Rachel Dear

I am a medical oncologist in the final year of a full time PhD at the University of Sydney. My PhD is examining ways to add value to clinical trial registries. For example, clinical trial registries can be used to provide an overview of the amount and nature of current cancer clinical trial activity. We have also used the data in two clinical trial registries (ANZCTR and ClinicalTrials.gov) to develop a consumer-friendly cancer clinical trials website (http://www.australiancancertrials.gov.au). We have evaluated the impact of the website on discussions between medical oncologists and patients about clinical trials and accrual rates in a cluster randomised trial. The results of the trial will be formally reported in 2011. I am also coordinating a study called "Prioritizing gaps in colorectal cancer clinical trials research in Australia" which is a collaborative effort between the Australian Gastrointestinal Trials Group and the University of Sydney and a study called "A prospective longitudinal cohort study describing quality of life in patients undergoing pulmonary metastasectomy (PM) for metastatic sarcoma." The latter study is a collaborative effort between the Australian Sarcoma Study Group and Psycho-oncology Co-operative Research Group at the University of Sydney.