Staff Profile
Conjoint Professor Stephen Ackland
Conjoint Professor
Faculty of Health and Medicine
EditCareer Summary
Biography
Prof. Stephen Ackland is Staff Specialist, Department of Medical Oncology, Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital and Conjoint Professor, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle. He is the Director, Hunter Translational Cancer Research Unit; Director, University of Newcastle Priority Research Centre for Cancer; Director of Clinical Cancer Research Network HNE Health; Co-director of Hunter Medical Research Institute Cancer Research Program. He has played a key role in organisation, harmonisation and enhancements of translational and clinical research locally, on a state basis and nationally. He is Editor-in-Chief, Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. He is an inaugural member of the PRIMe consortium (Pharmacogenomics Research towards Individualised Medicine), a NSW Cancer Council-funded collaboration of 8 NSW hospitals and research institutes with the aim of facilitating cancer pharmacogenomics research in NSW. He has had a number of committee appointments including: Honorary Secretary, Medical Oncology Group of Australia, 1997-2000; Chairman, Medical Oncology Group of Australia, 1999-2000. Chair, Specialist Advisory Committee in Medical Oncology, RACP, 1999-2000; AMWAC Committee on Medical Oncology 1999-2001; President, Clinical Oncological Society of Australia 2004-2005; Director, Australian & New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group, 2007-2013; Director, NSW Cancer Council, 2006-2013. He is the author of over 90 original publications in peer-reviewed journals and first author on 18 of these. He was co-owner of 2 patents. He has been lead investigator on 5 grants totalling $2.2m, and co-investigator on 7 grants totalling $2.6m. He has had extensive involvement in cancer clinical trials, clinical pharmacokinetics and pre-clinical pharmacology of anticancer drugs and combinations. He has been the principal investigator on two Australian multi-institutional randomised controlled trials run through cancer cooperative trials groups, and principal investigator on a number of phase I & II trials. He is/has been a member of the trial management committee of a number of cancer cooperative trials groups, undertaking multi-institutional trials in breast and GI cancer.
Qualifications
- Bachelor of Medicine & Surgery, University of Melbourne
Research
Research keywords
- Clinical Trials
- Pharmacogenomics
- Pharmacokinetics
- Pharmacology
Research expertise
- Basic and clinical pharmacology of anticancer drugs, including drug measurement, pharmacokinetics pharmacodynamics, and relevant genetics/genomics.
- Clinical trials in cancer mainly medical oncology.
Languages
Fields of Research
| Code | Description | Percentage |
|---|
| 110399 | Clinical Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | 35 |
| 111599 | Pharmacology And Pharmaceutical Sciences Not Elsewhere Classified | 35 |
| 111200 | Oncology And Carcinogenesis | 30 |
Memberships
Committee/Associations (relevant to research).
Editorial Board.
- Editor - Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology
- Board member - Drug Resistance Updates
Learned Academy.
- Member - Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (Clinical Oncological Society of Australia)
- Member, ASCO International Affairs Committee 1997-99 and 2006-08
Appointments
Director
ANZ Breast Cancer Trials Group (Australia) | 01/07/2007 |
Member, scientific Advisory Committee
Australasian GI Trials Group (Australia) | 01/01/1994 |
Chairman
Medical Oncology Group of Australia (Australia) | 01/01/1999 - 01/01/2001 |
President
Clinical Oncological Soc of Australia (Australia) | 01/01/2004 - 01/01/2006 |
Editor
Asia Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology (Australia) | 01/09/2004 |
Director
Cancer Council NSW (Australia) | 01/09/2006 |
Member
International Affairs Committee, Am Soc Clin Oncology (United States) | 01/09/2006 - 01/09/2009 |
Administrative
Administrative expertise
Director of Medical Oncology 2001-2005. Manages the Medical Oncology research program (9 staff, clinical and lab).Chair of HMRI Cancer Research Program 2003 -present. President of Clinical Oncological Soc of Australia 2004 and 2005. Chairman, Medical Oncology Group of Australia 1999 and 2000. Board member, TheraPPy Pty Ltd 2004-2006. Board member Cancer Council NSW 2006-2009. Member, International Affairs Committee, Am Soc of Clin Oncol, 1998-2000 and 2006-2009
Teaching
Teaching keywords
Teaching expertise
Teaches medical nursing and allied health students and postgraduates in basic and clinical oncology. Also science students in pharmacology
EditPublications
No publications.
EditGrants and Funding
Summary
| Number of grants | 22 |
|---|
| Total funding | $10,795,384 |
|---|
For project grants received where the lead institution is other than the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics.
- Indicates that the researcher may be seeking students for this project.
Click on a grant title below to expand the full details for that specific grant.
