About Us

Sam McGuane
Chief Executive Officer

Sam is a passionate strategic leader whose personal motto is ‘to always be in the service of others’. For the last 10 years Sam has held several senior strategic positions with Cotton On Group, including managing global community initiatives and leading the development of innovative sports partnerships with the AFL and NRL, delivering powerful outcomes for customers and communities.

Sam is Executive Director of Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer Foundation. Sam leads the strategy, governance, finance and general operations of the charity. His role in the Foundation has enabled Sam to develop a strong network across the brain cancer fundraising community and, in partnering with WEHI, has fostered his desire to accelerate brain cancer research efforts.

As the Chief Executive Officer for The Brain Cancer Centre, Sam is energised about making a real difference to patients and their families and to help end brain cancer as a terminal illness.

Professor Misty Jenkins AO
Joint Head, Research Strategy, The Brain Cancer Centre
Laboratory Head, WEHI

Misty Jenkins is a NHMRC fellow and laboratory head in the Immunology Division at WEHI. Misty leads the immunotherapy program within The Brain Cancer Centre and is dedicated to discovering novel immunotherapy targets for high grade gliomas in adults and children. Her research focusses on the development of novel chimeric antigen receptor T cells for brain cancer. Her group also uses cutting edge two-photon microscopy combined with mouse models of brain cancer to investigate the tumour microenvironment and uncover unique biology of brain tumours.

Misty has a PhD in Immunology from The University of Melbourne, followed by postdoctoral positions at The Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. 

A/Prof Jenkins was awarded the L’Oreal for Women in Science Fellowship (2013), was Tall Poppy of the year (2015), was awarded the Top100 Women of Influence award (2016) and was inducted onto the Victorian Honour Roll of Women in 2020.

In addition to her research career, A/Prof Jenkins is experienced in governance and strategy as a company Director, co-chairs a Federal Health Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF) and is a passionate advocate for gender equity and Indigenous Health and education. She was awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2023 for distinguished service to medical science in Immunology, the support of women in STEM, and to the Indigenous community.

Dr Jim Whittle
Joint Head, Research Strategy, The Brain Cancer Centre
Medical Oncologist, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Laboratory Head, WEHI

Jim is a medical oncologist specialising in neuro-oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre.  He completed his PhD and was awarded the “Professor Lynn Corcoran PhD Prize” for his research understanding the molecular mechanisms responsible for resistance to cell death in breast cancer. This work has provided the foundation for testing novel compounds in early phase clinical trials, together with industry collaboration. 

In 2020, Jim commenced working remotely with the Ligon laboratory, Dana Faber Cancer Institute, with a focus on uncovering resistance mechanisms to glioma. Jim is passionate about improving supportive care for patients and carers with brain cancer. Together with Prof Kate Drummond, he co-leads an MRFF funded program to develop an online supportive care platform.   

Dr Whittle & Prof Drummond have recently launched a world-first clinical trial Brain Pop, funded through The BCC, which will enable doctors to precisely see the effect of a new drug therapy on a patient’s brain cancer for the first time.

Lee George
Marketing and Communications Manager

Lee is passionate about storytelling on behalf of our incredible brain cancer community: patients, families and researchers.

She loves to celebrate our “Research Rockstars”, the brilliant minds behind our research projects and clinical trials. She feels privileged to be able to connect with and tell the stories on behalf of brain cancer patients and their families.

Lee brings a wealth of experience in building communities with some of the most well known brands in the world like Manchester United, Live Nation and Nike. She brings that experience and global knowledge every day in the way she helps guide the messages that inspire our community.

As the Marketing, Communications and Partnerships Manager for Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer, Lee’s mission is to inspire support for brain cancer research and help drive our goal of making brain cancer a treatable and survivable disease.

Linda Hawkins
Centre Coordinator

In her role as Coordinator of The Brain Cancer Centre, Linda provides high level project and administrative support to the Centre’s operations and Consumer Program.

With a strong background in community engagement, Linda is passionate about facilitating collaborative partnerships between Consumers (patients, carers and community members) and Researchers to help improve outcomes for brain cancer patients.

Rob Tobler
Program Manager – Brain POP

Rob is an early-mid clinical research professional with a background in radiation therapy and oncology clinical trials. Prior to joining The Brain Cancer Centre, Rob was a senior trial coordinator and team leader at the Parkville Cancer Clinical Trials Unit (PCCTU), specializing in head and neck and non-melanoma skin cancer research streams.

As the Program Manager for the Brain PeriOperative Program (BrainPOP), Rob is driven by a passion for advancing cancer research and innovative clinical trials. He is dedicated to creating more avenues for patient involvement in research and an advocate for integrating the consumer perspective into trial design – aiming to ensure research efforts are aligned with the needs and experiences of those they aim to serve.

Assistant Professor Pratiti (Mimi) Bandopadhayay, MBBS PhD

Professor Tracey O’Brien FRACP, MBA, LLM (Health), GAICD, MBChB, BSc

Professor Brendan Crabb AC PhD FAA FAHMS FASM

Professor Martine Roussel PhD

Professor Brandon Wainwright AM

Dr Gelareh Zadeh, MD, PhD, FRCS(C), FAANS

Samantha Chandler, Consumer Representative