Board of Directors

B.Bus, FAICD, FAIM, FGIA

Geoff, an oesophageal cancer survivor, is an experienced business executive and company director with extensive and diverse experience across a wide range of organisations and stakeholders. Geoff is a collaborative leader and team member with a focus on strategic and critical thinking. 

He currently consults in the residential and commercial strata and facilities management sectors through his private company Aqumen Pty Ltd. His other non-executive directorships include Ocean Gardens Retirement Village and IBN Corporation. He is a member of the Western Australian Department of Communities Adoptions Applications Committee.

He is involved as a community member on a number of trials that GI Cancer Trials is conducting and is a Patient Advocate with Ferronova.

Geoff is also a tutor at Open Universities Australia through Curtin University, a Fellow of Australian Institute of Company Directors, a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Management and a Fellow of the Governance Institute of Australia.

Committee positions

• Chair, Board
• Member, Corporate Governance Committee
• Member, Finance Committee
• Member, Community Advisory Panel
• Member, Communications & Fundraising Committee

MBChB, FRACP

Dr O’Donnell is now a senior medical oncologist at the Wellington Blood and Cancer Centre, working in Colorectal Cancer.

She is committed to ongoing involvement in Medical Education – particularly student and specialist registrar continuing education.

She is a member of the Cancer and Therapeutics Advisory Panel for PHARMAC.

Dr O’Donnell is actively involved in clinical research – with both investigator-led clinical trials, as well as acting as a local principal investigator for a number of trials including those in Phase I.

Committee positions

• Deputy Chair, Board
• Chair, Aotearoa New Zealand Committee
• Deputy Chair, Corporate Governance Committee
• Member, Research Executive Committee

BBus (Marketing), SIA Diploma of Finance

Grant was diagnosed with a neuroendocrine tumour (NETs) in January 2014.

He has, and continues to, live through various treatments and has seen first hand the benefits of medical research and multidisciplinary operations. Grant brings a wealth of financial experience and expertise to the Finance Committee and Board.

His 28 years’ experience in the finance industry has been forged at local and global institutions across various asset classes, primarily domestic institutional equities. For the past six years, he has served as an Investment Specialist within the Asset Management division at Equity Trustees where he advises and implements investment strategies for not-for-profit organisations. His role enables him to combine his professional expertise and passion for the for-purpose sector, managing funds in a sustainable manner by preserving, while also growing funds over the longer term to help drive social change.

He has previously been a member of the Consumer Advisory Panel for Neuro-Endocrine Cancer Australia (previously known as The Unicorn Foundation), participated in clinical trials and been an advocate for GI cancer patient treatment and experiences.

Committee positions

• Treasurer
• Chair, Finance Committee

PhD, BSc (Hons)

Rob trained in genetics and biochemistry and has three decades of research experience in cancer biology. This began in his PhD studying familial melanoma at the Queensland Institute for Medical Research in Brisbane, followed by postdoctoral training at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research in Melbourne. His laboratory specialises in transcriptional control, stem cell biology, mouse models of colon and breast cancer, radiation biology and DNA repair. Rob is the Group Leader of the gastrointestinal program at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Rob was recognised by GI Cancer Trials as the winner of the New Concepts Symposium Award at the Annual Scientific Meeting in September 2015.

Committee positions

• Company Secretary
• Member, Corporate Governance Committee
• Member, Lower GI Working Party

Previous positions

• Chair, ASM Translational Research Subcommittee, 2018-2022
• Member, ASM Executive Committee, 2018-2022
• Member, Translational Research Committee

MBBS, FRACP, GAICD

Professor Stephen Ackland is a Medical Oncologist based in Newcastle, Director of Hunter Cancer Research Alliance, and Editor-in-Chief of Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. As a member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors since 2007, he has held roles on three not-for-profit boards (including Chairman, ANZBCTG 2015-2017, and with one small biotech start-up). He has had many engagements with organisations and committees involved in cancer research, particularly clinical trials and in GI cancer.

