ABOUT OUR RESEARCH
A groundbreaking new $6.5 million cancer research centre was established in western Sydney in 2011 to drive improvements in patient care.The Sydney-West Translational Cancer Research Centre (TCRC) has put the west of Sydney on the map as a hub for world-class cancer research, improving the links between research and clinical care.
The Sydney-West TCRC links multidisciplinary teams from the Sydney West Cancer Network, cancer research groups of the Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research, the Westmead node of the Melanoma Institute Australia, and other affiliated clinical and research groups involved in cancer care in the west of Sydney.

Sydney West Translational Cancer Research Centre
Our People
Director
Clinical Associate Professor Paul Harnett - Medical Oncologist, Director, Sydney West Cancer Network
Associate Director
Clinical Associate Professor Rosemary Balleine, Clinical Director, Tissue Pathology and Diagnostic Oncology
Executive Council
- Professor Rick Kefford - Medical Oncologist, Director, Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, Co-Director of Research, Melanoma Institute of Australia
- Professor Jacob George - Gastroenterologist/Hepatologist, Director, WMI Storr Liver Unit
- Professor David Gottlieb - Haematologist, Director, Cellular Therapies Unit, WICR Research Group Leader
- Professor Anna deFazio - Research Scientist, Sydney West Chair in Translational Cancer Research, WICR Research Group Leader
- Dr Peter Flynn, Thoracic Surgeon, Executive Medical Director, Nepean Hospital
Manager
Ms Bronwyn Robertson
Research Support Officer
Dr Karin Lyon
Translational Cancer Research Fellows
Dr Dhanusha Sabanathan
Dr Maria Najim
Dr Ming-Celine Dubosq
Educational Research Fellow
Dr Tracy Robinson
Our Vision
The Sydney West Translational Cancer Research Centre vision is to create a dynamic, professional community across multiple locations and disciplines that are connected in real-time through an interactive information technology network.
Our overall goal is to enhance current and future translational cancer medicine through a range of initiatives that will:
- Create a connected professional community of cancer research and practice in western Sydney.
- Embed research as one of the core disciplines contributing to the Multi Disciplinary Team (MDT) based approach to cancer care.
- Provide support, training and development of the cancer workforce.
- Implement and evaluate the impact of strategies to disseminate knowledge and effect practice change in the broader clinical community.
How you can help us
Contacts
The Sydney West Translational Cancer Research Centre management group is located within the Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Westmead, Westmead Hospital.
Please direct all enquiries to the manager:
Bronwyn Robertson
Ph: +61 2 8890 9561
Fx: +61 2 8890 6391
Email : Bronwyn.Robertson@sydney.edu.au
Office Location
Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Westmead
Westmead Hospital
Westmead NSW 2145
Postal Address
Sydney West Translational Cancer Research Centre
Crown Princess Mary Cancer Centre Westmead
Westmead Hospital
PO Box 533
Wentworthville NSW 2145

New home for the Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research
The Westmead Institute for Cancer Research, located at Westmead Millennium Institute,
Westmead Institute for Cancer Research (WICR) conducts research into the molecular and cellular basis of human cancer (breast cancer, melanoma and other skin cancers, ovarian cancer and bowel cancer) and leukaemia. The research of WICR is focused on understanding cell growth, cell defences against cancer-causing DNA toxins, immunological defence against cancer, the relationships between viruses and cancer, and the genetic foundations of the disease.
Researchers at WICR were a major partner in the matching and characterisation of the genes that make people susceptible to melanoma. In addition, the unit has shown new ways that hormones regulate breast cancers, and the familial cancer laboratory is one the main centres for Australian collaborative work on the genes that make women susceptible to breast cancer. Research groups within the Westmead Institute for Cancer Research include:
- Breast Cancer, led by Professor Christine Clarke
- Familial Cancer, led by A/Prof Judy Kirk
- Gene Expression, led by Dr Beric Henderson
- Gynaecological Oncology, led by Dr Anna deFazio
- Leukaemia Cell Biology, led by Dr Linda Bendall
- Leukaemia Cell Therapies, led by Professor David Gottlieb
- Melanoma Program – Genomics & Genetics Epidemiology Research Team, led by Professor Graham Mann
- Translational Oncology, led by Dr Rosemary Balleine