Key Note Speakers
Dr Lizbeth M Kenny
Dr Lizbeth M Kenny, is the Director of Cancer Services for the Central Area Health Service and Medical Director of Central Integrated Regional Cancer Services. Dr Kenny spent 9 years in private practice before being appointed a senior staff specialist in radiation oncology at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital, a position she has held since 1997. She became director of cancer services at Queensland Health in 2005.
Dr Kenny believes that multidisciplinary collaboration is the most beneficial approach to patient care, and she looks to the advent of new developments in interventional radiology as helping to transform the healthcare system. She served as 2002 president of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia, and with the Central Area Health Service, she has helped establish a statewide plan for universal cancer services. She was 2001-2004 chair of the National Assessment of Clinical Cancer Research Grants Applications and currently serves in several capacities for Cancer Australia.
Dr Kenny was president of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists (RANZCR) from 2005 to 2007. She also served as dean of the Faculty of Radiation Oncology from 1998 to 2002. During her term as dean, she oversaw development of Australia’s National Strategic Plan for Radiation Oncology. She is also chair of the Quality Program in Radiation Treatment Service Delivery.
Active in both research and leadership, Dr Kenny has authored scientific publications on topics including radiology workforce issues, the influence of belief systems on the quality of life of patients with cancer, the conundrum of whole-body CT screening, and radiation therapy trends and practices. She is currently a principal investigator in a number of chemoradiation trials.
Dr Kenny has taken her work beyond Australia’s borders to advocate international change for the specialty. A Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) member since 2007, Dr Kenny serves on RSNA’s International Advisory Committee. She has also served on the American Society of Clinical Oncology’s International Affairs Committee and the International Relations Committee of the European Society of Radiology (ESR) and has been awarded honorary ESR membership. She has twice been an invited lecturer for the American Society for Radiation Oncology and is an honorary fellow of the American College of Radiology.
Associate Professor Alexandra McCarthy
Associate Professor Alexandra McCarthy holds a joint appointment as Associate Professor, Postgraduate Co-ordinator and Cancer Nursing Subject Area Coordinator at the Queensland University of Technology and Associate Professor, Cancer Services Southern Clinical Network. She has a record of significant contribution to nursing research and teaching in the areas of cancer nursing and rural and remote nursing.
Her current research program focuses upon the acute and longer-term physical and psychosocial outcomes of cancer therapies, as well as health promotion after treatment. Publications from these projects have advanced current understanding of the complexities involved in the prevention of further morbidity during and after cancer treatment and led to practical interventions such as tailored education programs, and culturally-specific health resources delivered in various languages. Associate Professor McCarthy has over 130 journal and conference publications as a result of her work.
Alexandra is proud to be a longstanding member of the Oncology Nurses Group. She was also the Inaugural Chair, Education Committee, Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA) from 2007 to 2011 and continues on that committee. She is currently in her second term representing Queensland on the National Executive Committee, CNSA and has been a member of the CNSA Research Committee since 2003. She is also currently a member of the Research Management Committee of the Cancer Services Southern Clinical Network, Southern Area Cancer Clinical Network and a member of the Cancer Collaborative Research Group, Princess Alexandra Hospital.
