Keynote Speakers
Professor Vivienne Milch (MBBS (Hons), MHPol)
Professor Vivienne Milch is Head, Clinical Policy Advice Branch
and Medical Director at Cancer Australia. She provides strategic clinical policy leadership to support Cancer Australia’s work to minimise the impact of cancer, address disparities, and improve the health outcomes of people affected by cancer.
Professor Milch is also the medical advisor on cancer screening policy at the Australian Government Department of Health, Disability and Ageing and Chair of both the Clinical Advisory Group for BreastScreen Australia and the Expert Advisory Committee for the new National Lung Cancer Screening Program.
She holds professorial appointments at the Caring Futures Institute at Flinders University and the School of Medicine at University of Notre Dame, Sydney.
Prior to joining Cancer Australia, Professor Milch was a General Practitioner and clinical researcher at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.
Karen van Gorp
Karen is a consumer advocate, Previous Chair of Cancer Voices SA and Senior Policy Adviser with the South Australian Business Chamber. Due to several cancer diagnoses including a stage IV experience, she is an advocate for those whose lives been impacted by melanoma and cancer. Following a stage IV melanoma diagnosis in 2013, a lack of treatment options led her to a clinical trial in Melbourne to which she responded well and became the only survivor of her support group. In addition to her role as Chair of Cancer Voices SA, she now also co-chairs the Melanoma Patients Australia (MPA) CAG, is Deputy Chair on the MPA Board, and sits on the South Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network Advisory Board (SACCaN). She is currently involved in many advocacy and research roles including AI in several studies, ACNNP Governance, consumer involvement in HTA and other national roles.
Dr Peter Goldsworthy
Peter Goldsworthy is an Australian writer and medical practitioner. After graduating in medicine from the University of Adelaide in 1974 he worked for several years in alcohol and drug rehabilitation, but since then has divided his working time between general practice and writing. He has won major literary awards across a range of genres: poetry, short story, novels, theatre, and opera libretti, with his most recent book being his highly acclaimed ‘cancer memoir’: The Cancer Finishing School (2024, Penguin Viking).
Debate Speakers
Will McDonald
Will McDonald is a presenter and award-winning journalist with Nine News Adelaide. But in 2020, his life took a profound turn. At age 42, a "hip injury" was revealed to be stage 4 aggressive prostate cancer. Will has refused to let the diagnosis define him, adopting a mindset of "white-hot positivity," Will uses his experience and voice to support the clinical trials and medical innovations that offer all cancer fighters the most precious gift: more time.
Associate Professor Michael Osborn
Michael Osborn is the Chief Cancer Officer of South Australian Comprehensive Cancer Network (SACCaN). Prior to this role, he chaired the South Australian Cancer Statewide Clinical Network from 2023. Michael is a haematologist/oncologist at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital and leads the South Australian statewide Youth Cancer Service at the Royal Adelaide Hospital.
Adjunct Professor Karen Price
Professor Karen Price is the Chair of HCF Research Foundation, Chair Council GP at Australian Medical Association and Director at HCF Australia. She also served as the past President of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP).
Makala Castelli
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.
Allison Drosdowsky
Allison (Ally) Drosdowsky is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care’s Cancer in Primary Care team at the University of Melbourne. Her research interests include using data to improve cancer care with a focus on reducing inequities, and applying novel statistical methodologies to improve the utility of health datasets.
She also works as a biostatistician at the Centre for Health Services Research in Cancer at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.
Professor Michael Sorich
Professor Michael Sorich is a Professor in Clinical Pharmacology, College of Medicine and Public Health as well as a pharmacist, biostatistician and AI researcher at Flinders University. He has over 20 years of experience applying data and artificial intelligence to improve how medicines are used and how healthcare decisions are made.
Daniel Johnstone
Daniel was diagnosed with head and neck cancer at age 28. He then transformed his experience into a lifelong commitment to making healthcare more compassionate and person-centered. He is a PhD candidate at Adelaide, where his research explores how lived-experience storytelling can foster empathy and reflexivity in healthcare students. Daniel is Chair of the Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy & Research Consumer Advisory Group and Chair of Cancer Voices SA, advocating for genuine consumer partnership in research, education, and policy to create systems that listen, learn, and care.