Bruce Cain Lectures

Bruce Cain Memorial Lecturers

The inaugural Bruce Cain Memorial Lecture took place at the NZSO meeting in 1982. The American Association for Cancer Research also established the Bruce F. Cain Memorial Awards for outstanding preclinical research in 1982. They continued the awards until 2006. The NZSO Bruce Cain Memorial Lectures continue to this day.

2021

Dr Christopher Jackson, medical oncologist at Southern DHB and a senior lecturer in medicine at the University of Otago.

Lecture title: Getting Better: patients, politics, and purpose.

2020

Professor Terry Dwyer

Lecture title: Addressing the gaps in evidence for prevention of rarer cancers and cancers with long lead times.

2019

Prof Sherene Loi, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre

2018

Bridget Robinson, Professor and Clinical Director of Mackenzie Cancer Research Group, University of Otago, Christchurch; Medical Oncologist, Christchurch Hospital.

2017

Josep Tabernero, Clinical Director, Department of Medical Oncology, Vall d'Hebron University Hospital, Barcelona.

'Dissecting Colorectal Cancer in Multiple Targetable Subtypes'.

2016

Vernon Harvey, Clinical Associate Professor, Department of Oncology, University of Auckland Medical School; Consultant Medical Oncologist, Auckland Hospital.

Lecture Title: 'From Then Till Now – 40 Years of Changes and Challenges: A Personal and Imperfect Story of the Development of Medical Oncology in Auckland'.

2015

Bill Wilson, Professor and Co-Director of the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, and leader of its Experimental Therapeutics Group, University of Auckland.

Lecture Title: 'The Cain Legacy: Re-Thinking Cancer Drug Discovery and Development in the 21st Century'.

2014

Sir Murray Brennan, Vice President of International Programs and Director of the Bobst International Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York.

Lecture Title: 'The Evolution of Disease-Based Cancer Care'.

Professor Brennan was appointed Knight Grand Companion of the New Zealand Order of Merit in 2015.

2013

Peter Campbell, Head of Cancer Genetics and Genomics, Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.

Lecture Title: 'Interrogating the Architecture of Cancer Genomes'.

2012

Bill Denny, Distinguished Professor and Director of the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre, and Principal Investigator in the Maurice Wilkins Centre, University of Auckland.

Lecture Title: 'Bruce Cain; The Legacy. Cancer Drug Development in the Auckland Cancer Society Research Centre'.

2011

Paul Workman, Deputy Chief Executive of the Institute of Cancer Research, Head of the Division of Cancer Therapeutics, Director of the Cancer Research UK Cancer Therapeutics Unit, and Harrap Professor of Pharmacology and Therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research, London.

Lecture Title: 'Drugging the Cancer Genome: New Molecularly Targeted Drugs and Biomarkers for Personalised Cancer Medicine'.

2010

Nancy Jenkins, Emeritus Professor of Oncology, Institute for Academic Medicine; Co-Director of Houston Methodist Cancer Biology Program, Houston Methodist Research Institute.

Lecture Title: 'Harnessing Transposons for Cancer Gene Discovery: Solid Tumors'.

2009

Bruce Baguley, Professor and Co-Director of the Auckland Cancer Research Centre, University of Auckland.

Lecture Title: 'Tumour Cell or Tumour Stroma? New Challenges for Translational Cancer Research'.

2008

David Kerr, Professor of Cancer Medicine, University of Oxford.

Lecture Title: 'Mechanism Oriented Clinical Trials – Can We Define Proof of Principle?'

2007

Bryan Williams, Professor and Director of the Hudson Institute of Medical Research, Monash University, Melbourne.

Lecture Title: 'Interferons, Innate Immunity and Cancer'.

2006

Gordon Youcef Rustum, Research Professor, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, New York.

Lecture Title: 'Translational Drug Development – Pitfalls and Solutions'.

2005

Michael Clarke, Professor of Cancer Biology and Medicine, Associate Director of the Institute for Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine, Stanford University.

Lecture Title: 'Implications of Breast Cancer Stem Cells'.

2004

Mark Dewhirst, Gustavo S. Montana Professor of Radiation Oncology, Duke University School of Medicine.

Lecture Title: 'Tumor-Endothelial Cell Interactions – Evidence for Paracrine Survival Signals with and without Hypoxia and Therapy'.

2003

Paul Workman, Director of Cancer Research, UK Centre for Cancer Therapeutics, Institute of Cancer Research, London.

Lecture Title: 'From Cancer Genomics to New Molecular Therapeutics'.

2002

Ted Lawrence, Professor of Radiation Oncology, Michigan University.

Lecture Title: 'New Approaches in Enhancing Radiotherapy'.

2001

Finbarr Cotter, Professor of Haematology, Barts Cancer Institute and the London School of Medicine.

