ANZCHOG welcomes four new Life Members

Friday 23 August 2024

At this year’s Annual Scientific Meeting Gala Dinner, hosted at Adelaide’s beautiful town hall, four pioneers of childhood cancer treatments received ANZCHOG Life Membership. Each recipient has worked tirelessly to improve outcomes for Australian and New Zealand children, with each of them championing various new treatments, allied health and supportive care measures. There is no doubt that each recipient has inspired and educated generations of health professionals who follow in their footsteps.

In what was a special and memorable presentation, each Life Members were presented with their award by a nominee, often one of their mentees who shared personal anecdotes of the profound impact each individual has had both at their health service, and in the wider paediatric oncology and haematology community. This year’s Life Members join a respected cohort of previous recipients including Mary McGowan OAM, Dr Scott Macfarlane, Dr Jane Skeen and Dr Rosemary Sutton. ANZCHOG Life Membership acknowledges the significant contributions individuals have made towards paediatric haematology and oncology in Australia and New Zealand. . Life Membership recognises the exceptional dedication of individuals who have contributed significantly to the advancement of ANZCHOG’s goals, improving outcomes for children and families affected by paediatric cancer or blood diseases now, and in the future.

Read more about our new Life Members below.

Prof. Henry Ekert AM

Prof. Henry Ekert AM (Right)

Professor Henry Ekert AM became the second Director of Haematology & Oncology at The Royal Children’s Hospital,Melbourne, (RCH) in 1974, after completing his fellowship training at the Children’s Hospital of Los Angeles (CHLA) and The Hospital for Sick Children at Great Ormond Street, London, UK. He was the Head of Department at RCH from 1974 to 1992 and President of the Australian and New Zealand Childhood Cancer Study Group, now known as ANZCHOG, in 2003.

Prof Ekert was the first to initiate multi-agent chemotherapy for the leukaemias along with early cessation of central nervous system (CNS) irradiation for ALL with a switch to only intrathecal chemotherapy. Prof Ekert fully implemented clinical trials at RCH over more than three decades for leukaemias, lymphomas and most solid tumours. Remarkably, he also established the first Australian program for autologous paediatric bone marrow transplantation in 1978.

Prof. Richard Cohn AM

Prof. Richard Cohn AM (Right)

Professor Richard Cohn AM has been a continuous ANZCHOG member for almost three decades, including serving as Chair of the ANZCHOG Childhood Cancer Survivorship sub-committee from 2009-2022. During this time, he advocated for improved care and research for childhood cancer survivorship, including convening multiple ANZCHOG workshops on childhood cancer survivorship and participating internationally on committees and at meetings that ensured Australia was seen as a contributor to the developing field of cancer survivorship.

Professor Cohn’s broader contributions to the field of paediatric oncology/haematology are vast. He has held many senior positions including:

Clinical Program Director of Medicine and Diagnostics in the Sydney Children’s Hospitals Network, Randwick (2008 – 2023).
Head of Clinical Oncology in the Kids Cancer Centre at Sydney Children’s Hospital (1999 – 2020).
Professor in the School of Clinical Medicine at UNSW Sydney (from 2010).
Director of the Long-term Follow-up Program at Sydney Children’s Hospital
Clinical Research Associate at the Children’s Cancer Institute Australia
Co-director (Paediatrics) of the NSW Cancer Survivorship Centre, UNSW Sydney.

Dr Liane Lockwood

Dr Liane Lockwood (Left)

Dr Liane Lockwood was the Director of the Oncology Department at The Royal Children’s Hospital, Brisbane (RCH) from 1993 to 2005. Alongside colleagues, she oversaw the development of the Oncology Service at RCH Brisbane, including advocating for increased funding to expand services and establishing the paediatric bone marrow transplant service in Brisbane.

Liane has trained, mentored or supervised every consultant paediatric oncologist within the current Queensland Children’s Hospital (QCH) Leukaemia, Lymphoma and Bone Marrow Transplant Service. She is recognised as an excellent teacher and an inspiring mentor. Lianne has been a member of ANZCHOG (formerly the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Cancer Study Group), since 1991. In this time, she has held positions within ANZCHOG including Chair of the Lymphoma Group, Chair of the Study Control Committee and a member of the executive.

Dr Karin Tiedemann OAM

Dr Karin Tiedemann OAM (Right)

Dr Karin Tiedemann was a pioneer of allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplant (BMT) and the use of unrelated cord blood for matched unrelated haematopoietic stem cell transplantation in Australia and New Zealand. She joined The Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne, as a consultant Paediatric Haematologist/Oncologist in 1981 and later led the hospital’s BMT program from 1992 to 2010. She also established and led the Cord Blood Bank from 1996 to 2018.

Dr Tiedemann is a longstanding member of ANZCHOG. Additionally, she served on the ANZCHOG executive committee from 2000 to 2006.