Director’s Message
They say that time flies when you are having fun. It is hard to believe that this year CHeRP is celebrating 20 years of operation.
Laureate Professor Rob Sanson-Fisher was CHeRP’s inaugural Director. With the support and commitment of Cancer Council NSW and especially its CEO of that time, Mrs Elaine Henry, Rob took the idea that establishing a dedicated behavioural research group would expedite advancements in the evidence base for cancer prevention and control and made it a reality. His vision and early work set strong foundations, enabling CHeRP to continue to grow and develop its capabilities over time.
Our vision is and has always been to undertake the highest quality research and relevant training in order to contribute to a reduction in the burden imposed on the community by cancer.
CHeRP’s ongoing success is due to the commitment of its hard-working team and students. It is my pleasure to welcome back Dr Billie Bonevski as a Senior Research Academic, to progress our cancer prevention research program; and to congratulate Ms Alison Zucca, one of our long-standing research offi cers, for submitting her Masters thesis.
In March, I was honoured to be the only Australian invited to join a small international group at a meeting of cancer survivors, policy makers and researchers from across Canada to discuss future directions and priorities in cancer survivorship research. Following the success of this workshop, I will be attending a second workshop in November, aimed at progressing this research area. Ongoing international collaboration is vital to progress this important area and there is much interest in Australia in such collaboration.
In Australia, we continue to work collaboratively with a range of organisations to reduce the burden of illness imposed by cancer, including Cancer Councils around Australia, Cancer Australia and the National Breast Cancer Foundation to name just a few. We are also grateful to the consumers and consumer organisations such as Cancer Voices and the Breast Cancer Network Australia, who are a vital part of any research framework.
Our thanks also go to the health departments, universities, clinicians, healthcare workers and academics that have contributed to the success of CHeRP’s work this year. Without the generous support and funding from Cancer Council NSW, The University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI), CHeRP would not be able to realise its vision.
At the end of this year, CHeRP will be moving its offi ces to the Newcastle CBD to co-locate with other public health researchers in Newcastle. We will miss our Hunter New England Population Health colleagues very much. From our new premises, we look forward to continuing to work with our supporters and partners on new and innovative research that makes a difference to people’s lives and the international body of knowledge into cancer prevention and support.
Here’s to the next 20 years!
Prof Afaf Girgis
Director, CHeRP
For more information download CHeRP annual report 07-08 
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