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Meet the PURPLE team

Meet the team behind the research.

Dr Belinda Lee

MBBS, MRCP (UK), PGDip (Oncology) FRACP

Dr Belinda Lee is a Medical Oncologist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre & Northern Health hospital, and a Hemstritch Centenary Research Fellow at WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research).  She completed her undergraduate medical degree at Imperial College School of Medicine, University of London and her oncology training at the Royal Marsden Hospital, Imperial College Hospitals, and the Institute of Cancer Research, University of London, UK, before completing her Fellowship in Australia.

Dr Lee’s primary research interest is to improve outcomes for pancreatic cancer patients. She established the PURPLE Translational Registry and Platform. Dr Lee is the Co-Chair of the DYNAMIC-Pancreas clinical trial investigating the utility of circulating tumour DNA and the DIRECT-InspIRE clinical trial investigating the use of Nanoknife technology in unresectable pancreatic cancer. She is the Chief Investigator of the Pancreatic Cancer Biomarker study and the Clinical Lead for the Pancreatic cancer models for the pursuit of personalised therapies biobank study. Dr Lee was awarded the Kellaway Excellence Award for Translational Research (2020) and was selected as a finalist in the Victorian Premiers Awards for Health and Medical Research (2021).

Dr Lee is the Cancer Services Research Lead and Head of Cancer Clinical Trials at Northern Health. She is a member of the Biogrid Scientific Advisory Committee, the Victorian Comprehensive Cancer Centre (VCCC) Data linkage Steering Committee and the Victorian Pancreas Summit working group.  



Nadia Ayres

Nadia is the PURPLE Registry Project Manager who coordinates the data collection, maintenance and access requests for the PURPLE Registry at the WEHI.

Nadia's role is to support patients, researchers and clinicians to maximise the collaboration and research potential the PURPLE Translational Registry offers.

Michael Harold

Michael is a Senior Project Manager who oversees cancer data registries at WEHI.

Michael’s role is to provide support in administering registry databases, conduct the analysis for projects and publications, and manage reporting and research ethics and governance processes. Michael also directly leads and manages registry-based trial initiatives.

Julie Johns

 Julie is a Data Analyst who assists with the extraction and analysis of cancer data  registries at WEHI.

Julie’s role is to provide data from the various cancer registries to researchers for clinical research projects, to project managers for reporting and to the data contributors to improve data quality. Julie also assists with the design of new registries and the upgrade to established registries.

Dr Ka Yee Fung

Ka Yee is a Senior Research Officer with the Putoczki Laboratory, at the WEHI.

After completing her undergraduate research training at Monash University, Ka Yee completed her PhD at the Hudson Institute and her first postdoctoral fellowship at the Peter Doherty Institute. As an immunologist and microbiologist by training, Ka Yee’s role in the PURPLE team is to manage the largest collection of patient-derived pancreatic cancer models world-wide (e.g. Organoids, patient-derived xenografts and tissue biobanks) with patient journeys tracked by the PURPLE Translational Registry. These resources facilitate our collaborations with scientists across Australia including the University of Melbourne, Peter Mac, Hudson Institute and the University of Adelaide. 

Helen Brasier

Helen is a Research Nurse and Study Coordinator who manages pancreatic and colorectal research projects across multiple cancer centres for WEHI.

Helen liaises with the various research departments at WEHI as well as with external collaborators such as the Victorian Cancer Bank to collect patient biospecimen samples and clinical data. Helen is currently working on the Organoid and Pdx model projects.

Dr Roslynn Stirzaker

Roslynn Stirzaker is a Project Manager for a number of clinical trials coordinated at WEHI.

Clinical trials including the circulating tumour DNA (DYNAMIC-Pancreas) early stage pancreatic cancer study and the new DIRECT-InspIRE NanoKnife study for stage 3 pancreatic cancer, two studies supported by the PURPLE Translational Registry. Roslynn liaises with the numerous hospitals and cancer centres across Australia that are participating and recruiting patients in WEHI-led cancer studies.

Kelsey Serena

Kelsey is a Research Study Coordinator at WEHI who manages pancreatic data and biospecimen collection at Western Health.

Karen Matoga

Karen is a Research Nurse and Study Coordinator who manages pancreatic cancer research projects across multiple cancer centres for WEHI.

Karen is a registered nurse with experience in coordinating and managing therapeutic oncology drug trials.  Karen coordinates the ctDNA and organoid projects data entry for PURPLE. 


More information about us

PURPLE Registry

The PURPLE Registry was established in 2016 by a team of clinicians and scientists led by Dr Belinda Lee at WEHI.

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PURPLE Translational Initiatives

The PURPLE Registry supports a number of important pancreatic cancer initiatives including clinical trials, laboratory-based research and screening studies.

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Goals & Impact

To improve outcomes in pancreatic cancer, it is crucial that greater participation in and access to new drug treatment and clinical trials is encouraged.

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Steering Committee

Meet our Steering Committee Members.

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Researchers & Collaborators

Meet our collaborating researchers.  

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Funders & Partnerships

The PURPLE Translational Platform is made possible through our generous funders and partnerships.

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