At GI Cancer Trials, Professor Ackland was a member of the Scientific Advisory Committee (SAC) from 1995 – 2018, and Chief Investigator on the Asymptomatic Metastatic Colorectal Cancer study (published 2005), co-investigator on the T3 rectal study (published four times), the MAX study (published twice), the GOFURTGO Study (published twice). He is the Australian Chief Investigator together with Michael Jameson (NZ), of the SPAR study, activated in early 2018. He is passionate about conducting gastrointestinal clinical trials efficiently and effectively, with timely activation and completion, and providing availability of infrastructure and clinical trials to Australasian oncologists.

Committee positions

• Deputy Chair, Finance Committee
• Member, Communications & Fundraising Committee
• Member, Lower GI Working Party

Previous positions

• Convenor, Annual Scientific Meeting, 2020-2023
• Member, Scientific Advisory Committee, 1995-2018

BA, LLB, BSc (Hons), M.Psychol (For) (Hons), M.FMH, FAICD, MAPS

Christine joined the Board in 2021 following completion of her term as a member of the Community Advisory Panel. She spent 25 years in legal practice in a major city law firm. She subsequently  gained further qualifications that led to her joining the NSW Department of Juvenile Justice as a forensic psychologist for eight years. She initially specialised in mental health before moving into a senior administrative role.

Christine is  currently a part time member of the NSW Mental Health Review Tribunal where she has served for twelve years.  She is a Fellow of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, a member of the Sydney Symphony Council, Chair of the St James Foundation Limited and has served on several not-for-profit Boards in the Health, Community and Arts Sectors. Her most recent past directorship was with Odyssey House, serving ten years and retiring in December 2021.

In addition to a wealth of leadership and business experience, Christine has  extensive experience as a caregiver.  She supported her late husband, His Honour Alan Bishop, through his treatment for a rare GI cancer, Gastro-Intestinal Stromal Tumour (GIST). Judge Bishop served on the Board from 2005 to 2010. Christine has also supported several of close relatives and friends who have experienced GI cancer. Through this personal experience, Christine is keenly interested in improving treatment and survivorship pathways for GI cancer patients. The enjoyment of a reasonable quality of life, one that balances medical care, personal and psychological issues, should be the expectation during and post treatment. Christine has been a committed supporter of GI Cancer Trials since 2005.

Committee positions

• Chair, Corporate Governance Committee
• Deputy Chair, Communications & Fundraising Committee

Previous positions

• Deputy Chair, Corporate Governance Committee, 2022-2023
• Member, Community Advisory Panel, 2012-2021

MBCHB, FRACS, D Clin Surg

Associate Professor Manju Chandrasegaram is a Hepatopancreatobiliary (HPB) and General Surgeon based at the Prince Charles Hospital in Brisbane.

She completed the Australian & Aotearoa New Zealand Hepatic, Pancreatic & Biliary Association (AANZHPBA) fellowship in 2014 and was awarded the Padbury Trophy. She served on the AANZHPBA board in 2014-2015. She completed the Doctor of Clinical Surgery (DClinSurg) through the University of Sydney in 2015. Manju is actively involved in teaching students with the University of Queensland and supervises prevocational and vocational junior doctors. She serves as an expert in developing clinical guidance for the National Pancreatic Cancer Roadmap.

Manju has been involved in clinical trials with GI Cancer Trials from 2014 when she worked as the GI Cancer Trials clinical oncology research fellow. She serves as the Surgical Co-Chair in organising the ASM since 2022.

Committee positions

• Co-Chair, ASM Surgical Subcommittee
• Member, Finance Committee

A founder, speaker, author and thought leader, Ebony has worked on social and environmental movements globally, driving action by bringing together sociology, marketing and creativity.

