Cancer Council NSW is one of Australia’s largest non-government supporters of cancer research. We fund world-class research that reduces the impact of cancer. Each year, we receive many excellent and worthy applications for funding. Experts in research and members of the community help us decide which projects we should fund.
So how does this process work?
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Researchers submit their funding applications (research proposals) to us. |
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These proposals are assessed by independent panels of expert scientists. The panels assign each proposal a score, based on the quality of the science, the significance and innovative aspects of the research, and the expertise of the research team. |
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In the next stage, only the research proposals deemed to be among Australia’s best are assessed by our Lived Experience Review Panel. The panel is a group of specially trained cancer survivors, carers and family members, and community members, who judge each proposal according to its value to the community. This panel gives each proposal a score based on its likely benefits and impact. |
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The scores assigned to each proposal by the scientific and lived experience panels are combined to create a final ranking. We lead Australian cancer charities by giving the cancer community a voice in all our research funding decisions. |
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The Cancer Research Committee, a committee of independent cancer research leaders, oversees this process to ensure rigorous transparency, governance and the best use of community donations. |
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The Cancer Council NSW Board is provided with the recommendations of the Committee to approve the award of the grants. |
Why include the community?
Community members work hard all year to raise the money we use to support research. That gives them the right to a voice in deciding where it goes. Survivors and carers understand the lived experience of cancer in a way that other people may not. That’s why the World Health Organization promotes community involvement in research. It’s also why we are committed to seeking community input into our funding decisions through our long-term partnership with Cancer Voices NSW.
Participate as a Lived Experience Representative
Our Lived Experience Review Panel
The Lived Experience Review Panel consists of people from across metropolitan and regional NSW, representing a range of cancer experiences, including people affected by cancer, survivors, and carers. Panel composition varies from year to year to ensure a diverse range of perspectives and experiences are represented.
We are grateful to the members of the panel who generously contribute their time and expertise to reviewing applications and making funding recommendations each year. Their insights help ensure that the research we fund reflects the priorities and needs of people affected by cancer.
Our Cancer Research Committee
A/Professor Meg Barnet
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2025, Associate Professor Meg Barnet is a medical oncologist and clinician-researcher specialising in gastrointestinal (GI) cancers. Her work focuses on immuno-oncology and genomic sequencing, particularly germline determinants of response to immunotherapy.
Associate Professor Barnet studied biology and economics at Duke University, then graduated in medicine (Honours) from the University of Sydney (2008). She completed physician training at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Chris O’Brien Lifehouse before completing a PhD in immunology at the Garvan Institute. A/Prof Barnet is based at Garvan and consults at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre and St Vincent’s Clinic; she chairs the upper gastrointestinal cancer multidisciplinary meeting and is a Principal Investigator on early- and late-phase GI cancer trials. Her funding includes NHMRC (Ideas), Australian Genomic Health Alliance, St Vincent’s Clinic Foundation, AMR and Tour de Cure. She is a supervisor within the RACP, a member of the St Vincent’s HREC, and holds appointments at UNSW Sydney Clinical School and UTS, with advisory roles across Cancer Council NSW, the Cancer Institute NSW and the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group.
Professor Nikola Bowden
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2025, Professor Nikola Bowden is the Vanessa McGuigan Memorial HMRI Fellow in Ovarian Cancer and a Senior Translational Cancer Researcher in the School of Medicine and Public Health at the University of Newcastle.
She leads the DNA Repair Research Group and directs major translational programs focused on drug repurposing for treatment resistant ovarian cancer, supported by the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and Cancer Institute NSW.
Professor Bowden also leads investigator‑initiated clinical trials with support from Bristol Myers Squibb and collaborates nationally and internationally to accelerate translation from discovery to patient impact. Her multidisciplinary team brings together scientists, clinicians and consumers across regional and metropolitan sites in NSW, Queensland and Victoria.
Mr Bruce Cheek
B.Math, M.Math, Dip Comp Scie.
Member of the Cancer Research Committee
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2025, Bruce Cheek is a community member of the Cancer Research Committee, bringing lived experience perspectives of people affected by cancer to support high-quality, lived experience-focused research.
A former Senior Lecturer in Information Systems at the University of Newcastle, Bruce spent more than 40 years in tertiary education and has additional experience in information technology consulting and management.
Bruce is a survivor of both colorectal cancer and melanoma. Since 2017, he has worked actively to support researchers to improve cancer care and outcomes for the community.
