Speakers
Professor Mei Krishnasamy
Clair Scott
Dr Carla Thamm
Plenary Sessions
Education is fundamental to preparing the cancer nursing workforce for what comes next. As cancer treatments evolve rapidly, nurses require timely, practical education to safely deliver care and advocate for equity across diverse settings. This plenary explores how nursing knowledge, the Nursing Equity Assessment Tool (NEAT), and digital innovation work together to ensure novel therapies translate into better patient outcomes rather than increased risk.
Artificial Intelligence is already influencing patient decision-making, often before patients ever reach a clinician. As patients increasingly use AI to interpret symptoms, make decisions, and navigate care, nurses must be prepared to respond when those decisions are invisible, sometimes misinformed, and not aligned with real-world care pathways. This session challenges nurses to step forward by shaping how AI is implemented, influencing the problems it is built to solve, and leading the ethical, patient-centred conversations that must underpin its use.
Alongside this, the plenary will explore the application of the Nursing Equity Assessment Tool (NEAT) as a structured approach to identifying inequities and unmet needs in cancer care, and examine the nursing implications of emerging therapies, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), with a strong focus on toxicity recognition, escalation pathways, and patient education. The session will also introduce the redeveloped Australian Cancer Nursing Framework and its role in defining practice, supporting career progression, and strengthening consistency across the workforce.
Professor Mei Krishnasamy PhD, FAAN, is Professor of Cancer Nursing at the University of Melbourne, Research and Education Lead for Nursing at the VCCC Alliance and, Honorary Research Fellow in the Centre for Health Services Research at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She is an internationally recognised cancer nurse-researcher who has built a leading program of consumer-informed cancer supportive care research that has been translated into health policy. Her work is defined by a commitment to addressing equitable access to cancer care, with particular focus on older people and those with poor outcome cancers. In2018, Mei was awarded lifetime membership of the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia (CNSA) for servicesto cancer nursing and in July 2022, was inducted as a Fellow of the American Academy of Nursing. She hasauthored or co‐authored successful competitive research grants totalling AU$38.3M and has published over 120 peer-reviewed papers. She is past President of the Cancer Nurses Society of Australia and the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia.
Clair Scott CAR-T Clinical Nurse Consultant – Fiona Stanley Hospital
Clair has been practicing clinically in Haematology and Oncology for 26 years, gaining experience across Cell and Tissue Therapy, Apheresis Procedures, Haematology, Bone Marrow Transplant, Medical Oncology, Radiation Oncology, Palliative Care, Survivorship, and Ambulatory Cancer Care. For the last five years, she has served as the Clinical Nurse Consultant for CAR-T Cell Therapy, embracing the challenge of helping to grow this program in Western Australia.
Outside of work, Clair is mother to four fiercely independent daughters, and her family enjoys many outdoor adventures together, including camping, hiking, and paddling.
Dr Carla Thamm is a Senior Research Fellow and clinical lead in the Cancer Survivorship Program at Flinders University, working from the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane. She is a nationally and internationally recognised leader in cancer nursing, bringing 20+ years of clinical nursing experience and 10 years of academic engagement. Carla’s career spans diverse roles in Australia and England, including advanced practice cancer nursing, clinical leadership and tertiary teaching and curriculum development. She leads a substantial research program focused on cancer survivorship, patient navigation and nurse-led models of care, contributing to national programs and frameworks that inform practice and policy. Carla also actively contributes to advancing the nursing profession and cancer care through various professional leadership roles in national and international cancer organisations.
Director of Research and Senior Rsearch Fellow in Digital Health, The University of Melbourne
Kit is a clinically trained digital health researcher focused on building systems that generate decision-relevant evidence for emerging health technologies before they are deployed in clinical care. He leads the Centre's Digital Health Validitron, a research lab that uses clinical simulation and pre-implementation evaluation to test the safety, performance, and workflow fit of digital and AI-enabled tools.