Professor Robyn Ward was appointed as Executive Dean of the Faculty of Medicine and Health at The University of Sydney in 2017. Previously she has worked at the University of Queensland as Deputy Vice Chancellor (Research), and at The University of New South Wales as Clinical Associate Dean of the Prince of Wales Medical School and Head of the Adult Cancer Program at the Lowy Cancer Research Centre.
Professor Ward is a medical oncologist, cancer geneticist and laboratory scientist who throughout her career has shown a sustained capacity for innovative research into the range of issues that underlie the problem of human cancer. At UNSW she led an independent research group that has produced over 200 journal articles, letters and monographs, as well as several patents. In her role as Head of the Adult Cancer Program, and prior to that as a clinician researcher at St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney, she has made several important contributions to translational cancer research in the area of bowel cancer, including studies of the precursor lesions of this common disease, the development of novel immunotherapies, and the recognition of the role of epimutations in cancer predisposition syndromes. These contributions have been recognised through a Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research (2004) and the NSW Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Researcher of the Year (2007).
Professor Ward is currently Director of the Translational Cancer Research Network, a multi-institutional group based in NSW and the Director of the Prince of Wales Cancer Centre. She chairs the Commonwealth Medical Services Advisory Committee and the Human Genetics Advisory Committee of NHMRC, and has served on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee since 2000.