Prof. Nick Pavlakis
BSc MBBS MMed PhD FRACP, Medical Oncologist
Languages spoken
English, Greek
Expert in
Lung and gastrointestinal cancers, mesothelioma and NETs.
Overview
Special clinical interest in lung and gastrointestinal cancers, mesothelioma and NETs.
Nick is an expert medical oncologist specialising in lung cancer, mesothelioma, gastrointestinal, cancers, and neuroendocrine tumours (NETs).
Nick is an approachable and caring clinician who combines over 23 years of clinical experience with ongoing active research into cutting-edge treatments and practice improvements. His practice philosophy is to provide high-quality care with empathy and hope.
Nick commenced clinical practice in 1998 while also undertaking a PhD evaluating a new cancer treatment, and a Masters in Clinical Epidemiology. His clinical experience has been in both public and private practice, whilst also contributing to rural health care, initially by conducting an outreach clinic to Lismore Hospital and, since 2001, to Armidale Hospital. This broad clinical and research exposure has provided Nick the experience and skill to meet the many clinical challenges his cancer patients face, aiming to provide personalised care with realistic hope.
Awards
Nick participates with his peers in multidisciplinary team meetings in lung cancer, upper gastrointestinal cancers, colorectal cancer, pancreatic cancer, hepatobiliary cancer, and NETs, which he chairs. In 2020, Nick led the team that received the prestigious International Centre of Excellence Award from the European Neuroendocrine Tumour Society for the NET service, based at Royal North Shore Hospital and GenesisCare.
Professional memberships
Nick is the current Board Chair of TOGA, former ALTG president and past President of COSA, a member of the AGITG Upper Gastrointestinal Cancer Working Party, and committee and faculty member with the International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer, a global multidisciplinary organisation dedicated to eradicating lung cancer. Professionally, he has also served on the Executive of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia (MOGA) and the Private Cancer Physicians Group of Australia (PCPA). Nick was the inaugural NSW Cancer Institute appointed Director of the Northern Sydney Cancer Trial Trials Network, and Clinical Trials Director and Clinical Services Director, GenesisCare (Formerly Northern Cancer Institute), St Leonards, Sydney, since 2012.
Research interests
- From a patient advocacy perspective, Nick has been dedicated to promoting research and evidence-based best practice in lung cancer and mesothelioma, gastrointestinal cancers, and NETs.
- He has achieved this through active involvement in various collaborative research organisations, their fundraising arms and advocacy organisations such as the Thoracic Oncology Group of Australasia (TOGA), formerly the Australasian Lung Cancer Trials Group, The Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group (AGITG), The Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA), The GI Cancer Institute, Pankind (Formerly the Avner Foundation) and NeuroEndocrine Cancer Australia (formerly the Unicorn Foundation).
- He has participated in clinical Practice Guideline development for lung cancer, mesothelioma, pancreatic cancer, and NETs while also being involved as faculty in National and International scientific meetings, served on numerous International and National Advisory panels, and contributed to consumer advocacy training.
- Nick is currently leading international trials in gastric cancer and national trials in lung cancer and NETs, while participating in many other trials in his clinical interest areas.
- As co-director of the Bill Walsh Laboratories, Nick is involved in ongoing research into predictive biomarkers and cancer drug resistance. He has supervised 7 medical PhD candidates (in lung cancers, pancreatic cancer, and NETs) and over 35 RACP medical Oncology Advanced trainees since 2002, now practicing in centres across Australia.
- He continues to teach broadly and examines aspiring specialist candidates as a member of the Senior Examining Panel for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians.
- In 2021, Nick was made full conjoint Professor of Medicine at Sydney University.
Publications
Professor Nick Pavlakis, has recently had a paper published in JCO Oncology Practice, ‘Immunotherapy in Non-Small-Cell Lung Cancer: Hallelujah! – But Salvation is Still Awaited by Many.’ In the paper, Professor Pavlakis discusses the emergence of Immuno-oncology (IO) in the treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and the critical need for further research to optimize patient selection, overcome IO resistance and incorporate its use in earlier-stage disease. Read more here.