Welcome Message

Kia ora koutou katoa, nau mai haere mai. It is my pleasure to welcome you to the inaugural Brain Tumour Support NZ Patient and Caregiver Meeting to be held in Te Whanganui-a-Tara / Wellington on Saturday, 8th June 2024.

This half-day mini-symposium will be held immediately prior to the 2nd Annual Conference of the NZ Aotearoa Neuro-Oncology Society (NANOS) where NZ’s top brain tumour clinicians and researchers will gather to discuss the latest developments in the field.

We have selected three experts from NANOS 2024 to present updates on brain tumour treatments and research at our Patient and Caregiver Meeting, including renowned Australian neuro-oncologist Associate Professor Eng-Siew Koh who will deliver the keynote address.

Unfortunately there is currently no cure for most types of brain tumours. We don’t know what causes them and therefore how to prevent them. They can strike people at any age, of any ethnicity, and of any gender, and there is no practical way to screen for them. This is where ongoing research is so vital, to find better treatments and, ultimately, a cure for these terrible diseases. Research represents HOPE. Hope for better outcomes and a better future for people diagnosed with brain tumours.

This is the first meeting for brain tumour patients and whanau to be held in Aotearoa, New Zealand. It is long overdue. We invite you and your care partner to come along to the meeting, participate in the discussion and connect with fellow members of the brain tumour community.

Following the meeting there will be a light lunch, where you will have the opportunity to mix and mingle with the NANOS delegates before their conference commences. I would like to thank the executive committee of NANOS and conference organiser Caroline Woon for their support and assistance in planning this meeting.

See you in Wellington!

Chris Tse
Chair, Brain Tumour Support NZ

In association with

Speakers

Assoc Professor Eng-Siew Koh

Associate Professor Eng-Siew Koh is a Senior Staff Specialist in Radiation Oncology and clinician researcher, Liverpool Hospital and Conjoint Associate Professor at the University of New South Wales. A/Prof Koh has over 20 years’ experience in brain tumour care, clinical trials and research. Her major clinical and research interests includes neuro-oncology, haematological cancers and cancer survivorship.

Associate Professor Koh has been a key investigator in a successful portfolio of Australian and international brain cancer trials including COGNO-led trials: VERTU, NUTMEG, MAGMA - in adult Glioblastoma, ACED (supportive care in recurrent glioma), PersoMed-I in medulloblastoma, LUMOS-2 in recurrent low grade glioma as well as other industry-sponsored GBM trials. She is co-lead for the currently active TROG multi-site prospective FET-PET in Glioblastoma (FIG) trial. Her research leadership is reflected in successful competitive funding of over $24 million in brain tumour-related research. She is passionate about supportive care and advancing outcomes for those affected by brain tumours.

In addition, A/Prof. Koh is a RANZCR Special Interest Group APROSIG member, with its focus on supporting Radiation Oncology initiatives and cancer care in the Asia-Pacific region.