2025 Post WFNOS / SNO Webinar​

Dr. Saskia Freytag is a laboratory head in the Personalised Oncology Division at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute. She co-leads the Brain Cancer Research Laboratory at the Brain Cancer Centre and directs its bioinformatics work, where her team applies advanced single-cell and spatial omics technologies to enhance surgical approaches, uncover treatment resistance, and discover new therapeutic strategies. She holds a PhD in Statistical Genetics from Georg-August University and has completed postdoctoral work at WEHI and the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research. Beyond her scientific contributions, she is committed to community and inclusivity, having chaired the Bioconductor Project’s Code of Conduct Committee and served as an ambassador for the Australian Mathematical Science Institute’s CHOOSEMATHS program.

Dr. Andrew Gogos is a neurosurgeon from Melbourne with a sub specialist interest in neuro-oncology. After training in Australia, he completed a brain tumour fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. He has published extensively on the surgical management of patients with glioma and was a co-convenor of the COGNO ASM in 2024.

Dr. Lukasz Klobukowski is a Radiation Oncologist at Auckland City Hospital and ARO. With a background that includes a BSc in Computer Science, a medical degree and postgraduate diploma in Ophthalmology from the University of Otago, and fellowships through the Auckland Regional Cancer Centre and the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. His extensive clinical oncology experience spans neuro-oncology, head and neck, gastrointestinal and skin cancers, often within clinical trials, and he is skilled in advanced radiotherapy techniques such as stereotactic radiosurgery, CyberKnife, MR Linac and unsealed source therapy. He has a strong clinical interest in central nervous system tumours as well as head and neck, melanoma, gastrointestinal and oligometastatic cancers.

Dr. Marion K. Mateos is an early-career clinician researcher and paediatric oncologist, with a clinical focus on treatment of children with brain tumours. Her translational research profile is focused on early phase clinical trial development, application of liquid biopsy and biomarker development, as well as reducing treatment-related toxicities in children. She is the successful recipient of a Cancer Institute NSW Early Career Fellowship (2019-2023) and the inaugural Col Reynolds Clinical Fellowship from The Kids’ Cancer Project (2024-2027).

Dr. Jim Whittle is a Neuro-Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre and Co-Head of the Brain Cancer Research Laboratory at WEHI. An emerging leader in Neuro-Oncology, he combines a deep understanding of basic biology with innovative drug development through patient-derived models and novel Phase 0 clinical trials. Dr. Whittle holds multiple leadership roles, including Co-Director of Research Strategy at the Brain Cancer Centre, Management Committee Member as well as Chair of the Outreach and Education Committee for COGNO, and member of the research advisory committee for the Mark Hughes Foundation Centre for Brain Cancer Research. He is also dedicated to enhancing care and clinical trial enrolment for Adolescents and Young Adults (AYAs) with brain tumours, and online survivorship and support initiatives like braintumoursonline.org (led together with Prof Kate Drummond at RMH).