Joanne Aitken

Qualifications: BSc(Hons), MSc, PhD

Job title: Director, Cancer Registries and Scientific Consultant, Epidemiology

Email: JoanneAitken@cancerqld.org.au

Background: Professor Joanne Aitken is the Director of the Queensland Cancer Registry and the Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry, and Scientific Consultant for the Viertel Centre for Research in Cancer Control at the Cancer Council Queensland. Joanne holds academic appointments in the School of Public Health at the Queensland University of Technology and the Griffith Institute of Health and Medical Research. Joanne is a distinguished research scientist who has worked in the field of cancer epidemiology for the past 20 years. She completed her PhD at the University of Queensland in 1991, a Master of Science in Epidemiology at Harvard University in the same year, and moved to Cancer Council Queensland in 1997 to lead a world-first investigation of early detection of melanoma. Joanne has co-authored over 100 scientific publications and she was awarded the Queensland Government's inaugural Smart Women Smart State award in the research scientist category for her contribution to cancer control research. Joanne sits on national and international advisory groups for skin cancer registration, cancer screening and cancer in young adults, and consults on a diverse research program in cancer control at the Cancer Council Queensland.

Research interests: Large-scale population-based studies of the genetic and environmental causes of cancer; population-based prevention and early detection of cancer.

Current research projects:

• Skin clinics and the diagnosis and management of skin cancer in Queensland.
• Melanoma diagnosis and skin screening in Queensland.
• Patterns of melanoma in Queensland.
• Colorectal cancer and quality of life.
• Evaluating patterns of cancer care in Queensland.
• Geographical differentials in cancer incidence and survival in Queensland.
• The Australian Paediatric Cancer Registry.
• The ProsCan Program: Patterns of care and health-related outcomes for men newly diagnosed with prostate cancer in Queensland.