The Rare Cancers Australia (RCA) CanForum 2021 is the largest patient-focused cancer forum in the Asia-Pacific region.
The online event on Friday 26 November 2021 will unite a never-before-seen line-up of international experts to challenge perceptions about cancer care.
“We are taking a very different approach to the event this year. We are calling on people to think outside the bubble – outside the bubble of excuses which deny patients their rights and a chance at life, and beyond the regular rhetoric that surrounds our community’s discussions about possible solutions,” Richard Vines, CEO, RCA.
“Across our cancer community, we are bombarded with terms like ‘person-centred’ and ‘patient focused’ but there is a real difference between the language used and the actual experience for patients.
“We cannot keep hiding behind buzz words and the illusion of action that they provide. In order to move forward, in order to save lives, we need to break out of this cycle and get past excuses so that we can genuinely value and respect the lived experience of the patients of today and give the patients of tomorrow the opportunities they deserve.”
This is what CanForum 2021 will address, led by the provocative views of trailblazers like:
- Dr Amy Abernethy MD PhD, who spearheads the clinical research work of Google through Verily Life Sciences. She is the leading international expert on real-world evidence and big data and its application in the health sector practicing under the firm belief that “all of health care can learn from the experience of every patient.”
- Dr Vishal Bhatnagar MD, who leads the Patient-Focused Drug Development program at the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Oncology Centre of Excellence in the US.
- Prof Peter Clark MA MD FRCP, who was instrumental in the evolution and development of the Cancer Drug Fund in the UK and the provisional access system to allow patients early access to life-saving and life extending treatment.
- Dr William Smith PhD, an international expert on public policy in the life sciences field who has held senior staff positions in the White House, US Congress and pharmaceutical industry at Pfizer. He is currently a Visiting Fellow in Life Sciences at the Pioneer Institute, a Boston-based think tank.
- Jane Tiller, lawyer and genetic counsellor with a keen interest in the regulatory and ethical aspects of genomics and public health. She is currently the Ethical, Legal and Social Advisor on Public Health Genomics at Monash University, and Senior Project Coordinator at Australian Genomics.
These experts will be presenting their unique perspectives, and some will be participating in open panel discussions alongside alongside open discussion with expert panelists and MC Sophie Scott, widely respected Medical Reporter at ABC.
Registrations are now open for CanForum 2021, for more information and tickets visit: bit.ly/ canforum21
Source: Rare Cancers Australia
