Chaired by Professor Meera Agar, and with strategic leadership by Dr Rayan Saleh Moussa, the CST team works collaboratively with members to research solutions for better management of cancer symptoms to improve the quality of life for people living with cancer.
CST team
Linda James, Dr Rayan Saleh Moussa, Dr Vanessa Yenson and Professor Meera Agar
Professor Meera Agar, Chair
Professor Meera Agar is a palliative medicine physician with particular interests in delirium, supportive care needs of people with brain tumours and geriatric oncology.
Meera leads a clinical research portfolio at UTS, including clinical trials and health services evaluation in cancer and palliative care. She is the Director of IMPACCT as well as the CST Chair.
Dr Rayan Saleh Moussa, Postdoctoral Research Fellow and Acting National Manager
Dr Rayan Saleh Moussa leads the national office team to implement both the Palliative Care Clinical Studies Collaborative (PaCCSC) and Cancer Symptom Trials (CST) strategic and operational plans working closely with Chairs of the various committees, members, consumers, investigators and staff.
Rayan is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Cancer Symptom Trials (CST) team. She was awarded her doctorate in cancer therapeutics in 2017 by the University of Sydney.
Rayan's postdoctoral research is focused on improving the preclinical to clinical pipeline through multidisciplinary translational research in cancer symptom therapeutics and interventions.
Dr Vanessa Yenson, Research Assistant-Writer
Dr Vanessa Yenson assists clinical trial researchers to develop clinical trial protocols, generate literature reviews and prepare grant applications and ethics submissions. She provides research, writing, and editing support to help convert new study ideas into clinical trials.
Since 2021, Vanessa has been a member of ConViCTioN (Consumer Voices in Clinical Trials, NSW) where she advocates for a strong consumer voice in health and medical research.
Linda James, Project Officer
Linda James is a copywriter, web content manager, newsletter editor, and event manager for Cancer Symptom Trials (CST). She is responsible for the Cancer Symptom Trials website and communications initiatives.
Linda provides secretariat support to the CST Management Advisory Committee and Scientific Advisory Committee. She is experienced in curriculum management and communications and has worked with nursing and allied health programs as well as central university services. See Linda's LinkedIn profile [opens external site].
