IN MEMORIUM Vale Alastair McKendrick On Tuesday 25th September 2018, some 14 years after his initial diagnosis with renal cancer, Alastair McKendrick, a treasured member of ANZUP’s Consumer Advisory Panel (CAP) member, died. Alastair was married to Alison for over 40 years, sharing a life of changes, adventure, and joy. Together they had two sons, and were delighted to see one of them married earlier this year. Alastair had a very successful professional career starting out in the UK and becoming Group Finance Director of SMEC (Snowy Mountains Engineering Corporation) before his retirement. Alastair joined the CAP back in 2015 and was a strong advocate and contributor to ANZUP across all our research activities. Despite living through his own cancer challenges, he channelled his energy into ANZUP to promote the importance of clinical trials research. Alastair continued to fly the flag at the inaugural Melbourne Below the Belt Pedalthon in March 2018, attended the renal cancer committee teleconferences and several concept development workshops, and was active at our recent 10th anniversary ASM in July. When asked why he joined ANZUP’s CAP he responded, “I have been involved in ANZUP for several years now and am amazed at the strides that have been made. Whilst there have yet to be any trials that would be suitable for me, I believe that the work being done by ANZUP across the spectrum of cancers is inspiring and I aim to make whatever contribution I can to help the organisation achieve its goals”. We thank and acknowledge Alastair for his unwavering contribution to ANZUP. We are particularly grateful for his invaluable insights from a patient perspective, and his dry sense of humour that he never lost even at the most difficult times. His dedication and commitment will continue to inspire us and help us to focus on our mission. From all of us at ANZUP, our deepest sympathy to Alison and his family. His parting words to us now take on greater significance: ‘Tell them to work harder!’ And that we will do in his memory. We are privileged to have known Alastair and to have had him as part of our ANZUP community.
Vale Dr Arti Hurria It is with great sadness that we report the untimely, sudden passing of Dr Arti Hurria who died in a motor vehicle accident in California on November 7th 2018. Arti was a clinician and researcher without parallel who dedicated her life to the cause of geriatric oncology at a global level. With her truly special form of leadership, Arti was able to create collaborative efforts in which every participant felt valued and equal. Arti lived and worked by the proverb “If you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go together.” At the time of her death Arti was the George Tsai Family Chair in Geriatric Oncology, director of the Center on Cancer and Aging, co-lead of the Cancer Control and Population Sciences Program, vice provost of clinical faculty, a professor in the Department of Medical Oncology & Therapeutics Research, and a medical oncologist at City of Hope, California. In addition she was serving on the board of ASCO and continued to work as the co-founder of the Cancer and Aging Research Group (CARG). Arti’s leadership and research has led to an improvement in cancer care for older adults around the world with a notable achievement being the creation of a chemotherapy toxicity calculator that serves to predict an individual’s risk of treatment toxicity. The research around this tool has led to an improvement in the understanding of the factors that must be considered when caring for all older adults with cancer. Previously known as the CARG tool, the members of this group have decided to rename it in Dr Hurria’s honour. Arti was a colleague, a leader, a friend, a mentor and dedicated physician. The global oncology community has voiced in unison their despair at the loss of a true giant and grieves with her family and close colleagues. She will be profoundly missed. Dr Christopher Steer ANZUP UPdate Summer 2018 | 19
