The Team

Professor Robert Newton

Edith Cowan University

Professor Rob Newton is Associate Dean, Medical and Exercise Sciences and Co-Director of the Exercise Medicine Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences at Edith Cowan University. He is an Accredited Exercise Physiologist, Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist with Distinction with the NSCA, Fellow of Exercise and Sports Science Australia and Fellow of the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA).

Rob’s career remains committed to research into the acute and chronic effects of exercise on human structure, function and performance with particular focus on people with cancer. This work has contributed substantially to our understanding of the mechanisms through which exercise impacts all body systems and how these systems respond and adapt to a range of stimuli including all forms of anabolic and aerobic exercise.

Rob has been a chief investigator on research grants valued at over $20 million, including National Health and Medical Research Council, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Cancer Australia, Australian Research Council, Movember and Cancer Council Western Australia. His publication record includes over 300 peer reviewed journal publications, book chapters and books.

Rob is currently co-chair of the Steering Committee for an international research project (GAP4) investigating the impact of exercise medicine on progression free survival of men with advanced prostate cancer funded by Movember. He is also a co-investigator on POLARIS, an international collaborative research program into exercise and cancer.

David Sandoe OAM

David was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 1996. He and his wife Pam telephone counselled men, their wives/partners and families before being asked to lead the Prostate Cancer Support Group Network at the Sydney Adventist Hospital which they did for over 13 years.

He retired on 31 December 2012 as a Principal and General Manager of Finity Consulting Pty Limited, an independently owned Australian firm of actuaries and insurance consultants. Prior to that David held various senior executive roles in the general insurance industry across Australia, New Zealand, United Kingdom and Ireland.

David retired as the National Chairman of Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia on 31 March 2015 and during his almost 20 year involvement was also chairman of the:

• National Public Awareness & Education Committee;
• NSW/ACT Board
• NSW/ACT Support & Advocacy Committee
• National Support & Advocacy Committee (Co-Chair)
• National Support Groups Committee (Acting)

He has also held various chairmanships, board, committee and membership roles with Cancer Council of NSW, Cancer Voices NSW, Cancer Voices Australia, NSW Oncology Urology and the Institute of Magnetic Resonance Research at the University of Sydney. David continues to serve on various research boards/committees involved with cancer including Cancer Australia. David and Pam present at Men’s Health forums in Australia and New Zealand.

David is an Honorary Life Member of the Australian & New Zealand Institute of Insurance & Finance; Honorary Member of the Swiss Australian Chamber of Commerce & Industry Inc and Honorary Life Member of Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia. He was awarded the Order of Australia Medal in the Queen’s Birthday Honours announced in June 2006 for service to community health through support for men diagnosed with prostate cancer and their families and to the insurance industry.

Professor Paul Scuffham

Griffith University

Paul Scuffham is a Professor in Health Economics, Director of the Centre for Applied Health Economics (School of Medicine) and Deputy Director of the Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University. He is one of the two health economists who are Fellows of the prestigious Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

His research interests are in modelling the costs and benefits of health care interventions in cardiovascular disease, cancer, mental health, injury prevention, and vaccines. He frequently conducts valuations of health outcomes, and examines individual preferences for healthcare including evaluating methods for formally incorporating the public in health policy decision-making.

Over the last 20 years, Professor Scuffham has developed a solid reputation as a health economist. He has led the economic evaluation on more than 20 clinical and pragmatic trials, and his research places an emphasis on the translation of into health policy. He has published 240 articles in peer-reviewed journals, including in the Lancet, European Heart Journal, plus over 100 economics discussion papers and commissioned reports. He leads major contracts with the Australian Government’s Department of Health for evaluating new medicines and health services for listing on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Schedule and the Medical Benefits Schedule. Paul was active in establishing the Australian Chapter of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR-AC), and was the founding President (2008-13). He serves on the editorial boards of five journals, and was co-editor of Value in Health (2007-25) and is associate-editor of Medical Decision Making, both top ranking journals in the field.

Associate Professor David Smith

Cancer Council New South Wales

Associate Professor David Smith is a Senior Research Fellow and Head of the Prostate Cancer Research Program at Cancer Council NSW. He is an epidemiologist and health services researcher with over 20 years of public health research experience. He has a specialist interest in issues related to; the causes of prostate, the effects of early detection and screening, patterns of care for prostate cancer and improving the quality of life of men living with prostate cancer.

David has published and presented extensively on the care and outcomes of care for prostate cancer and other urological cancers. He regularly speaks to both academic and community audiences, particularly prostate cancer support groups about the results of population-wide research.