In addition to his role on the Committee, Bruce contributes to lived experience research activities through the Australian Gastro‑Intestinal Trials Group, Cancer Voices NSW, the Cancer Institute NSW, the Cancer Quality of Life Expert Service Team, and a number of clinical trial management committees.
Jeff Cuff
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2021, Jeff Cuff has a long-standing interest and active involvement in a range of projects and committees across Cancer Council NSW and the Daffodil Centre, a partnership between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney.
Jeff’s commitment to cancer research began after his wife, Shirley, died from colorectal cancer 12 years ago. He is currently involved in studies at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR Berghofer) and the Olivia Newton-John Cancer Research Institute, supports gastrointestinal cancer clinical trials at the University of New South Wales (UNSW), chairs the Community Advisory Panel for the Australian Gastro-Intestinal Trails Group (AGITG) and holds a laboratory contract at UNSW.
Professor Thomas Cox
B.Sc. (Hons) Ph.D.
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2025, Professor Thomas Cox is a globally recognised leader in extracellular matrix biology in solid tumours, based at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and UNSW Sydney.
After training in the UK, US and Denmark, he established his independent research group in Australia in 2016. His team is advancing revolutionary matrix co-targeting therapies that are now entering clinical trials.
Professor Cox’s research integrates matrix biology with precision oncology to address key gaps in how tumours interact with their surrounding environment. Through strategic partnerships with industry, his programme is developing new approaches to personalise anti-cancer treatment across breast, pancreatic, lung and bowel cancers.
Professor Phoebe Phillips
BSc (Hons), PhD
Chair of the Cancer Research Committee
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee as the Chair in 2025 following her appointment to the CCNSW Board late 2024, Professor Phoebe Phillips is a leading cancer researcher at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) with more than 25 years of experience in advancing innovative approaches to pancreatic cancer treatment. Her work has translated from laboratory discovery to patient care, including the establishment of multiple clinical trials and leadership of a current Phase 2 trial.
She is committed to strengthening community engagement in cancer research and advocates for the meaningful inclusion of people with lived cancer experience in research programs. In 2022, Professor Phillips was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) for her contributions to pancreatic cancer research and health policy. She has extensive not-for-profit governance experience, including serving as President and Board Director of the Australian Society for Medical Research (Board Director, 2013–2018), and was awarded an International Eisenhower Fellowship in 2019 in recognition of her leadership in research and health policy change.
Professor Phillips brings deep expertise in cancer research, clinical translation and health policy, and a strong focus on improving outcomes for people affected by cancer.
Professor Marie Ranson
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2021, Professor Marie Ranson is Professor Emeritus at the University of Wollongong and an internationally recognised cancer researcher in the molecular drivers of tumour invasion and metastasis. She completed her PhD at the University of Sydney, undertook postdoctoral research at the US National Cancer Institute (NIH), and joined the University of Wollongong in 1993, where she established a program in molecular biomarkers and translation toward early-stage clinical application.
Prof Ranson has authored over 135 peer-reviewed publications, contributed to eight patents, and secured over AUD $20 million in competitive funding. She co-founded biotechnology company FivepHusion to develop a novel chemotherapy formulation arising from her laboratory’s discoveries. She has supervised 30+ PhD candidates, contributed to university governance and national committees, and partners with community charities supporting cancer research.
Scientia Associate Professor Orazio Vittorio
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2025, Scientia Associate Professor Orazio Vittorio is an internationally recognised cancer biologist at the University of New South Wales (UNSW) whose research is redefining how copper influences tumour immunology. With over 15 years of experience, he leads programs developing new therapeutic strategies for childhood cancers, with discoveries progressing into multiple clinical trials.
A/Prof Vittorio is committed to improving outcomes and quality of life for children with brain cancer and works alongside families and consumer advocates to ensure research priorities reflect lived experience and urgent clinical need.
His translational leadership spans academia, industry and clinical partners, including collaborations with Duke University, Cornell University and Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. He was named Cancer Institute NSW Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow of the Year (2020) and received the Young Tall Poppy Science Award (2021).
Associate Professor James Wilmot
Appointed to the Cancer Research Committee in 2025, Associate Professor James Wilmot works at the University of Sydney on the intersection of research and clinical practice to improve outcomes for people with melanoma and other cancers.
In close partnership with clinicians and patient groups, his team develops and implements tools that strengthen clinical decision-making, supporting melanoma diagnosis and prognosis and enabling more personalised immunotherapy.
His research integrates clinicopathology, genomics, gene expression and high-dimensional spatial pathology to better match patients to effective treatments and to understand and overcome mechanisms of drug resistance.
