Robert J S Thomas

Professor Thomas is a clinician who has worked as a surgeon in the field of cancer for several decades He was instrumental in the development of the discipline of surgical oncology in Australasia and was responsible for creating the Surgical Oncology Group within the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons. He has served as editor-in-chief of the ANZ Journal of Surgery and chair of the National Health and Medical Research Council panels. He is the current chair of the international WISH (World Innovation Summit on Health) forum entitled ‘Delivering Affordable Cancer Care and has ongoing research interests in the molecular pathology of gastrointestinal tumours.

He has been actively involved in developing cancer reforms within Australia, serving as president of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (COSA), Chair of the national committee creating the Colorectal cancer guidelines and a member of the Ministerial Taskforce on Cancer. He is currently Co -Chair of the National Cancer Expert Reference Group a COAG funded committee pursuing a national workplan for cancer.

Professor Thomas has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific papers and book chapters. He has been honoured by the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons with the Excellence in Surgery Award.