Lecture Title: 'Antisense Strategies for Cancer Therapy'.

2000

David (Herbie) Newell, Professor of Cancer Therapeutics, University of Newcastle upon Tyne.

Lecture Title: 'Molecular Endpoints in Early Clinical Trials'.

Professor Newell was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2011.

1999

Alan Coates, Clinical Professor, School of Public Health, University of Sydney; Chief Executive Officer of the Cancer Council Australia.

Lecture Title: 'Partnerships for Progress'.

Professor Coates was elected as a Member of the Order of Australia in 2002 and received the Distinguished Service Award for Scientific Leadership from the American Society for Clinical Oncology in 2006.

1998

Jeffrey Trent, Scientific Director, National Human Genome Research Institute, National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Dr Trent became the founding president and director of the Translational Genomics Research Institute in Arizona in 2002.

1997

Peter Hersey, Conjoint Professor of Oncology, University of Newcastle; Senior Staff Specialist in Immunology and Oncology, Calvary Mater Newcastle Hospital; and Medical and Research Director, Newcastle Melanoma Unit.

Lecture Title: 'Advances in Immunotherapy of Melanoma'.

1996

Ken Harrap, Professor of Biochemical Pharmacology and Head of the Centre for Cancer Therapeutics at the Institute of Cancer Research, London.

Lecture Title: 'Design, Evaluation, and Development of Novel Anticancer Drugs'.

Professor Harrap was made a Life Fellow of the Cancer Research Campaign, a UK-based organisation, in 1994.

1995

1994

Richard Kefford, Founding Director of the Department of Medical Oncology, Westmead Hospital, New South Wales, Australia.

1993

J. Martin Brown, Professor and Director, Division of Radiation Biology and Cancer Biology Research Laboratory, Department of Radiation Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine.

Lecture Title: 'Hypoxic Cells in Tumors: New Opportunities for Selective Anticancer Therapy'.

1992

Alan Horwich, Professor in the Academic Unit of Radiotherapy and Oncology, Institute of Cancer Research, Royal Marsden Hospital, London.

Professor Horwich was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2003.

1991

Hilary Calvert, Director of the Cancer Research Unit, University of Newcastle Upon Tyne.

Lecture Title: 'Rational Design and Use of Anticancer Drugs: Practicality, Possibility or Mere Vanity'.

Professor Calvert received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the British Oncological Association in 2009, and the European Society for Medical Oncology Congress Lifetime Achievement Award in 2010.

He accepted the invitation to deliver the Bruce Cain Memorial Lecture at the NZSO after the unexpected death of Tim McElwain, Professor of Medical Oncology at the Institute for Cancer Research and the Royal Marsden Hospital, who had initially agreed to present. The meeting included a symposium in honour of Tim McElwain, titled 'From the Laboratory to the Clinic'.

1990

H. Rodney Withers, Professor and Director of the Institute of Oncology, Prince of Wales Hospital/University of New South Wales.

Lecture Title: 'Accelerated Growth During Cancer Treatment'.

1989

Adrian Harris, Professor of Medical Oncology, University of Oxford.

Lecture Title: 'Mechanisms of Drug Resistance and Sensitivity'.

1988

Peter Selby, Senior Lecturer in Medicine, Royal Marsden Hospital, Sutton.

Lecture Title: 'High Dose Chemotherapy in Cancer Management'.

1987

Derek Raghavan, Staff Oncologist and Research Director, Urological Cancer Research Unit, University of Sydney/Royal Prince Alfred Hospital.

1986

Michael Whitehouse, Professor of Medical Oncology, University of Southampton.

Lecture Title: 'Blind Alleys and Promising Routes in the Cancer Therapist's Maze'.

In 2000, Professor Whitehouse was elected as a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, one of the leading organisational bodies in the UK with an emphasis on medical science.

1985

Martin Tattersall, Professor of Cancer Medicine, University of Sydney.

Lecture Title: 'Drug Resistance and Cancer Chemotherapy'.

Professor Tattersall was awarded the Medical Oncology Group of Australia Cancer Achievement Award in 2000.

1984

William Herman Hartmann, Professor of Pathology and Director of Surgical Pathology, School of Medicine, Vanderbilt University, Tennessee.

Lecture Title: 'Screening for Breast Cancer. Findings of the BCDPP study'.

1983

Keith R. Fox, Research Fellow, Emmanuel College, University of Cambridge.

Lecture Title: 'DNA Tumourploidy and Clinical Outcome'.

1982

Richard J. Santen, Division of Endocrinology, Milton S. Hershey Medical Centre, Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine.

Lecture Title: 'The Use of New Inhibitors of Oestrogen and Androgen Production as Treatment of Breast and Prostatic Cancer'.