Professor Richard Kefford AM MB BS PhD FRACP FAHMS
Rick Kefford is the Head of the Department of Clinical Medicine and the lead of the cancer program at Macquarie University, Sydney. He is also an Honorary Professor in Medicine at the University of Sydney and Co-Director of Research at Melanoma Institute Australia. Rick graduated in medicine from the University of Sydney then trained in medical oncology at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, and as a graduate student at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Sydney, where he gained a PhD in purine biochemistry. His post-doctoral period was spent with Nobel Laureate, Dr Cesar Milstein at the Laboratory of Molecular Biology, MRC Centre, Cambridge, UK on a Howard Florey Fellowship of the Royal Society of London. He founded the Department of Medical Oncology at Westmead Hospital in 1986 and was Founding Director of the Westmead Institute for Cancer Research at Westmead Millennium Institute in1998. He was Professor of Medicine and Chair of the Division of Medicine at Westmead Hospital from 1998-2013. He continues clinical practice in the medical treatment of melanoma and breast cancer at Macquarie University Hospital, Westmead Hospital, Norwest Private Hospital, and the Mater Hospital, North Sydney.
He has conducted research into molecular genetics of melanoma continuously since 1985. His research group played a major role in the mapping of the melanoma susceptibility gene p16 and in characterising hereditary mutations in this gene, which predispose individuals to a very high risk of melanoma. He has been Principal Investigator on more than 40 clinical trials in cancer treatment including Phase 1 trials of drugs targeting the MAP kinase pathway and immune check-point inhibitors like anti-PD1.
Professor Kefford is a Member of the Board of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). Clinical Expert Advisory Panel of the WHO Melanoma Group, and founding member of the International Melanoma Genetics Consortium, Genomel. He has been a member of the Research Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council and Chaired its Project Grants Committee. He is a member of the Medical Oncology Group (Australia) and on the executive of its ethics committee. He is a Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research and the Australian Medical Association. He has been Visiting Professor of the Cancer Society of New Zealand and an invited plenary speaker at the New Zealand Society of Oncology, the World Melanoma Conference, the World Congress of Dermatology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, the Lorne Cancer Conference and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia Annual Meeting. He is the author of over 200 papers in the peer-reviewed medical literature. Professor Kefford is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Research, a group of Australia’s leading medical researchers, which works to mentor the next generation of clinician researchers, provide evidence-based advice to government about health, and provide a high level forum for discussion about priorities in medical research in Australia
He has conducted research into molecular genetics of melanoma continuously since 1985. His research group played a major role in the mapping of the melanoma susceptibility gene p16 and in characterising hereditary mutations in this gene, which predispose individuals to a very high risk of melanoma. He has been Principal Investigator on more than 40 clinical trials in cancer treatment including Phase 1 trials of drugs targeting the MAP kinase pathway and immune check-point inhibitors like anti-PD1.
Professor Kefford is a Member of the Board of the National Breast Cancer Foundation (NBCF). Clinical Expert Advisory Panel of the WHO Melanoma Group, and founding member of the International Melanoma Genetics Consortium, Genomel. He has been a member of the Research Committee of the National Health and Medical Research Council and Chaired its Project Grants Committee. He is a member of the Medical Oncology Group (Australia) and on the executive of its ethics committee. He is a Member of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, the American Association for Cancer Research and the Australian Medical Association. He has been Visiting Professor of the Cancer Society of New Zealand and an invited plenary speaker at the New Zealand Society of Oncology, the World Melanoma Conference, the World Congress of Dermatology, the American Society of Clinical Oncology Annual Meeting, the Lorne Cancer Conference and the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia Annual Meeting. He is the author of over 200 papers in the peer-reviewed medical literature. Professor Kefford is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Research, a group of Australia’s leading medical researchers, which works to mentor the next generation of clinician researchers, provide evidence-based advice to government about health, and provide a high level forum for discussion about priorities in medical research in Australia