MEET THE TEAM
MEDICAL ONCOLOGISTS
Dr Mihitha (Ari) Ariyapperuma MBBS FRACP
Dr Ari is a strong advocate for clinical research and is lead investigator on numerous medical oncology clinical trials at One Clinical Research.
He has a significant research interest and combines clinical practice with research work. His research has led to several publications, and poster presentations. He treats all solid tumours, and is happy to take referrals for undiagnosed patients with suspected malignancies for work up. As a consultant medical oncologist, Dr Ari is involved in teaching medical students and medical oncologists in training. He is committed to delivering comprehensive, patient-focussed care.
Dr Ari completed his initial Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor Surgery graduating with honours in clinical sciences before undertaking further studies at Newham University Hospital in the United Kingdom. He moved to Australia in 2007 to take up a position at Royal Perth Hospital, which enabled him follow his passion and undertake specialist training in medical oncology in both Western Australia and New South Wales.
Dr Ari has a private practice (in addition to his public work) to offer the local community options and choices for provision of their care.
Sub-specialities:
Gastrointestinal cancers
Lung cancer
Urological cancer
Prostate cancer
Breast cancer
Immunotherapy
Professor Adnan Khattak MBBS FRACP
Clinical Professor Adnan Khattak is lead investigator on multiple studies at One Clinical Research.
In addition to his private practice, he also works as a Consultant Medical Oncologist at Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) where he is also the Medical Oncology Clinical Trials Lead.
Prof. Khattak undertook specialist training at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital and Flinders Medical Centre in Adelaide before going to the UK. He worked as a Clinical Research Fellow in the melanoma unit at the Royal Marsden Hospital in London. He received his Fellowship in Medical Oncology in 2013 and started working as a Consultant at Royal Perth Hospital before transitioning to FSH in 2015.
Prof. Khattak is an active researcher and clinical trialist. He is the Medical Oncology Clinical Trials Lead at Fiona Stanley Hospital and the Primary Investigator of many Phase 1, 2 & 3 International Clinical Trials. He is the pioneer of early drug development (Phase 1) work at FSH and now leads the largest trials unit in Perth South Metro. He has more than 60 publications at this stage in various peer-reviewed journals including the New England Journal of Medicine, the Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology and European Journal of Cancer. He has also co-authored the National Health & Medical Research Council (NHMRC) guidelines for the management of advanced colorectal cancer (2017).
He has presented his research at a number of National and International scientific meetings in the US and Europe, and has been invited as an international visiting speaker to Hong Kong, Taiwan, Saudi Arabia, China, Singapore and India. His current research projects include blood-based biomarkers (circulating tumour cells and circulating tumour DNA) of response and resistance to immunotherapy in cancer (lung, GI & melanoma). Dr Khattak is also leading an early stage bowel cancer translational research project (Notch pathway) aimed at identifying patients at high risk of disease relapse and those that are less likely to benefit from post-operative chemotherapy.
He is the recipient of a number of prestigious research awards including Cancer Council WA Suzanne Cavanagh Young Investigator Award, Spinnaker Health Research Foundation Collaborative research grant, MSD Young Investigator award, NHMRC Developmental grant and Royal Perth Hospital Medical Research Foundation Award. He is the Chief Investigator/Associate Investigator of research grants in excess of $3 million.
Sub-specialities:
Gastrointestinal/hepatobiliary cancers
Lung cancer
Melanoma
Cancer Immunotherapy
Dr Azim Khan MBBS FRACP
Dr Azim Khan works as a consultant Medical Oncologist at Northam Regional Hospital and as a private medical oncologist at Hollywood Private Hospital and treats all cancer subtypes. Azim is involved as lead investigator or sub-investigator in multiple solid organ malignancy trials at One Clinical Research.
He is also actively involved in translational research and has authored and presented multiple poster publications in high impact conferences and published in associated journals, including Journal of Clinical Oncology and Annals of Oncology. He has made presentations in different international and national conferences highlighting his research in breast cancer and outcome of cancers in Indigenous population.
Azim completed his initial specialist training in Perth at Sir Charles Gairdner and Fiona Stanley Hospitals before being awarded a prestigious Clinical Research Fellowship by WA Palliative Care Network - WA Health, based at Fiona Stanley Hospital and Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research for breast cancer. He completed his Fellowship in Medical Oncology in 2020 and completed his clinical fellowship in Geriatric medicine from Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in 2021, to expertly manage and tailor treatment for the elderly population with cancers in line with international expertise.
He is currently the recipient of a research grant from the Cancer Trials Unit to assess sarcopenia as a surrogate radiological biomarker for cancer population of all age groups, for immunotherapy and chemotherapy patients.
Dr Khan is keen to develop the novel sub-speciality of geriatric oncology for extended benefit, holistic care and better survival outcomes in older adults with cancer.
Sub-specialities:
Geriatric oncology
Gastrointestinal cancers
Melanoma
Genitourinary cancers
Breast cancer
Gynaelogical cancers
Lung cancer
Dr Omar Faruque MBBS FRACP
Dr Faruque is an investigator on several medical oncology clinical trials at One Clinical Research.
