THE IMPACT OF BREAST CANCER ON SEX, FERTILITY AND PREGNANCY

Our online Q&A will be moderated by Annabel Crabb, one of Australia’s most beloved journalists.

Annabel Crabb is an ABC writer and presenter who has covered Australian politics for nearly 30 years as a news reporter, columnist and broadcaster.

Known for her engaging approach to explaining Australian politics and history, Annabel created the long-running interview series Kitchen Cabinet, which has aired for eight seasons on ABCTV.

She has written and presented two major documentary series on the life and history of the Australian Parliament: The House, With Annabel Crabb, and Ms Represented, which marked the centenary of the first woman’s election to an Australian parliament. A third series in the trilogy is due out this year.

Annabel has also hosted the ABC Australian history and food series, Back In Time For Dinner, Further Back In Time For Dinner and Back In Time For The Corner Shop. She is a regular face on ABC TV’s election night and Budget broadcasts and has a long history of appearances on ABC’s Insiders program, including a stint as acting host in 2019. Annabel won a Walkley Award for her Quarterly Essay “Stop At Nothing: The Life And Adventures Of Malcolm Turnbull”, and in 2024 was named columnist of the year for her political commentary at the ABC. In 2014, she wrote non-fiction bestseller The Wife Drought, about gender and work in Australia.

She is a regular commentator across the ABC’s radio network. With friend and ABC colleague Leigh Sales, Annabel hosts the podcast Chat 10 Looks 3, an independent podcast in which the pair discusses books, film, culture, and cooking.

Dr Wanda Cui (MBBS BMedSci FRACP) is a consultant medical oncologist in the Breast Cancer and Lung Cancer Service at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, and a PhD candidate at the University of Melbourne. Her areas of interest are cancer and pregnancy, understanding and preventing the unwanted effects of cancer treatments on ovarian function and fertility, and cancer prevention.

After graduating from the University of Melbourne and completing her medical oncology specialist training in Melbourne, Dr Cui underwent a clinical fellowship at the Royal Marsden Hospital, London, where she later worked as a consultant medical oncologist in the Royal Marsden Lung Cancer Unit. She returned to Australia in 2022 and works in the breast cancer clinic, lung cancer clinic, and cancer risk management clinic at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.

Her research focuses on oncofertility and cancer prevention. She is the first author of the ASCO research statement regarding assessing ovarian toxicity in cancer clinical trials. She is a member of the prevention working group of the Lancet Breast Cancer Commission and is the Breast Cancer Trials Australia deputy chair for the Decrescendo trial.

Ms Emma Crowley is a member of the Breast Cancer Trials Consumer Advisory Panel, and was diagnosed with HER2-positive breast cancer in 2012, when she was just 24-years-old.

Associate Professor Belinda Kiely is a Medical Oncologist who specialises in the treatment of people with breast cancer.

She works at Campbelltown and Concord Hospitals in Sydney and is actively involved in breast cancer research, with a particular interest in prognosis, survivorship and symptoms of menopause.

She is the Australian principal investigator of the OPTIMA clinical trial.

Dr Tonia Mezzini completed the Graduate Entry Medical Degree at Flinders University in 2000, and as a young doctor she worked in Medical and Radiation Oncology as well as Palliative Medicine, completing the Clinical Diploma in Palliative Medicine in 2008.

Dr Mezzini completed her training as a Sexual Health Physician in 2014 and her experience working in a range of sexual health services in South Australia is unparalleled. She has worked at Clinic 275, Yarrow Place, Second Story Youth Health Service, Cervix Screen SA, Adelaide Women’s Health Centre and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital.

During her training, Dr Mezzini was awarded a Master of HIV, STIs and Sexual Health through the University of Sydney in 2013.

As the Medical Director of SHine SA, Dr Mezzini headed up medical clinics for a busy sexual health agency, seeing a variety of patients. She was part of the medical team at Pelvic Pain SA, providing expert care to both men and women with chronic pelvic pain concerns.

Dr Mezzini continues to be involved in a number of clinical research trials focusing on women’s health, ensuring that she is at the cutting edge of new medicines and treatments. She also attends and presents at national and international conferences on a regular basis.

Her commitment to excellence in medical care is reflected in her ongoing post graduate studies. Dr Mezzini completed the Master of Psychiatry through Melbourne University in 2023.