International recognition for oncologist

A LOCAL medical oncology specialist has become a fellow with the Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh.

The honour was achieved by Dr Wasek Faisal from Grampians Health, with the fellowship set provide opportunities to contribute to standards and creating policy in his area of practice.

Dr Faisal has been working in medical oncology for 11 years, specialising in thoracic malignancies and rare tumours, and running clinical trials at Grampians Health since 2017.

He has also received an inspirational research grant by the Thoracic Oncology Group of Australia for his work related to lung cancer and is currently researching d-type, metastatic non-small cell lung cancer while looking for ways to improve outcomes in regional patients.

“Non-small cell lung cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Australia and despite this, the mortality rate is the highest among all cancers,” Dr Faisal said.

“This research grant gives me and my team the ability to look at developing clinical tools to identify patients’ tumour biology which could help their prognosis and might help direct treatment for these patients.

“Poorer clinical outcomes in regional patients compared to metropolitan patients also highlight the fact that treatment outcomes are not just dependent on tumour-factors, but also dependent on patient- and health-service-related factors.”

Grampians Health’s chief medical officer Professor Matthew Hadfield said Dr Faisal’s honour reflected positively.

“It’s a wonderful honour to see one of our doctors presented with a fellowship to the prestigious Royal College of Physicians of Edinburgh,” said

“It’s a great recognition of both Dr Faisal’s hard work over the years, as well as showcasing the world-class health care that’s available in regional Victoria.”