Engine Rooms

PC4 has three Engine Rooms which drive the development of our new research. These Engine Rooms are focused on key areas of a cancer journey – Prevention and Early Detection; Survivorship, and Palliative Care. Each group is lead by a small group of co-chairs (below) that help steer the groups towards their overarching mission to drive new research through innovative ideas generation, collaborative concept development, and to support the submission of high-quality patient-centred practice-relevant grant applications.

Engine Room Co-Leads

Dr Beck Bergin

Health services researcher focused on reducing inequalities in cancer outcomes particularly for rural Australians.

Prof Jon Emery

Acadmic GP focused on cancer screening, risk assesment and early diagnosis. Director of PC4.

Dr Kylie Vuong

Academic Lead for Primary Care at Griffith University focused on teaching and research that uses a whole person patient-centred approach to care.

This group is supporting a range of new projects some of which include developing inclusive translational research on genomically-targeted population cancer screening, developing interventions that can be tested to reduce disparities in participation in cancer screening, investigating factors that can delay a cancer diagnosis and what role can general practice in reducing diagnostic delay.

Dr Carolyn Ee

Academic GP with a leading role in Western Sydney University's National Institute of Complimentary Medicine.

Dr Anna Singleton

Senior Research Fellow & NHMRC Emerging Leadership Fellow at the Engagement and Co-design Research Hub at University of Sydney

Dr Nic Hart

Deputy Lead of the Cancer Survivorship Program at the Caring Futures Institute of Flinders University

Supporting a portfolio of more than 35 studies, the Survivorship Engine Room is currently supporting the development of SMS interventions delivered in primary care for breast and prostate cancer survivors. It is also supporting our first consumer-led Training Award focused the enables and barriers to patient-led survivorship care.

Dr Joel Rhee

Leads the Discipline of General Practice at UNSW Sydney. An expert in palliative and supportive care research.

Prof Patsy Yates

A Distinguished Professor and Executive Dean of the Faculty of Health at QUT. Focused on developing workforce capacity in cancer, palliative and aged care.

Primary Care plays an important role in the delivery of palliative and supportive care. This Engine Room is currently reviewing the evidence around the models of palliative care for rural cancer patients in primary care to help inform the development of new targeted clinical trials.