Why do some people get mesothelioma, and can we prevent it?
Professor Anna Nowak is the Director of the National Centre for Asbestos Related Diseases (NCARD), an NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence. She is a Medical Oncologist at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH), and Deputy Executive Dean and Associate Dean (Research) in the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Western Australia. She has longstanding research and clinical interests in the asbestos-related cancer malignant mesothelioma, completing a laboratory based PhD in mesothelioma cancer immunology, which she followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in clinical trials at the NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre, University of Sydney. She has led a number of local and national clinical trials in mesothelioma, and has an international reputation in mesothelioma clinical trials and imaging research, as well as contributing to basic science and supportive care research in this disease. Her training and experience give her a true bench-to-bedside perspective on translational science. She is passionate about translational science, clinicians in science, mentoring, women in leadership, and patient-doctor communication.