Dr Faruque is a medical oncologist with both private and public hospital appointments. He works at Albany Health Campus, Rockingham General Hospital and is the Director of Medical Oncology at WA Country Health Service.
HAEMATOLOGISTS
Dr Peter Tan MBBS FRCPA FRACP
Dr Peter Tan is the Medical Director at One Clinical Research, as serves as lead investigator across the haematology research portfolio.
Dr Tan specialises in haematological oncology including lymphoma, myeloma, leukaemia, whilst also treating general haematological conditions including thrombosis and haemostasis disorders. Dr Tan is committed to making new therapies available to patients, and acknowledges the vital role clinical trials play in facilitating this.
Dr Tan originally trained at The University of Western Australia and at Royal Perth Hospital (RPH). He then furthered his specialty training in haematology and bone marrow transplantation at St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney.
He subsequently held the position of the Kefford Leukemia Research Fellow at the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne for three years, where he worked in both scientific and translational research in blood cancers jointly within the Australian Centre for Blood Diseases at Monash University. Dr Tan focused on early stage clinical trials, published on novel targeted therapies and co-designed an ongoing national clinical trial investigating the use of epigenetic therapy for advanced acute myeloid leukaemia conducted by the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group.
Dr Tan currently runs sees patients privately and in his public appointment through Royal Perth Hospital.
Dr Andrew McQuillan MBBS FRCPA FRACP
Dr McQuillan has a particular interest in malignant haematology and is an experienced clinical trial investigator, including involvement in various studies at One Clinical Research.
Andrew is a UWA graduate and completed haematology training in 2002 in Melbourne. He worked as a consultant haematologist at Fremantle Hospital and Royal Perth Hospital up until 2017. He has worked extensively in the private sector, and is based at Hollywood Private Hospital (HPH).
He served on the medical advisory committee at HPH for eight years. He was the WA representative on the National Blood Transfusion Committee for ten years and was WA representative for the Private Cancer Physicians of Australia. He was head of laboratory haematology at SJOG Pathology from 2015 through to early 2016, when he joined Western Diagnostic Pathology. He is a senior clinical examiner for the Royal Australasian College of Physicians. He has an interest in medical education and teaches undergraduates and postgraduates. He is a visiting lecturer at Notre Dame University and Curtin University.
Andrew has a particular interest in malignant haematology and has experience as a principal investigator and co-investigator in clinical trials. He has several publications, particularly in radioimmunotherapy for the treatment of low-grade lymphoma. He has presented at national and international meetings and served on several advisory boards.
Andrew believes in patient-centered care as haematological conditions and their treatments are increasingly difficult for patients to understand. He strives to make complex concepts clear to patients so that they can make informed decisions.
Dr Hun Chuah MBBS (Hons) FRCPA FRACP
Dr Chuah is the principle investigator and associate investigator for a range of clinical trials, including several trials at One Clinical Research. These include trials evaluating role of novel therapies across a range of haematological malignancies, including myeloid, lymphoma and myeloma.
Dr Chuah is an early career clinician-scientist haematologist who is completing his PhD in 2022. His expertise is in liquid biopsy in acute myeloid leukaemia and myeloproliferative neoplasms.
Throughout his PhD, Dr Chuah has been actively involved in method development in the genomic analysis of blood cancers, and developing ultra-sensitive genomic tools to detect mutations at low limits of detection. He is also an integral member of the University of Western Australia research team that achieved the WA cytogenomic invention.
Dr Melita Cirillo MBBS (Hons) FRCPA FRACP
Dr Cirillo is a lead investigator and associate investigator for a range of clinical trials, including several trials at One Clinical Research.
Dr Cirillo is a haematologist working at Royal Perth Hospital in Perth, Western Australia. She completed her medical and specialist training in Perth, but spent time working in New Zealand during her physician training. She undertook fellowships in cellular therapy (Cell and Tissue Therapies WA, Royal Perth Hospital, Australia) and Hodgkin lymphoma (German Hodgkin Study Group, Cologne Germany).
Her clinical practice includes a range of benign and malignant haematology, with an interest in lymphoma and translational cancer research. She maintains active research involvement in her routine clinical practice. She is an early-career researcher with Masters in Clinical Research (in submission 2022) and several high-impact publications in Hodgkin lymphoma. Dr Cirillo is a lead investigator or co-investigator on several clinical trials at various institutions in Perth, and is a current chair of the Royal Perth Hospital Lymphoma Multidisciplinary Team. She is the recipient of multiple research grants including grants from WA Cancer Oncology Group, WA Health Research Registrar Program, Medical Research Foundation at Royal Perth Hospital and was co-author on international grants with the Hodgkin lymphoma MRD consortium (Netherlands).
Dr Cirillo maintains professional memberships with the Australasian Lymphoma Alliance, Australian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group and the Haematological Society of Australia and New Zealand (HSANZ). She is also involved in medical and junior doctor training. Dr Cirillo is a senior lecturer at University of Western Australia and is involved in the medical education team at Fiona Stanley Hospital (WA) as a co-director of physician training.