Professor Robert JS Thomas

Robert Thomas is a Melbourne academic surgeon with a special interest in Oncology. He was based originally at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, then became the Foundation Professor of Surgery at the Western Hospital . In 2000 he was appointed Director of Surgical Oncology at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He was instrumental in the development of Surgical Oncology in Australasia and was responsible for the creation of the Surgical Oncology Group within the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He was the first Chair of this group. He has been a member of the Awards Assembly of the General Motors Cancer Research Foundation. He has been heavily involved in the development of cancer reforms within Australia, been past President of COSA, Chair of the National Committee creating the Colorectal Cancer Guidelines and a member of the recent Ministerial Taskforce in Cancer. He chaired the Clinical Services Working Party within the Department of Human Services in Victoria . His recent interests have been the encouragement of the Cancer Reform Agenda in Victoria including issues such as the introduction of multidisciplinary care and psychosocial support of cancer patients. He was the Acting Director of the Western and Central Melbourne Integrated Cancer Services from 2004 to 2007. He has been honoured by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons by the award of Excellence in Surgery. He is the immediate past Editor in Chief of the ANZ Journal of Surgery and has served as Chair of NHMRC panels and has ongoing research interests in the molecular pathology of gastrointestinal tumours.

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