Professor, Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Toronto, Canada

Dr. Jonathan Irish graduated with his M.D. degree from the University of Toronto. He then completed residency training at the University of California in Los Angeles and the University of Toronto. He completed his Master of Science degree in Molecular Biology at the Institute of Medical Science at the University of Toronto where he studied the molecular biological characteristics of head and neck cancers. Dr. Irish completed the American Head and Neck Society Fellowship in Head and Neck Surgical Oncology, and joined Toronto General Hospital and the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in 1992.

Dr. Irish is currently a Professor of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery and the Head of the Head and Neck Oncology and Reconstructive Surgery Division at the University of Toronto. He is a head and neck surgical oncologist and reconstructive surgeon with particular expertise and interest in oral cancer, melanoma and skin cancer, thyroid cancer as well as salivary gland tumors and malignancies.

Associate Professor, Department of Human Oncology, University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health, Wisconsin, USA

Dr. Kimple completed his MD and PhD degrees at the University of North Carolina in the Department of Pharmacology. He received his clinical training in Radiation Oncology at UNC Hospitals before pursuing a fellowship in viral oncology at the University of Wisconsin. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Departments of Human Oncology and Medical Physics at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health.

He is co-leader of the UW Carbone Cancer Center’s Imaging and Radiation Sciences program and Director of Cancer Biology and Translational Research in the Department of Human Oncology. His lab studies molecular mechanisms underlying the development of resistance to anti-cancer therapies using translational model systems.

Head, Division of Plastic Surgery, University Health Network, Toronto, Canada

Dr. Hofer obtained his medical degree from the University of Amsterdam in 1992. He completed a PhD in the Department of Surgery at the University of Amsterdam. He trained at the Department of Plastic Surgery at the University of Groningen, The Netherlands and received board certification in Plastic Surgery in 2000. He was awarded a Dutch Cancer Society clinical fellowship, for a one-year Microsurgery Reconstruction Fellowship at the Bernard O’Brien Institute of Microsurgery at St. Vincent’s Hospital and the University of Melbourne in Melbourne, Australia.

Dr. Stefan Hofer is the chief of the Division of Plastic Surgery at University Health Network. He also holds the Wharton Chair for Reconstructive Surgery. Between 2001 and 2007 he was a Plastic and Reconstructive staff surgeon at the Erasmus University Medical Centre in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, where he was the Head of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgical Oncology. In October 2007 he was recruited into his current position at University Health Network and Mount Sinai Hospital.

Director, Department of Medical Oncology, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne, Australia

Danny Rischin is the Director of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Professorial Fellow, Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, University of Melbourne. He is a National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia Leadership Fellow and is also an Associate Editor of the Journal of Clinical Oncology.  His major clinical and research interests are in the development of new treatments and novel biomarkers for head and neck cancers and cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma. He has published extensively on these topics and is currently leading major trials investigating new treatments in head and neck and cutaneous squamous cell carcinomas.

Medical Oncologist and Researcher Scientist at Melanoma Institute Australia and The University of Sydney, Australia

Inês Silva, MD PhD is a Medical Oncologist and Researcher Scientist at Melanoma Institute Australia and The University of Sydney. She received her MD degree at the Universidade Nova de Lisboa (Portugal) in 2006 and completed specialist training in Medical Oncology at Instituto Português de Oncologia (Lisbon, Portugal) in 2016.

In 2010 she was chosen for the MD PhD Program for Advanced Medical Education and earned a 3-year fellowship grant (sponsored by Gulbenkian and Champalimaud’s Foundations), providing her the opportunity to undertake research at Bhardwaj Lab, part of Interdisciplinary Melanoma Cooperative Group and NYU Cancer Institute (2010-2013). She defended her PhD thesis in tumor immunology, describing how the dysfunction of the protective innate immune mechanisms, including NK cells, can contribute towards melanoma progression. She did two clinical fellowships in melanoma, one at NYU Cancer Institute (2014) and more recently at Melanoma Institute Australia (2017-2019), where she was co-investigator in phase I, II and III clinical trials (neoadjuvant, adjuvant and metastatic) in melanoma.

She has presented her research work in international meetings, and she has published original research and review articles in high-impact journals. Her main research goal is to study mechanisms of innate and acquired resistance to immunotherapy in order to identify new therapeutic targets.

Consultant Laryngologist in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand

Jacqui Allen, is a Consultant Laryngologist in the Department of Otolaryngology – Head and Neck Surgery at North Shore Hospital, Auckland, New Zealand and Senior Lecturer in the Department of Surgery at the University of Auckland, New Zealand.  Dr Allen’s practice includes Voice, Laryngology with complex airway management, In-office laser therapy, Dysphagia and Head and Neck cancer.  She earned her Medical Degree from the University of Auckland and completed ORL residency in New Zealand, followed by a Fellowship at the University of California, Davis in the Voice and Swallowing Centre.  She is a member of the American Bronchoesophagological Association, Dysphagia Research Society, New Zealand Society of Otolaryngologists Head and Neck Surgeons, American Academy of Otolaryngologists, RACS Academy of Surgical Educators and a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons.  Dr Allen’s research interests include vocal fold scar, airway stenosis, cough and reflux, and novel dysphagia management.  She is Section Editor of Current Opinion in Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery and her publications have appeared in journals such as Laryngoscope, European Archives of Otolaryngology, Otolaryngology Head and Neck Surgery, Head and Neck and Dysphagia.