David has held research grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Cancer Australia, and Cancer Institute NSW. He currently holds a Career Development Fellowship from the Cancer Institute NSW examining the long term quality of life outcomes in a cohort of men diagnosed with prostate cancer. His research is published in internationally leading journals including the Journal of Clinical Oncology, the British Medical Journal and the International Journal of Cancer. David holds adjunct appointments with Sydney University School of Public Health and with Menzies Health Institute Queensland at Griffith University. He is involved in a number of committees, including the Movember Prostate Cancer Outcomes Registry – Australia and New Zealand (PCOR-ANZ).

Dr Kevin Stein

Emory University

Dr Kevin Stein is an Associate Professor, Behavioral Sciences and Health Education Department of the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University. The goals of Dr Stein’s research are to gain a better understanding of the physical and psychosocial functioning of persons affected by cancer and develop, test, and disseminate evidence-based interventions to address these issues. He is the author of over 70 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters.

Dr Stein served as the Vice President and Managing Director of Behavioral Research for the American Cancer Society, managing a team of behavioral scientists focusing on behavioral and psychosocial cancer research. While at ACS, Dr Stein oversaw the design and implementation of the Study of Cancer Survivors, a large-scale, population-based, national longitudinal study of quality of life among cancer survivors, which contributed to the translation of results into support programs for survivors.

Dr Stein received a bachelor’s degree in Psychology from the University of Florida and Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of South Florida. He completed an APA-approved internship at the James A. Haley Veterans’ Hospital and a Postdoctoral Research Fellowship in Psychosocial Oncology at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Dr Stein is an active member of the International Psychosocial Oncology Society, the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, the International Society of Quality of Life Research, and the Society of Behavioral Medicine. He is a Fellow of the American Psychosocial Oncology Society, a licensed psychologist, and a member of the Georgia Psychological Association.

Clinical Professor Nigel Spry

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital

Professor Spry is an eminent radiation oncologist and academic in the field of prostate cancer.

Nigel has a wealth of clinical and research experience as reflected by his professorial appointments at the University of Western Australia, Edith Cowan University (ECU), Curtin University and the University of New South Wales. He is a senior specialist in radiation oncology at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital and with Genesis CancerCare at Shenton House in Joondalup.

With a passion for practical research that translates into direct benefits for patients, Nigel has published over 130 peer reviewed papers, and has presented at over 100 national and international meetings. Many of the Australian research programs in which he has been involved have directly improved the way patients are treated, from toxicity reduction to improved cancer outcomes. His ongoing work with ECU on the reduction of co-morbidities in cancer patients through tailored exercise programs has helped patients recover quicker from cancer and has led to a change in the standard of care of cancer patients.

In addition to belonging to various scientific committees and his consultancy appointments, Nigel is a founding member of the Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG) and a past board member of the Australasian Gastro-Intestinal Trials Group (AGITG). He is also a member of the Urological Society of Australia and New Zealand (USA), the Genito-Urinary Oncological Group (GUOG), the European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), and the European Study Group for Pancreatic Cancer (ESPAC).

Professor Gary Wittert

University of Adelaide

Gary is Head of the Discipline of Medicine, University of Adelaide; Senior Principle Research Fellow at the South Australian Institute for Health and Medical Research; and Senior Consultant Endocrinologist Royal Adelaide Hospital. He is Director of the Freemasons Foundation Centre for Men’s Health Research. He obtained his medical degree from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg South Africa, and trained as an endocrinologist in Christchurch, New Zealand, during which time he obtained an MD from the University of Otago. Thereafter he undertook postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Oregon Health Sciences University.

He joined the University of Adelaide in 1994, received a Personal Chair in 2004. In October 2015 he was elected to Fellowship of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences.

He initiated and oversees the Florey Adelaide Male Ageing Study (FAMAS) and the Male, Adelaide, Inflammation, Lifestyle and Stress (MAILES) Study. He leads a large, Australian based multi-center clinical trial of the use of testosterone for diabetes prevention trial in men (T4DM). His basic research is currently focused on peripheral mechanisms of appetite regulation and intermediary metabolism, and the role of nutritional and metabolic factors in prostate cancer.

Among other appointments, Professor Wittert is currently Independent Chair of the Weight Management Council of Australia, and founding Editor in Chief of Obesity Research and Clinical Practice.

He has authored over 300 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, and is currently funded by the NHMRC, ARC, Freemasons Foundation, Movember and PCFA, the Royal Adelaide Hospital Gum bequest, and the University of Adelaide.