The Board approves strategic directions, organisation structure, policies and implementation processes. Directors observe corporate governance principles and a code of conduct in keeping with the Corporations Act and the Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission governance standards.
All other Board committees support and report to the Board. It meets regularly and reports to the Members of the Company on whose behalf it makes decisions. The CEO is appointed by and reports to the Board.
(See our glossary of medical and professional acronyms for details of qualifications).
Board Members
Michele Williams
Chair
BA (Hons)
Michele is a General Counsel with over 20 years’ experience, in two leading global law firms, in-house at an international management investment company and in-house at an Australian manufacturing business with global clients. She has a long history of involvement with Cancer Council Victoria, serving on the Tuxedo Junction Ball committee since 2001, which celebrated its final ball in 2024. Michele was appointed Chair of the Board in May 2025 and was previously the Chair of the Finance, Risk and Audit Committee (FRAC).
Professor Gail Risbridger AM
Deputy Chair
PhD
Professor Gail Risbridger is a distinguished Professor at Monash University and also holds a secondary Professorial appointment at Melbourne University, Sir Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre leading programs and laboratories at both sites. Her multidisciplinary program is centred on using patient specimens to translate research discoveries to the clinic.
She trained at UCSF (Depts Anatomy and Urology) with Profs Gerry Cunha and Larry Baskin and as a Senior Fulbright Scholar, and studied cell differentiation and stem cell biology reporting the formation of human prostate by directed differentiation and embryonic stem cells. Applying this approach to cancer tissues, she has created one of the world's largest cohorts of prostate cancer PDXs to underpin her research discoveries and their translation. This is a significant advance for a field hampered for decades by a paucity of models to generate and translate new knowledge. She established and is Chair of Melbourne Urological Research Alliance (MURAL) involving clinicians, researchers, and consumers/patients. MURAL contributes to the Movember Global Action Plan-1 PDX project that she led with 15 principal investigators across 7 countries.
In Australia, as a Federal Government appointed National Health & Medical Research Council Fellow, she reached the highest level of fellowship by demonstrating a record of world-class achievement in research, research translation expertise, vision, supervision and mentoring. As one of Australia's leading authorities in prostate cancer and men's health, she has >290 publications in elite journals (Science Translational Medicine, Nature Protocols, Nature Cancer Reviews, Nature Biotechnology, Nature Communications, PNAS, European Urology). She also has supervised 65 students to completion, currently supervise 8, and has mentored 49 clinical/research Fellows. Professor Risbridger is also the Education Lead for a multinational $40M education consortium funded by the Australian Federal Government Training Centre. Her distinguished professorial achievements have resulted in Awards that include Australia Day 2023 Honours, Fulbright Senior Scholar Award, 4 renewals of NH&MRC Research Fellowships, Lifetime achievement & Senior Plenary Awards and was elected as a Lifetime Member of Endocrine Society of Australia, a Fellow of Society of Reproductive Biology & Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health & Medical Sciences. Gail was appointed Deputy Chair of the Board in May 2025.
Professor Jeremy Millar
BMedSci, MBChB, FRANZCR, FACPMed
Specialist Radiation Oncologist and Director of Radiation Oncology Research at Alfred Health. He is a Council member of the Faculty of Radiation Oncology, RANZCR, and a Professor in the Central Clinical School, Monash University He works in the School of Public Health and Preventive Medicine Cancer Research Program, in cancer clinical quality registries. Jeremy was a non-Executive Director of Cancer Council Australia from 2015-2021, where he was the Board Deputy Chair from 2019-2021. Jeremy is a member and a past Chair of Cancer Council Victoria’s Clinical Network. He has also served as Director of the Southern Melbourne Integrated Cancer Service (2006-7). He was initially appointed to the Cancer Council Victoria Board in 2013, performing the role of Chair from October 2018 to May 2025.
Mrs Fiona Green
BCompSc, GAICD
Fiona has had a 30+ year career in technology, digital and business transformation. Fiona holds a number of Non-Executive Director, Board committee and Advisory roles, focussing on strategy, governance, risk, digital and cyber.
Professor Ben Solomon
MBBS, PhD, FRACP
A medical oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, he is a Group Leader of the Molecular Therapeutics and Biomarkers Laboratory in the Research Division. He has an interest in translational lung cancer research and completed a PhD investigating the mechanisms by which EGFR inhibition enhance the effects of radiation, and undertook subsequent postdoctoral studies at the University of Colorado. Professor Solomon returned to Peter Mac in 2006, where he now practices as a medical oncologist with a research focus on clinical and translational research in lung cancer and head and neck cancer. His clinical trial work focuses on the identification of novel therapies for lung cancer.