Specialist Prosthodontist, Nelson, New Zealand

Andrew is a Specialist Prosthodontist based in Nelson, where he has been  since 1994. He also has a branch practice in Wellington focusing of full-arch implant reconstructions. For the past 20 years he has been a Visiting Consultant at Hutt Hospital, where a significant portion of his time is taken up treating patients who require dental rehabilitation following cancer surgery. Andrew has lectured widely in Australia, New Zealand and beyond, and his practice focuses on fixed prosthodontics and implants. 

Senior Lecturer, Physiotheraphy, The University of Sydney, Australia

PhD(Physio);MAppSc(Ex & Sport Sc.);BAppSc(Phty)

Graduate Certificate in Educational Studies (Higher Education) 

Dr Susan Coulson is a clinical and academic physiotherapist whose main area of interest is in assessment and treatment of facial nerve disorders. Her Doctoral and Masters research were at the University of Sydney, where she currently holds an academic position. For more than 25 years, her clinical and research work has focused on assessment and treatment facial nerve disorders including 3-D motion analysis, reliability of grading systems, telemedicine, reviews and intervention studies. Susan is a founding member of the multidisciplinary team of practitioners at the Sydney Facial Nerve Clinic.

President, Royal Australasian College of Surgeons

Dr Sally Langley is a plastic and reconstructive surgeon, who is based in Christchurch, New Zealand. She has worked in both public and private surgery in Christchurch for more than 30 years. Her work has covered the whole spectrum of plastic surgery including craniofacial, cleft lip and palate, head and neck, paediatric, reconstructive including microsurgery, hand surgery, as well as skin cancer and breast surgery.
Dr Langley has been involved with surgical education and training throughout her career. She was an examiner in plastic and reconstructive surgery for nine years and for two years she served as the New Zealand deputy Chair of the Court of Examiners, the entity which conducts the Fellowship exam of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (RACS).
Dr Langley is a former president of the New Zealand Association of Plastic Surgeons. In 2014 she was elected member of the RACS Council where she chaired the Professional Standards and Development Board from 2019 till 2021. Since May 2021 Dr Langley is the RACS President.

Senior Lecturer, Speech Science, School of Psychology, University of Auckland, New Zealand

Dr Anna Miles is a practising speech-language therapist with 20 years of experience working in the acute and community setting. Anna is a senior lecturer at The University of Auckland. She is a researcher, lecturer and clinician in the area of voice and swallowing disorders. Anna runs a hospital-based student teaching clinic as well as an outpatient voice and swallowing rehabilitation clinic. She is the New Zealand Speech-language Therapists’ Association Clinical Expert in Adult Dysphagia. 

The Swallowing Research Laboratory in the Centre of Brain Research at The University of Auckland, led by Dr Miles, strives to improve the lives of people with swallowing difficulties through improved assessment, treatment and medical education. The laboratory hopes to reduce the risks of pneumonia and death associated with swallowing difficulties as well as improve the quality of life of sufferers.

Professor of Oral Pathology, Faculty of Dentistry, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

Alison is Professor of Oral Pathology at the Faculty of Dentistry and Head of the Pathology Department, Dunedin School of Medicine, University of Otago, New Zealand. She is a registered specialist in oral pathology and is Head of the Oral Pathology Centre, the University’s oral pathology diagnostic service and the Leader of the Oral Immunopathology Research Group. She is a previous Chair of the Faculty of Oral and Maxillofacial Pathology of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia and their current Chief Examiner.

Executive Director, Gillies McIndoe Research Institute, Wellington, New Zealand

Dr Tan studied medicine at Melbourne University and trained as a plastic and reconstructive surgeon in New Zealand. Following a Craniofacial Fellowship at Oxford and Craniofacial Research Fellowship in Boston, he was appointed Consultant Plastic & Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgeon at Hutt Hospital in 1995, where was the Director of Plastic Surgery 2000-2006 and Director of Surgery 2007-2013. He founded the Centre for the Study & Treatment of Vascular Birthmarks, a supra-regional referral centre, in 1996, and was awarded a PhD by Otago University in 2001 for his work in infantile haemangioma. He is the Founder and Executive Director of the Gillies McIndoe Research Institute. He is an elected member of 13 national and international medical and scientific societies. He was the past President of the ANZHNCS 2008-2010 and the Founding Chair of the New Zealand Research Foundation of the ANZHNCS. Well-known internationally for his research in vascular anomalies and cancer, Dr Tan is a recipient of 20 science prizes and 25 honours and awards including Wellingtonian of the Year – Science and Technology, KEA World Class New Zealand Award, and ONZM. He is an author of 187 book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals, and has delivered over 400 presentations at conferences.