Community Advisory Group
The PC4 Community Advisory Group (CAG) provide advice on research directions and priorities from a consumer perspective.
Why become a CAG member?
Consumer input is valuable in identifying and prioritising research issues. Consumer involvement in planning and managing projects is a key priority for PC4. Consumers are the most important part of our vision and their contribution is integrated into every aspect of our work. To make sure we achieve this vision PC4 works with our Community Advisory Group. Members of this group are people interested in or affected by cancer including carers and family members. Together they help us develop new cancer in primary care research.
What might I do as part of the PC4 CAG?
- Help decide priority areas for research
- Reviewing research concepts and protocols from the community perspective
- Reviewing information sheets and consent forms of PC4 supported studies
- Joining a research team as a Consumer Investigator
- Attending Research Development Workshops
- Participating in working groups
- Being an advocate for the community for PC4 trials
- Helping share results of PC4 trials
- Reviewing grant applications
Alison Button-Sloan
Location: VIC
My Contribution: Alison works as a practice nurse and diabetes educator following a long career as a tertiary-based hospital midwife. She is passionate about working in partnership with other consumers, health professionals, cancer organisations and researchers so that the consumer perspective is considered during all phases of the melanoma journey.
Eric Yeung
Location: NSW
My Contribution: Eric is a full-time volunteer. He is president of CanRevive Inc., a public benevolent institution that helps minimise the impact of cancer on patients, carers and their families. Established in 1995, CanRevive provides information and emotional support to cater to the cultural and linguistic needs of the Chinese-speaking community of Sydney. Eric had been a primary carer of his wife who succumbed to lung cancer and a brother-in-law who was lost to melanoma. Eric’s professional expertise is in financial and strategic planning and risk management as well as in corporate governance.
Monique Bareham
Location: SA
My Contribution: Following a diagnosis of breast cancer and related lymphoedema, Monique employs her professional skills in education and management to advocate for improvements in cancer survivorship and lymphoedema care across Australia. She sits on various boards and committees and collaborates in lymphoedema and cancer survivorship research projects nationally and internationally. Monique was awarded 2022 Australian of the Year, South Australian Local Hero and Joy Nobel Medal in recognition of her extensive volunteer work and patient led advocacy which led to the launch of the South Australian Lymphoedema Compression Garment Subsidy Scheme. Monique is completing a Master in Health and Clinical Research at Flinders University focussed on consumer engagement in health research and service delivery.
Makala Castelli
Location: QLD
My Contribution: Makala is an experienced consumer advocate working to improve outcomes for people living with and beyond cancer. Her work spans across research, service design and digital innovation, with a focus on survivorship, navigation and patient leadership. She holds advisory and governance roles across the public, private and academic sectors, and collaborates with clinicians, researchers and policymakers to translate lived experience into improved patient outcomes and system-level change. Drawing on a background in corporate strategy, marketing and governance, she brings a strong focus on implementation, translation and real-world impact.
In 2022, Makala received the PC4 Training Award for a consumer-led systematic review exploring patient-led models of survivorship care. She previously co-hosted the PC4 consumer podcast, We’ve Got a Question, and presented at Ca-PRI 2024.
George Fishman
Location: NSW
My Contribution: Cancer survivor
Sonia Markoff
Location: NSW
My contribution: Coming soon..
Nikki Davis
Location: VIC
My Contribution: Nikki is a long-term breast cancer survivor. She regularly engages with cancer patients and carers as a peer support volunteer with Counterpart, a Women’s Health Victoria support service for women affected by cancer. Being entrusted with and listening to the cancer stories of others is important to her in representing the community across all of PC4’s activities.
Robert Herrmann
Location: VIC
My Contribution: Rob has a long history of working in rural & regional communities, providing agricultural advisory services. This has provided a first-hand experience in the challenges of regional communities accessing health services.
Saba Nabi
Location: NSW
My Contribution: Dr Nabi arrived in Australia from India almost 10 years ago as a PhD student in Biomedical Sciences at Charles Sturt University. Shortly after arriving she began volunteering at the university to ensure international students could integrate into tertiary and community life. Dr Nabi was the first international student elected to the University Council and later won the State Award.
Victoria Turner
Location: NSW
My Contribution: Victoria is a registered nurse, and has a background as a midwife and university lecturer. She is currently a casual TAFE teacher of Nursing and Aged Care and a National Assessor for the Australian Nursing and Midwifery Accreditation Council (ANMAC). She has held many voluntary, community engagement, and advisory positions within her local health district and other non-government organisations. Having the lived experience of late-stage ovarian cancer, she has a particular interest in addressing the disadvantage faced by regional and remote patients in accessing clinical trials and treatment options.
PC4 Community Advisory Group members, Makala Castelli and Terri Byrne host this podcast that brings together cancer researchers, survivors and clinicians to talk about their personal cancer journey or their path in cancer research.
PC4’s Dr Kristi Milley deep dives into current research and how this impacts primary care. It’s a fascinating insight into current and historical contexts of cancer in primary care literature.
Cheers with Peers Season 2 concentrates on all things mid-career researcher. Dr Jennifer McIntosh talks to senior researchers about how they navigated being a mid-career researcher.