Kathryn Bellion
BA, LLB, MBus (HR/IRM), MComm, GAICD
Kathryn is an executive HR practitioner, business and people leader. Having practised law early in her career, she realised her professional interest was to work with people and Kathryn has held a number of senior HR leadership roles in professional and financial services, and in health and medical research with the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Victorian Clinical Genetics Services.
Kathryn’s non-executive director experience includes Holmesglen Institute where she is also the Chair of the People, Culture & Remuneration Committee, and with University College as Deputy President and Chair of the Scholarship Committee and member of the Governance Committee.
Narayan Prasad
MBA, FCPA, GAICD
Narayan has over two decades of experience in senior finance management positions in the private sector and in not-for-profit organisations.
Finance management positions held in the private sector include Chief Financial Officer at Linfox Australia Pty Ltd, General Manager – Commercial Services at Linfox, and Group Planning Manager at Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Ltd.
Positions held in the not-for-profit sector include Chief Financial Officer at Yooralla (Disability Services).
Narayan is a Director on the Board of Vic Track and Chair of the Audit & Risk Management Committee at Vic Track. Narayan is on the Finance, Audit, Investment and Risk committee of the National Stroke Foundation.
Narayan has previously served as a Director on the Board of Linfox Australia Pty Ltd.
Patrick Baker
Mr Patrick Baker has held executive management positions across a range of industries including public health, financial services and not-for-profit. Patrick is currently the Director of The Alfred Foundation at The Alfred Hospital, one of Australia’s largest and most significant public hospitals. With tertiary qualifications in leadership, business and governance, Patrick has held directorships at OzChild, Windana Drug and Alcohol Recovery Centre, Dementia Australia (VIC) Advisory Board.
Patrick brings to The Cancer Council Victoria board his expertise in developing and implementing strategic and operational direction, including client acquisition, revenue generation and growth strategies. His entrepreneurial leadership style with highly effective planning, organisational and communication skills will be an asset to Cancer Council Victoria as we operationalise the 2023-2028 Strategic Plan. He has a solution-focused attitude and promotes a positive workplace culture of trust and mutual respect. Patrick has a reputation for establishing and maintaining high-quality relationships with diverse stakeholders and is passionate about delivering positive commercial outcomes.
Professor Jake Shortt
BMedSc, MBChB, FRACP, FRCPA, PhD
Professor Jake Shortt is the Clinical Director of Monash Health Haematology, Head of Haematology Research in the Department of Medicine at the School of Clinical Sciences (Monash University) and an Honorary Clinical Professor in the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology (Melbourne University). Following advanced training as a clinical and laboratory haematologist at Alfred Health and the Australian Red Cross Blood Service, he completed a PhD in cancer therapeutics at Peter Mac. He established his research laboratory in the Monash Health Translation Precinct in 2015 and now oversees a growing haematology research program at the School of Clinical Sciences embedded alongside the clinical service at Monash Health. He was integral to the establishment of acute leukaemia services at Monash and the recent development of Monash Health’s stem cell transplant and cellular therapies program.
Professor Shortt’s research laboratory at Monash University has a focus on the discovery of new cancer targets and development of small molecule therapeutics. He has experience in cancer genomics and molecular diagnostics and has served as a Principal Investigator on numerous clinical trials for haematological malignancies from phase 1 / first-in-human to late phase registrational studies. Prof Shortt has served on the Cancer Council Victoria Research Committee since 2017 and was Chair of the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group Laboratory Sciences Working Party from 2016-2023. He brings expertise in both clinical cancer medicine and the full spectrum of translational research from laboratory-based discovery through to late phase clinical trials and registry initiatives.
A/Professor Justin Tse
MBBS, MMed, FRACGP, A.Mus.A
A/Prof Justin Tse is an Academic Specialist in the Department of General Practice and Primary Care at The University of Melbourne. He has over two decades of experience in clinical general practice and previously served as Clinical Dean (Director of Medical Student Education) at St Vincent's Hospital Clinical School, The University of Melbourne. He completed his research thesis on prostate cancer screening and the role of primary care.
Justin’s research focuses on cancer prevention and early detection, with a particular interest in prostate and lung cancers. He has a strong track record in medical education, with a focus on cancer education and optimising transitions of care across the health system.
He currently holds leadership roles as Deputy Chair of Clinical Education and Training at the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) Alliance, member of the Cancer Council Victoria (CCV) Medical and Scientific Committee, and immediate Past Chair of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (RACGP) Specific Interest Network in Cancer. In 2024, Justin was a member of the St Vincent’s Hospital and University of Melbourne team recognized with the Victorian Public Health award for “Celebrating a Strong and Sustainable Workforce.”
All Directors and Board committee members receive no remuneration for their services. They may be reimbursed for reasonable costs and expenses incurred in connection with Board and Board committee activities.