2013 (1 grants)
HMRI MRSP Infrastructure (12-16) – CANCER $495,930
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
2012 (3 grants)
The Hunter Cancer Biobank (HCB): Maximising community value through validation, annotation and distribution throughout NSW$292,300
Funding Body: Cancer Institute NSW
| Project Team |
|---|
| Professor John Forbes, Conjoint Professor Stephen Ackland, Professor Rodney Scott, Conjoint Associate Professor Barbara Young, Professor Hubert Hondermarck, Conjoint Professor Leonie Ashman, Professor Xu Dong Zhang, Doctor Kelly Kiejda, Doctor Nikki Verrills, Doctor Jennette Sakoff, Ms Janine Lombard, Doctor Jude Weidenhofer, Doctor Pradeep Tanwar |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Infrastructure Grants | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $292,300 | 2012 | 2014 |
| GNo:G1200798 |
High-Resolution Isoelectric Phosphoprotein Signalling System for Signalling Research, Biomarker Validation and Drug Development – Equipment Grant$143,394
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
Mitotane pharmacodynamics in Adrenocortical Cancer in children and adults
$20,000
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
2011 (2 grants)
Hunter translational cancer research unit$1,693,333
Funding Body: Cancer Institute NSW
HMRI MRSP Infrastructure (11-12)-Cancer $495,930
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
2010 (2 grants)
Feasibility study of an oncology nurse practitioner model of care at improving outcomes in a rural cancer setting$557,634
Funding Body: Cancer Institute NSW
HMRI MRSP Infrastructure Grant (10-11) - CANCER$504,071
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
2009 (2 grants)
Provision of non-physical infrastructure support to enhance the breast cancer clinical trials research activities of the ANZ BCTG and its ability to build productive research collaborations$330,000
Funding Body: Cancer Institute NSW
MRSP Infrastructure (09-10) Cancer$283,916
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
2008 (2 grants)
HMRI Cancer Research Program - MRSP Infrastructure$1,031,290
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
HMRI Senior Research Fellow$160,000
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
2007 (1 grants)
(102) Hunter Medical Research Institute - Cancer$12,214
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
2006 (1 grants)
PRC - Priority Research Centre for Bioinformatics, Biomarker Discovery & Information-Based Medicine (CIBM)$621,143
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
| Project Team |
|---|
| Professor Pablo Moscato, Professor Rodney Scott, Professor John Rostas, Professor John Forbes, Conjoint Professor Peter Hersey, Conjoint Professor Stephen Ackland, Conjoint Professor Wayne Smith, Emeritus Professor Peter Dunkley, Conjoint Professor Leonie Ashman, Professor John Attia, Associate Professor Phillip Dickson, Associate Professor Liz Milward, Professor Alistair Sim, Associate Professor Paul Tooney, Associate Professor Regina Berretta, Conjoint Professor David Sibbritt, Conjoint Professor Chris Levi, Professor Xu Dong Zhang, Conjoint Associate Professor Patricia Crock, Conjoint Associate Professor Jeannette Lechner-Scott |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Priority Research Centre | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $621,143 | 2006 | 2013 |
| GNo:G0186919 |
2005 (3 grants)
Protocol development, web-based data collection and date quality assurance for all Cancer Cooperative Trials Groups$1,840,000
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Conjoint Professor Stephen Ackland, Professor Alan Coates, Professor John Zalcberg, Professor Max Wolf, Dr Kwun Fong, Professor John Forbes, Dr Helen Irving, Dr Guy Toner, Professor Michael Friedlander, Professor John Thompson, Dr David Ball, Professor John Simes |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Enabling Grants - Clinical Trials Resources | Chief Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $1,840,000 | 2005 | 2010 |
| GNo:G0184628 |
Enhancement of the ANZBCTG research program through the provision of infrastructure funding for essential management and operational personnel and other key activities $1,720,564
Funding Body: Cancer Institute NSW
Proactive monitoring and intervention to reduce the pyschosocial impact of cancer therapy$117,000
Funding Body: Cancer Institute NSW
2002 (1 grants)
New targets for chemotherapy: anti-cancer drugs that target protein phosphatases$10,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
2001 (2 grants)
Investigations into the biological functioning and prognostic value of novel metastatic marker for breast cancer.$420,665
Funding Body: NHMRC (National Health & Medical Research Council)
| Project Team |
|---|
| Professor Gordon Burns, Conjoint Professor Anthony Leong, Conjoint Professor Stephen Ackland |
| Scheme | Role |
|---|
| Project Grant | Investigator |
| Total Amount | Funding Start | Funding Finish |
|---|
| $420,665 | 2001 | 2003 |
| GNo:G0179658 |
Using Genetics and Pharmacokinetics to Predict Toxicity of Chemotherapy.$11,000
Funding Body: University of Newcastle
2000 (1 grants)
Pre-treatment Uracil: Dihydrouacil Ratio as a Predictor of 5FU Pharmacokinetics and Myelotoxicity of Chemotherapy.$10,000
Funding Body: ARC (Australian Research Council)
1999 (1 grants)
Selective Inhibitors of Protein Phosphatases as Anti-cancer agents$25,000
Funding Body: Hunter Medical Research Institute
EditResearch Supervision
| Number of current supervisions | 0 |
|---|
For supervisions undertaken at an institution other that the University of Newcastle, details are shown in italics, and the institution name is listed below the program name.
Past Supervision
| Year | Program | Supervisor Type | Research Title |
|---|
| 2007 | PhD (Medicine) | Co-Supervisor | The Patterns of Care for Patients with Lung Cancer in the Hunter Region, Australia (1996-2002) |
| 2001 | Honours Biol Sc Not Elsewhere Classifd
University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor | Predicting myelotoxicity of 5-FU chemotherapy. |
| 2001 | Honours Biol Sc Not Elsewhere Classifd
University of Newcastle | Co-Supervisor | Influence of telomere length and telomerase activity in bone marrow progenitor cells on the time required to fully regenerate the bone marrow after an autologous peripheral blood stem cell transplantation. |
