David Currow, MD (Australia)

Professor David Currow is currently the foundation Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia, the Australian government’s national cancer control agency. He continues to hold the appointment of Professor of Palliative and Supportive Services at Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia.

David initially trained as a physician in internal medicine with sub-speciality training in palliative medicine. At the same time, he completed a Master of Public Health exploring changes in the reported incidence of cancer unknown primary in New South Wales over a 25 year time period. Former roles include foundation Director of the Nepean Cancer Care Centre, Sydney and Area Director of Palliative Services Wentworth Area Health Service, Sydney. Since 2000 he has had the Chair of Palliative and Supportive Services at Flinders University where there are more than 200 distance students studying at a post-graduate level around the world from a variety of discipline backgrounds. He has published widely in palliative care journals and the general medical literature. Among other projects, he is co-chief investigator on an anthology of evidence for palliative care practice and service delivery – www.caresearch.com.au Other research interests include the symptomatic management of dyspnoea, improving population based planning for people with life limiting illnesses and improving the evidence base around which clinical decisions are made in palliative care.

David holds grants from the National Health and Medical Research Council, the National Institutes of Health (USA) and the Cancer Council Australia. He continues on the Board of the International Association of Hospice and Palliative Care (IAHPC) and has been on the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) taskforce on palliative care education. He is a former president of the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia and a former president of Palliative Care Australia, the peak body for palliative care in the country. He is a senior associate editor of the Journal of Palliative Medicine and an associate editor of BioMed Central Palliative Care,

Since October 2006 David has been foundation Chief Executive Officer of Cancer Australia. He, together with a dedicated team are leading the government’s agenda in improving coordination of cancer control, targeted research with better coordination between research funders and consumer engagement. In February 2007, the government also asked Cancer Australia to take leadership of the National Centre for Gynaecological Cancers. The agency currently administers jointly with funding partners more than AU$20m per year in grants for projects and programs to improve cancer service delivery and cancer research.