MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FAHMS

Principal Investigator, Australian Rare Cancer Portal

Professor Clare Scott is the Joint Division Head of the Clinical Translation Centre and Head of the Ovarian and Rare Cancers Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research (WEHI). Dr Scott is the Professor of Gynaecological Cancer at The University of Melbourne and is a Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Melbourne and Royal Women's Hospitals. She has 20 years’ experience in treating breast and ovarian cancer and in clinical cancer genetics in Familial Cancer Clinics. Professor Scott has been Principal Investigator for more than ten cancer clinical trials of targeted therapy. In the laboratory, Professor Scott has developed ovarian and other rare cancer pre-clinical models and is using genomics to study targeted drug combinations to combat drug resistance.

Professor Scott has established a rare cancer research program to improve access to targeted treatments for patients diagnosed with a rare cancer. Professor Scott was awarded the Sir Edward Dunlop Cancer Research Fellowship from Cancer Council Victoria (2012) and a Clinical Research Fellowship from the Victorian Cancer Agency (2011, 2017). In 2018, she was recognized for her work in gynaecological cancers with the Jeannie Ferris Recognition Award from Cancer Australia.

Professor Scott is currently Chair, Clinical Oncology Society Australia (COSA) Rare Cancer Group; Chair, International Rare Cancer Initiative (IRCI) Board; Co-Chair, Gynaecologic Cancer Intergroup (GCIG) Rare Tumour Committee; and Director, Australia New Zealand Gynaecology Oncology Group (ANZGOG), providing valuable insights nationally and internationally regarding the treatment of and research into rare cancers.

Professor Scott’s contribution to the community is reflected by her instigation of and participation in the WEHI’s Consumer Advisory Panel, now a leading example of involvement of the public in a Medical Research Institute. Dr Scott also leads CART-Wheel.org, a BioGrid Australia platform for consumer data entry for people with a rare cancer who would like to participate in data collection for research.

Professor David Goldstein MBBS FRCP (UK) FRACP

Co-Lead Investigator, Australian Rare Cancer Portal

Professor Goldstein is a conjoint clinical professor. He has been involved in a variety of clinical research projects ranging from laboratory basic science to novel therapeutics trials to psychosocial aspects of Cancer care. He has been PI of a number of NHMRC and Cancer Australia funded therapeutic trials including both investigator initiated and as Australian PI for multinational studies. He has also been involved with psychosocial and cross cultural/CALD research for many years. His clinical interests are treatment of GI malignancies including pancreas cancer, colorectal cancer, anal carcinoma, hepatobilary and upper GI malignancy and renal cell carcinoma and lymphoma. He has been a Chief or Principal Investigator on $26,000,000 peer reviewed funded grants .

His activity over many years in one of the least common cancers and least studied, until recently, in the GI area – pancreas cancer, as well as GIST and biliary cancers gives him great insight into the challenges of approaching a suite of rare cancers. He has also been involved in several large scale epidemiologic studies, the most recent looking at pancreatic cancer. He has contributed to pivotal data resulting in PBS changes in approval for adjuvant gemcitabine in pancreas cancer, imatinib in metastatic and adjuvant GIST and first line nab-paclitaxel in pancreatic cancer.

Professor Goldstein is the Director of the UNSW Translational Cancer Research Network, a $6,000,000 CINSW funded program. He is the adult program leader of the UNSW National Cancer Survivors Centre and is involved with a research program associated with survivorship issues. As part of this activity, he is the Chief Investigator of a Cancer Institute NSW translational program grant of $3,100,000 to study the impact of chemotherapy induced peripheral neuropathy.

Professor Goldstein also actively participates in three laboratory research programs dealing with stromal biology, pancreas drug resistance and modeling optimal targeted therapies in sarcoma.

Professor Goldstein has been a member of the Australian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group Scientific Advisory Committee for the last 12 years, was a board member and treasurer of the Gastro-Intestinal Cancer Institute for nine years, the longest serving president of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA) and a member of both the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) and the American Association of Cancer Research. He serves on ASCO international committees engaged in supporting enhanced cancer service delivery in less developed countries.

Dr Damien Kee MBBS, DMedSc, FRACP

Medical Oncologist, Australian Rare Cancer Portal

Dr Damien Kee is a medical oncologist based at the Austin Hospital, where he leads the melanoma and skin cancer oncology team, as well as at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He has been the principal investigator of clinical trials encompassing targeted and immune-based therapies and cancer genomics. Damien is also a senior clinician researcher in the Rare Cancers Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Deputy Chair of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Rare Cancers Group. He chairs a national molecular tumour board for patients with rare cancers.

Dr Kee’s research focus is on developing national platforms and clinical trials to enhance outcomes for patients with rare cancers. Apart from the Australian Rare Cancer Portal, he is involved in the Stafford Fox Rare Cancer Program and works closely with rare cancer consumers through the www.cart-wheel.org project, the Cancer Council’s Rare Cancers Group, and Rare Cancers Australia.

Dr Chloe Georgiou MBBS, BMedSc

Research Fellow, Australian Rare Cancer Portal

Dr Chloe Georgiou is the inaugural Clinical Trials Fellow at Bendigo Health in Victoria. She completed her undergraduate medical degree through the University of Melbourne, and is currently studying a Master of Cancer Sciences. Her research interests include healthcare service delivery, database collation to assess real-world patient outcomes, and development of protocols and predictive tools to minimise toxicity and maximise treatment response.

Growing up in regional Victoria she developed an understanding of geographical limitations to cancer care. She is passionate about quality care for all cancer patients, especially access to treatments and clinical trials without unnecessary travel or financial burden.

As a Fellow with the Australian Rare Cancer Portal Chloe will respond to patient referrals, co-ordinate expert responses where requested, and assist in maintaining a database designed to improve the understanding of rare cancer in Australia.

Dr Helen Ke MBBS (Hons), FRACP

Research Fellow, Australian Rare Cancer Portal

Dr Helen Ke completed her medical degree at the University of New South Wales and completed specialist training in medical oncology at Concord Hospital and the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse. She is currently completing a PhD investigating predictive biomarkers and novel targeted treatments for malignant mesothelioma. Her clinical areas of interest include thoracic and gynaecological malignancies.

Dr Ke is passionate about delivering best-practice, patient-centered care. As a Research Fellow for the Australian Rare Cancer Portal, Dr Ke is proud to be part of a team that provides equitable access to expert care for patients with rare cancers across Australia. Dr Ke's roles include the facilitation of pathology and genomic assessment and coordination of expert opinions.

Dr Betty Zhang MBBS, FRACP

Research Fellow, Australian Rare Cancer Portal

Dr Betty Zhang completed her medical degree at the University of Melbourne and specialist medical oncology training at Calvary Mater Newcastle, Westmead Hospital and Blacktown Hospital. In 2022 she completed a clinical fellowship in sarcoma at the Chris O'Brien Lifehouse, which spurred her interest in rare cancers and genomics. She is undertaking a PhD with the Garvan Institute of Medical Research in genomics, investigating methods to improve access to molecular testing and biomarker-linked therapies for patients with advanced cancers.

Betty is excited to join the ARC portal to help address the current health inequalities for patients with rare cancers and looks forward to participating in collaborative research initiatives.