People

At the heart of the HCB is its team of dedicated professionals, including technical, administrative and research personnel who ensure the delivery of quality specimens for research. Visit our team page to learn more about their roles and skills.

Leadership team

Professor Rodney Scott Professor Rodney Scott

Professor Rodney Scott

Professor
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy

Co-Director

Laureate Professor Rodney Scott is an internationally recognised leader in genetics who has been instrumental in bringing the Hunter to the forefront of personalised medicine. His first appointment in the Hunter was as Professor and Head of the Discipline of Medical Genetics at the University of Newcastle and as Director of Molecular Medicine in the Hunter Area Pathology Service, positions he still holds. His research focuses on the identification of genes associated with inherited forms of colorectal cancer and breast cancer. In 2005 Professor Scott was appointed the inaugural HMRI NBN Telethon Chair of Childhood Cancer in recognition of his outstanding research track record in genetic predispositions to cancer. The work involved looking at the genetics of leukaemia and brain tumours in children which is ongoing.

Dr Jude Weidenhofer

Dr Jude Weidenhofer

Senior Lecturer
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy

Co-Director

Jude Weidenhofer is a senior lecturer in the School of Biomedical Sciences & Pharmacy within the College of Health, Medicine & Wellbeing at the University of Newcastle Australia. She has a research focus in the discovery and development of biomarkers for prostate cancer and expertise in cell and molecular biology including immunohistochemistry and genomic analyses of tissue samples and liquid biopsies. Jude has a B.App.Sci in Medical & Applied Biotechnology Hons (CSU Wagga) and a PhD in Medical Biochemistry (Uni Newcastle).

Ms Cassandra Griffin

Ms Cassandra Griffin

Biobanking and Clinical Research Manager
School of Medicine and Public Health

Cassandra is the operational lead for NSW Regional Biospecimen Services, a past president and vice president of the Australasian Biospecimen Network Association (ABNA) and Past International Society for Biological and Environmental Repositories (ISBER) Program co-chair. As of 2025 she is the co-chair of ISBERs Global Biobanking Awareness initiative building towards the international initiative of Global Biobanking Week in coming years. An experience conference conveyer, invited speaker, workshop facilitator and laboratory scientist, she is an active member of a number of key national and international working groups, communities of practice and strategic committees advocating for strategic partnerships and sustainable engagement in biospecimen science. With a background in oncology clinical trials and international medical communications, Cass also serves as the Co-Director of the Cancer Detection and Therapy Research Program at Hunter Medical Research Institute and the secretariat for the Clinical Cancer Research Network.

Operational team

Ms Deb Kerr

Ms Deb Kerr

Biospecimen Laboratory Manager
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy
Mrs Jenna Bowen

Mrs Jenna Bowen

Biobanking Business Operations Coordinator/Program Manager
School of Medicine and Public Health

Jenna’s role includes managing operations pertaining to blood biobanking, including but not limited to customer relations, data collection and management, configuration of collection protocols and development of Standard Operation Procedures. Jenna has a Bachelor of Forensic Science (Molecular Biology) from Griffith University and over 10 years experience in quality assurance and diagnostic pathology.

Ms Rebecca Skinner

Ms Rebecca Skinner

Portfolio Lead
Digital Technology Solutions
Mrs Melissa Tooney

Mrs Melissa Tooney

HCRA Biobank Coordinator
School of Medicine and Public Health

Melissa is the Biobank Co-ordinator for the Hunter Cancer Biobank. Her role is to provide high quality annotated specimens and clinical data to scientists to support their research projects. Melissa has worked for nearly 30 years in pathology in a range of different settings, both research and diagnostic. Melissa is excited to be working in cancer research, bringing with her an impressive array of laboratory and people skills.

Miss Kaylee O'Brien

Miss Kaylee O'Brien

Biospecimen Technician
School of Medicine and Public Health

Kaylee is a graduate of the University of Newcastle with a Bachelor in Biomedical Science and brings a fresh perspective to the team. Kaylee has a range of interests in the areas of immunohistochemistry, cancer and pathology and works closely with our laboratory team optimising immunohistochemistry protocols and supporting with the delivery of research requests. Kaylee has a key role in assisting clinical trial coordinators and researchers with sample retrieval to facilitate patient screening and enrolment. She is also primarily responsible for curating internal collections of samples; receipting new samples, updating storage and distribution records and maintaining clinical data collections.

Mrs Belinda Van Zyl

Mrs Belinda Van Zyl

Laboratory Technician
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy

Belinda is a graduate of the Bachelor of Science from the University of Newcastle and has two years’ experience at PhD level in reproductive biochemistry along with 7 years’ experience in pharmaceutical sales specialising in cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis and diabetes. Following her industry experience, Belinda changed focus to Oncology and returned to her research roots focusing on Ovarian Cancer with Dr Nikola Bowden before transitioning to a role with Hunter Cancer Biobank for which she is one of the primary processing and logistical officers.

Mr Lachlan Schofield

Mr Lachlan Schofield

Blood Biobanking Officer
School of Biomedical Sciences and Pharmacy

Biobanking Laboratory Technician

Megan Clarke

Megan Clarke

IHC and TMA Specialist

Megan is an experienced technician for NSW Health Pathology and for the NSW Regional Biospecimen and Research Services. Her primary role is to operate the automated Immunohistochemistry to optimise crisp, clear and antibody specific immunohistochemistry slides. She is also involved in the tissue processing, embedding, sectioning, and staining within the biobank.

Megan has been working in the Diagnostic Anatomical Pathology Laboratory for over 30 years and is also an assessor with the National Quality Assessment Program. Her experience and knowledge in all areas are valuable and she is more than willing to contribute and learn from any project that is she can be involved in. Megan completed her Diploma in pathology Techniques in 1992 and likes to attend and conferences and workshops to ensure she is up to date with all laboratory and Immunohistochemistry advancements.