VICS Cancer Survivorship Clinical Network webinar 30 May 2025
On 30 May 2025, the VICS hosted a free webinar on cancer survivorship care.
The session was designed to enhance the knowledge and skills of health professionals in this critical area and provide valuable insights into the unique needs of cancer survivors and effective care strategies post-treatment.
Watch each section of the webinar below, or in our YouTube playlist.
Biographies for each presenter and links to the resources mentioned in their presentations are included below after each video.
Consumer voice – Brett Aplin
Brett Aplin is a former immunologist, now professional composer of music for film and television, who was treated for cancer at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. He volunteers as a peer mentor for current patients and has joined the Peter Mac. Consumer Register, where he acts as a consumer representative on a variety of projects. Brett is also an active member of the Victorian Head and Neck Cancer Support Group.
VICS Cancer Survivorship Program overview – Frezsa Fulia
Frezsa Fulia (she/her) is the project lead for the VICS Cancer Survivorship Program. Her blend of clinical experience, project management skills, and creativity enables the development of tailored solutions to meet the diverse needs of people affected by cancer.
Victorian Long-Term Follow-Up Program – Heather Laing-Peach & Hannah Pring
Heather Laing-Peach is a Clinical Nurse Consultant in the Paediatric Integrated Cancer Service (PICS) Long-Term Follow-up Program (LTFP), providing best-practice long-term follow-up care to survivors of childhood cancer across Victoria. Working within the multidisciplinary LTFP team, Heather delivers coordinated and personalised care in partnership with The Royal Children’s Hospital and Monash Children’s Hospital. Heather is passionate about supporting and educating children and their families as they enter the survivorship phase of their journey.
Hannah Pring is a Service Improvement Project Lead at PICS and an Honorary Research Assistant at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI). Her professional and research focus is on improving the psychosocial wellbeing and outcomes of young people and their families in healthcare settings. Hannah is a graduate of the Melbourne University Master of Youth Mental Health, where she undertook a qualitative research study with the MCRI to explore young people’s preferences for end-of-cancer treatment care. Hannah used implementation science frameworks to translate these research findings to a new paediatric end-of-treatment model of care. In her professional roles, Hannah works on quality improvement initiatives to enhance survivorship care for Victorians affected by childhood cancer.
South Gippsland Hospital person-centred cancer survivorship model – Tanya Cook
Tanya Cook has been a Registered Nurse since 1991. She has a Bachelor of Nursing; Graduate Certificate of Stomal Therapy, Continence and Wound; and Graduate Certificate of Breast Cancer Nursing. Tanya has worked in community nursing at South Gippsland Hospital in Foster, Victoria since 2000. She is presently a Cancer Survivorship Nurse for Gippsland Southern Health Service and a McGrath Cancer Care Nurse (Breast), Stomal Therapist and District Nurse at South Gippsland Hospital.
The importance of exercise in cancer survivorship – Alexia Koutoulas
Alexia Koutoulas is a project officer at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. She holds a Bachelor of Sports and Exercise Science and a Master of Clinical Exercise Science Psychology and is accredited with Exercise & Sports Science Australia (ESSA). With diverse experience in public hospital settings, Alexia has supported individuals across their lifespan – from adolescents and young adults to older adults. She is passionate about educating patients on the powerful role of exercise during cancer treatment and is committed to empowering them to feel confident and safe integrating movement into their lives.
Good Life Cancer Survivorship Program – Rebecca McIntosh
Rebecca McIntosh is an accredited practising dietitian with over 20 years’ experience across acute, sub-acute and primary healthcare settings in a variety of clinical, leadership and management roles. She has led multiple statewide cancer malnutrition and cancer survivorship care projects funded by the Department of Health and is a member of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Cancer Survivorship Executive Committee. In addition to her role in the Nutrition and Speech Pathology Department and Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, she manages the ‘Good Life – Cancer Survivorship’ program at healthAbility (previously known as Carrington Health).
- healthAbility Good Life Cancer Survivorship Program
- A model of cancer survivorship care within a community health setting: the Good Life Cancer Survivorship program. J Cancer Surviv 14, 36–42 (2020)
- Implementation of a referral pathway for cancer survivors to access allied health services in the community. BMC Health Serv Res 23, 440 (2023)
Latrobe Regional Health Survivorship Clinic – Joanne Wilson
Joanne Wilson has worked for Latrobe Regional Health for just over 6 years and took over the Survivorship Nurse role in November 2023. Prior to working at LRH, she was a paramedic in Western Australia. Jo decided to move to Melbourne and change career, completing a Master of Nursing Science in 2018. She discovered her passion for oncology nursing in 2019 and is now completing the Graduate Certificate in Advanced Clinical Nursing – Cancer Nursing at Monash University.
Clinical Placement Program in Cancer Survivorship – Lin Chai
Lin Chai is project manager of the Australian Cancer Survivorship Centre (ACSC) Clinical Placement Program in Cancer Survivorship. She has worked across various survivorship education initiatives, including facilitating webinars and programs for consumers, carers and their families, as well as professional development workshops for health professionals. Lin’s background is in public health nutrition and dietetics, with experience in project management in the higher education and non-profit sectors. She is experienced in delivering education programs, designing and analysing interventions as well as performing evidence-based advocacy. Lin is passionate about building local capacity and creating system change to improve the quality of care in cancer survivorship.
