AGITG Annual Scientific Meeting

Carmel O’Kane

Wimmera Cancer Centre, VIC, Australia

Attending the AGITG conference in Aotearoa was absolutely phenomenal. Being from a rural/regional centre is often challenging to stay in contact as much as we would like.

This conference combined the collaborations and learnings in the clinical field, which were excellent, however the cultural learnings that were shared by the New Zealand people about how they are working with the Maori was particularly interesting.

The workshop with Maori talking about how they have developed a culturally safe process for consulting with Maori patients that uses Maori language and processes, and some of the research that is happening in NZ that is directed by the local Maori families in collaboration with AGITG researchers is inspirational.

This opportunity is already having an influence in my own practice, rethinking what culturally safe patient centred care is really about and how I can make small changes that will continue to impact my patients.

As always at conference, the networking with colleagues and industry was also perfect and very enjoyable.

Libby Rea Brownlee

University of Auckland, New Zealand

Christchurch’s Te Pae was a fitting venue for the AGITG ASM 2023 where themes of equity and sustainability featured prominently throughout the week. It was an excellent opportunity to hear from esteemed international clinicians on equity in clinical trials and access to care. Social events arranged throughout the week provided further opportunity to connect with oncology clinicians and nurse practitioners from Aotearoa and beyond.

Attending the ASM 2023 has inspired me to incorporate the Meihana Model into my own research and oncology nursing practice.

Dr Natalie Collier

Liverpool Cancer Therapy Centre, NSW Australia

I attended my first AGITG ASM in 2020, which was condensed into a one-day virtual meeting. Despite the change in format, the passion and collegiality of AGITG just flowed through the online platform. It was both impressive and educational to hear of AGITG trial updates and successes, particularly during these current challenging times. I presented at the New Concepts Symposium and was honoured to receive the runner-up award, along with extremely valuable feedback which will help to shape and progress my trial concept. I look forward to joining many more ASMs in the future, and would highly recommend it, especially to those early on in their research career for encouragement and inspiration.​

A/Prof Manisha Palta

Duke University School of Medicine, USA

The AGITG Annual Scientific Meeting was nothing sort of exceptional. There is true multi-disciplinary integration with medical oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeons, and the clinical trial portfolio of the AGITG is impressive. Attending this meeting was an excellent experience and I look forward to future opportunities to attend.

Prof Stephen J Wigmore

Regius Professor of Cinical Surgery

University of Edinburgh

The AGITG Annual Scientific Meeting was a really welcoming environment to discuss advances in treatment of GI cancers. I very much liked the interdisciplinary approach with oncologists, radiation oncologists, surgeon clinical nurse specialists, allied health and client groups all well represented. This meant that there was holistic approach to most discussions. The trial portfolio that the members of AGITG have put together was very impressive and well structured and I liked that the members clearly felt invested in the delivery of good quality trials. The international and local speakers were all excellent and the social programme was very entertaining. All in all a great experience that I look forward to repeating!

Dr Mark McGregor

Clinical Research Fellow

Medical Oncology

Queen Elizabeth Hospital

South Australia

“This was my first AGITG meeting and I found it to be a great experience. There was a wide range of topics and expert speakers across surgical and oncological specialties with excellent interactive sessions. The New Concepts Symposium was a great opportunity to present clinical trial proposals and receive real-time feedback, with a clear pathway for further collaboration and development of protocols to get trial ideas off the ground. I will definitely be back for future meetings.”

Prof Christian Jobin

Gatorade Trust Professor of Medicine
Program Co-leader Cancer Therapeutics and Host Response
University of Florida, Department of Medicine
Division of Gastroenterology

“It was my first experience at the AGITG Annual Scientific Meeting and although I typically do not attend clinical meetings, I was impressed by the quality of this meeting, both with content and expertise of attendees and faculties.  The level of participation from attendees during the “question-answer” period was outstanding and made the meeting very interactive. I had numerous and fruitful interaction with attendees and faculties not only during breaks and hallway encounter but during dinners and receptions. In summary, I was “sold” on this meeting because of both high quality content, expertise of participants and high level of interaction. I highly recommend it.”

Prof Andrew Barbour

Surgeon
Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane

“The AGITG ASM is a multidisciplinary meeting focussed on the current and future management of GI cancer. It provides not only high quality educational material across the spectrum of GI cancer, but encourages the presentation of new clinical trial ideas. Through the New Concepts Symposium, clinical trial concepts are presented and refined for development into national or international studies. The meeting is suitable for trainees and senior clinicians as well as paramedical practitioners engaged in all aspects of GI cancer management.”

Dr Sharon Pattison

Medical Oncologist
University of Otago and Southern District Health Board, Dunedin

“I attended my first AGITG Annual Scientific Meeting as an advanced trainee newly starting a PhD. It was a great educational meeting that had instructive symposia with an interesting and approachable local and international faculty. Those features have been present at each AGITG ASM that I have subsequently attended, and I have found the ASM to be an invaluable forum for presentation of research, less formal discussion of research themes and ideas, and learning about the challenges involved in clinical trial design. The AGITG ASM environment supports collaboration and networking, and I would highly recommend the meeting to all trainees, researchers, investigators and clinicians who have an interest in gastro-intestinal cancers.”

Ms Anne Smith

Clinical Trials Manager
Christchurch Oncology Research Unit
Canterbury Regional Cancer and Haematology Service

“Key to the AGITG philosophy is a desire to improve the health and quality of life of people with gastro-intestinal cancer by conducting high quality collaborative clinical trials. In developing and conducting these trials the AGITG has successfully encompassed specialists, nurses, research coordinators, scientists, allied health professionals and consumers.

The AGITG Annual Scientific Meeting provides an excellent forum for all these disciplines to come together to share knowledge and experiences and learn from a wide variety of invited international speakers. Incorporated in the meeting are sessions specifically targeting study coordinators and allied health professionals. Speakers and topics for interactive discussion are chosen to complement the annual theme of the meeting and address issues that may arise from a study coordinator perspective.

This is a valuable meeting and excellent opportunity to learn more about clinical trials, changes in medical practice and to exchange ideas and experiences with other study coordinators.”

Dr David Lau

Clinical Research Fellow
Olivia Newton John Cancer Research Centre

Recipient of the 2018 Merck-AGITG Clinical Research Fellowship

“The AGITG Annual Scientific Meeting is a thoroughly enjoyable conference for all involved in GI cancer. The AGITG have a longstanding commitment to education and invite a high calibre of international and local speakers to deliver an informative program. As an early-career delegate, the conference provided me with a forum to present my research and meet likeminded clinicians, researchers and new collaborators.”