Episode Summary
In this episode of TOGA’s Conversations in Lung Cancer Research, host A/Prof Mel Moore welcomes Prof Zarnie Lwin OAM (University of Queensland; Medical Oncologist at Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital and The Prince Charles Hospital) to discuss her pathway from Burma to training in South Africa and Australia, and a two-year lung cancer fellowship at Princess Margaret Cancer Centre in Toronto.
Prof Lwin reflects on choosing medical oncology, the value of leaving one’s institution for fellowships, and how international training shaped her professionalism, networks, and research direction. She explains health services and qualitative research, highlighting a project interviewing interpreters that revealed cultural and language gaps around cancer and palliative care.
The episode also covers equity-focused solutions (community and clinician education, in-person interpreters, cultural competency, and potential AI tools), challenges to clinical trial recruitment due to increasingly niche criteria and geographic distance, limited experience with teletrials, and her commitment to mentorship and humility in a rapidly evolving lung cancer field.
Speakers
- Prof Zarnie Lwin OAM, Medical Oncologist, Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital & The Prince Charles Hospital University of Queensland
- A/Prof Melissa Moore, Medical Oncologist, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne
