Our people
Our team may be small, but we pack a big punch!
Our inspiring team work hard to accelerate change for upper gastrointestinal cancers and dedicate a huge amount of both professional capability and personal time for us to realise our vision.
In addition to our Board of Directors, we are well supported by our Medical Advisory Committee who oversee our research program and our PanSupport Advisory Committee who guide the development of our programs and services for people impacted by upper gastrointestinal cancers.
Meet our CEO
Doug Hawkins
Chief Executive Officer
Doug specialises in design and delivery of business transformation programs designed to commercialise innovation and accelerate growth.
Doug has lived and worked in Australia, Europe, Asia and the UK serving as an Executive, Senior Manager and CEO Advisor to innovative multinational corporations such as Hutchison Telecoms, Telecom Asia, Orange, British Telecom, AOL, EDS, Hewlett Packard, Arkadin & NTT. Doug also served as CEO of a BRW Fast 100 technology services company and led a two year transformation of a prominent global online ecommerce & business networking platform within the entertainment industry.
Doug is a graduate of several world class executive programs covering New Venturing, Global Business Transformation, Leadership, nnovation and M&A from the prestigious Harvard Business School, London Business School and Arhus University, Denmark. Doug also holds an Master in Business Administration (MBA).
Doug is leading Pancare’s current transformation program to scale its patient and carer services nationally and increase funding to support Pancare’s research investment in line with the charity’s strategic objectives.
Connect with Doug on LinkedIn.
Our Board of Directors
With representation from a diverse range of professional background, including medical, oncology and commercial business management, our Board offer their services passionately and voluntarily to guide the Foundation to achieve its mission.
Chairman, Pancare Foundation
Clive Appleton has extensive experience in property and funds management and property development, having worked for several of Australia’s leading retail property investment, management and development groups. Clive’s executive experience includes Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director roles with Gandel Retail Trust, Jennings Group, The Gandel Group Pty Limited and APN Property Group. In addition to his Chair position on the Board of Pancare, Clive also holds Directorships, Executive Positions and Advisory Roles as Chairman of Aspen Group, Deputy Chairman of The Gandel Group Pty Limited, Director of APN Property Group Limited, Perth Airport Pty Ltd and Perth Airport Development Group Pty Ltd.
“I am honoured to be serving as Chair of the Pancare Foundation Board. This wonderful organisation that is devoted to both research and care forthose directly impacted by pancreatic cancer has an important role to playin our society. It is vital that we continue the search to find a cure; we must redouble our effort to eradicate these diseases forever.”
Founder, Pancare Foundation
Dr Mehrdad Nikfarjam is one of the country’s leading liver, pancreas and biliary surgeons with extensive training and education, gained in both Australia and the USA. His belief has always been that no cancer patient should be denied an opportunity for the best available care. He completed his medical degree MBBS (Hons) at Monash University in 1997. During his surgical training that followed he was awarded a PhD from University of Melbourne, supported by a Surgeon Scientist Scholarship from the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons (R.A.C.S). He completed his surgical Fellowship in Australia in 2007 (F.R.A.C.S), before continuing with specialist’s surgical training in the USA.
He has publications in leading surgical journals, including the highest ranked surgical journal, Annals of Surgery and he has been involved in pancreatic cancer studies published in the highest ranked journal, Nature. He is the lead investigator on several prospective studies on the treatment of pancreatic and liver disorders and is collaborator on the pancreatic genome project with the Garvin Institute, NSW. Dr Mehrdad Nikfarjam has also contributed to the supervision of several surgical trainees, Honours and PhD students.
Treasurer, Pancare Foundation
Rod Cairnduff is a CPA with more than 25 years’ experience working across the finance sector. For the past six years Rod has run his own firm while serving on the board of a number of not-for-profits, giving valuable advice and direction in regard to financial sustainability and longevity.
Douglas’ experience in the metals industry began with his family’s Victorian business since 1977, which led to a management role with the Poseidon Group of Companies before moving to the mining, mineral and metal oxide industry. Douglas founded Southern Recycling in 1992 and Ecocycle Industries in 1996. Douglas founded Recycal in late 2010 and took over his old silver and mercury business CMA Ecocycle in late 2013; growing each nationally. Douglas enjoys devoting his time to those less fortunate and is involved in a number of charities and mentoring programs.
Paul has over 40 years of national and international industry experience in the engineering/property design, construction, development, and funds management sectors. He has an Honours degree in Civil Engineering & a Science degree in Mathematics & Psychology. Among many senior executive roles over this period, Paul was most recently an Executive Director with Lend Lease (Melbourne and Sydney), the founding CEO of the MAB Corporation (Melbourne) and Managing Director of Chord Capital (Melbourne). Paul currently holds several Board positions and is passionate about his role with Pancare.
Angeline Nicholas is currently Head of Digital Advertising at The Australian (News Corp) and specialises in digital strategy and operations. Having held leadership positions at eBay, Qantas.com and Federal Government, she is a great supporter of non-profits utilising online assets to champion their cause. She has a Masters of Commerce (International Business) and Bachelor of Business (Marketing) from the University of NSW and has held director positions on boards both in Australia and in the UK.
Our staff
PanSupport & Research
David Menzies, Head of PanSupport
Dr Amy Larsen, Program Enablement Manager & Research Manager
Shannon Gleeson, Upper GI Cancer Specialist Nurse
Tiffany Dobson, Upper GI Cancer Specialist Nurse
Mira Patel, Emotional Wellbeing Counsellor
Fundraising, Events & Advocacy
James Stewart, Head of Commercial
Sheena Delaney, National Events Manager
Samantha Spokes, Fundraising & Events Coordinator
Catherine Mahy, Community Fundraising Coordinator
Elizabeth Andrew, Head of Government Relations & Advocacy
Business Management, Finance and Administration
Kim Cain, Senior Bookkeeper
Bernie Muscat, Head of Operations
Help fund research that seeks to discover new and specialised treatments for upper gastrointestinal cancers.