Ebony is a creative sociologist and Founder/Managing Partner of Decade of Action (or D.O.A), a social cause consultancy committed to putting purpose-led action at the centre of every business by 2030. Over the last twenty years, she has brought together the worlds of sociology, marketing and creativity – having founded and led purpose driven businesses as well as innovation and strategy departments across government and non-government organisations – ultimately trying to find ways to tackle systemic issues that disrupt culture and drive action.

Her work consistently gets cut through and results, whether it was stopping Australia’s independent news for the day through Waiting On Zuck, taking court hearings into virtual world’s, tackling loneliness through e-sports, showing us how librarians are tackling the global overdose crisis or shining a light on the power of the human help reflex – Ebony is a global leader, constantly demonstrating how businesses and communities can take action and have a positive impact on people and the planet.

Ebony is a Founder of D.O.A, alumni of Singularity University, an Adjunct Professor at Swinburne University, Founder of REDx (an innovation DoTank at Red Cross) and authored A Fire Inside (A exploration of the help reflex in response to Black Saturday bushfires).

Committee positions

• Chair, Communications & Fundraising Committee

MBBS, MMedSci (Clin Epi), FRACP

Professor Chris Karapetis is Network Director for Cancer Services in the Southern Area Local Health Network of Adelaide, and Head of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Flinders Medical Centre. He is also the Director of Clinical Research in Medical Oncology at the Flinders Medical Centre and the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, Flinders University. He practices as a senior consultant medical oncologist at the same institution where he was instrumental in the establishment of a Clinical Research Unit.

Professor Karapetis has been the principal investigator on over 160 clinical trials. His interest in clinical research developed following a research fellowship at Guy’s Hospital in London. He has established research interests in the areas of lung cancer, gastro-intestinal malignancy, molecular targeted therapies, predictive biomarkers, epidemiology and clinical research methodology.

Professor Karapetis is a past chair of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia. He was the convener of the 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting of COSA and the 2011 MOGA ASM when these meetings were held in Adelaide. He is a past board member of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia.

Committee position

• Chair, Research Executive Committee

Associate Professor Margaret Lee is a consultant medical oncologist in Melbourne with appointments at Eastern Health and Western Health in Victoria. She is also a research fellow in the Gibbs Laboratory at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research with a predominant interest in GI research. She is currently involved in translational research in the fields of organoid models, prospective registry randomized controlled trials, and circulating tumour DNA as a biomarker for disease monitoring and therapy.

Committee positions

• Co-Convenor, Annual Scientific Meeting, 2026
• Member, International Development Committee

MBBS, MSc, FRANZCR

Dr Mark Lee is a Senior Staff Radiation Oncologist who specialises in treatments for head and neck and gastro–intestinal cancers at Liverpool Hospital in New South Wales, Australia. He has completed a MSc and fellowship at Princess Margaret Hospital and the University of Toronto pertaining to work undertaken in stereotactic body radiotherapy for liver cancer. He is actively involved in national and international collaborative research projects for gastro–intestinal cancer as well as trials within GI Cancer Trials.

He has previously been the Radiation Oncology Subcommittee Chair. He has been involved in education sessions for developing countries with the International Atomic Energy Agency and Health Volunteers Overseas.

Committee position

• Member, Corporate Governance Committee

Daniel Pittorino is a Partner of Painter Lane Capital, a private capital portfolio solution advisory firm. Daniel has spent the last 25 years in financial services and markets, predominantly advising institutional investors across the US, UK/EU and Australia. Daniel was previously a Senior Managing Director in the Maccap division of Macquarie Group where he spent ~20 years. Following roles include those with Deutsche Bank, KPMG and a global macro investment manager.

Daniel is a board member and co-founder of OpSync. Opsync is an endoscopy software platform built to improve the equality of access to endoscopic services, while reducing unnecessary time and friction costs. Improving medico-legal consenting and patient education. Enabling the Australian healthcare system to be more inclusive, improving outcomes and delivering more high value procedures, with the existing resource base.

Daniel is also a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Australia & New Zealand.

Committee positions

• Member, Communications & Fundraising Committee
• Member, Finance Committee