Haematology in Focus: Expert Updates for Oncology Nurses

Julija Sipavicius

BMT Nurse Practitioner, Royal North Shore Hospital

Julija Sipavicius MNP, MLead, BSc

Nurse Practitioner: Blood & Marrow Transplantation, Royal North Shore Hospital. Sydney, NSW Affiliate Clinical Lecturer. Faculty of Medicine & Health. University of Sydney.

Julija Sipavicius is a Nurse Practitioner with almost 20 years of experience in the speciality of Haematology and blood and marrow transplantation (BMT). Having trained in Australia she then worked at the Hammersmith Hospital in London UK for 6 years where she established her interest in BMT. Upon return to Australia she worked briefly for the BMT Network on a research project then the Cancer Institute NSW as a BMT content author. Julija returned to the clinical area as a senior nurse completing a Master’s degree in nursing Leadership. She then took up a position as the BMT coordinator at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, completing another Master’s Degree and subsequently taking up the position of BMT Nurse Practitioner.  Julija is a founding member of the Haematology Society of Australia and New Zealand Nurses’ Group, past secretary and co-editor for the Nurse Group newsletter, and is an affiliate clinical lecturer at the University of Sydney. Julija currently works as the BMT Nurse Practitioner at Royal North Shore Hospital in Sydney. Her core clinical work remains in BMT with a focus on acute and long term post BMT care.

Clinical Associate Professor Tracy King PhD, MN(NP), MN(Lead), RN

Myeloma Clinical Nurse Consultant, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Tracy King PhD, MN(NP), MN(Lead), RN
Myeloma Clinical Nurse Consultant, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, NSW
Clinical Associate Professor, Research Fellow & Lecturer Cancer Nursing Research Unit, Faculty of Medicine and Health, Sydney University.

Tracy King is the Multiple Myeloma (MM) Clinical Nurse Consultant (CNC) at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Clinical Associate Professor, Research Fellow and Lecturer at the Cancer Care Research Unit, The University of Sydney. With over 35 years’ experience in the field of Haematology/BMT, Tracy developed a specialist interest in myeloma 25yrs ago when working with Myeloma UK. In Australia Tracy has become an active member of a range of national and international professional working groups including those of the Cancer Institute NSW. She is a steering committee member of the Myeloma and Related Disease Registry (MRDR), founding Chair of the HSANZ Myeloma Special Practice Network (M-SPN) and Past President and co-founder of the HSANZ Nurses Group. Tracy is an invited member of the IMF Nurse Leadership Board (NLB), the Myeloma UK Nurse Advisory Group and leads the nurse’s program development and delivery during the International Myeloma Society Annual Meeting. She was awarded the Outstanding Research Achievement Nursing & Midwifery Award 2019 by Sydney Local Health Network (SLHD) for her leadership and research in better understanding the experiences of those affected by MM taking high dose steroids and the role of patient reported outcome measures (PROM). The HSANZ recognised her significant contribution to haematology by awarding her the 2024 HSANZ Leadership Award. Tracy has a Master of Nursing (Leadership) and was awarded her PhD in 2021 by The University of Sydney. She has recently completed her Masters of Nurse Practitioner USYD.

Emily Anderson

CAR-T Registered Nurse, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital

Emily Anderson is an experienced haematology nurse specialising in CAR-T cell therapy at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.

Since joining the CAR-T service in 2021, Emily has played an integral role in developing and refining the ambulatory CAR-T model of care, including clinical pathways, patient education resources and processes supporting continuity of care. Her background includes haematology, blood and marrow transplantation, cellular therapy coordination and CAR-T data management.

Emily holds a Master of Cancer and Haematology Nursing from the University of Sydney and is passionate about advancing nursing practice, improving patient outcomes and supporting the delivery of safe, accessible cellular therapies.