Professor Sandro Porceddu

ATH - Professor

Princess Alexandra Hospital Southside Clinical Unit
Faculty of Medicine

Overview

Profile Summary

Dr Sandro Porceddu is an internationally recognised radiation oncologist and a leading authority in head and neck and skin cancer. With over 20 years experience in medicine his areas of clinical expertise include head and neck cancer, skin cancer, sarcoma and lymphoma. He is currently a senior radiation oncologist and Director of radiation oncology research at the Princess Alexandra Hospital, Brisbane, Professor of Medicine, University of Queensland and Associate Editor for the International Head and Neck journal, Oral Oncology.

Dr Porceddu is a nationally and internationally recognised cancer advocate through his involvement in high-level committees, engagement with key policymakers, community education and media roles.

Career Summary

Professor Porceddu completed his medical degree at Monash University before undertaking his residency at Monash Medical Centre, Melbourne. He commenced his specialist training in radiation oncology at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in 1996 and was made Fellow of the Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists, Faculty of Radiation Oncology in 2000. After working as a consultant radiation oncologist at PeterMac for several years he moved to the Princess Alexandra Hospital in 2004.

Professional Committees and Organisations

Professor Porceddu has been the President of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA), the peak organisation for cancer-related health professionals, and the Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group (TROG), one of the largest cancer collaborative trials group in Australia/New Zealand. He has served on numerous national and international professional and academic committees including the board of the Cancer Council of Australia, the National Cancer Expert Reference Group for the Commonwealth and the International Union for the Control of Cancer (UICC) TNM Expert Advisory Panel.

Currently, he is the Chair of the Cancer Council Queensland Co-operative Oncology Group, a committee that provides over $1.2M per annum to support clinical research throughout Queensland and is on the board of the of the Head and Neck Cancer InterGroup (HNCIG), a group of leading world cancer experts dedicated to promoting the global harmonisation of head and neck cancer research and treatment.

Academic Highlights

Professor Porceddu runs an active clinical research program with over 150 peer-review articles, book chapters, published abstracts, invited reviews and commentaries. He has received invitations to speak at major international conferences such as the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) meeting and publish in prestigious journals such as the Lancet Oncology and Journal of Clinical Oncology.

Awards

Trans Tasman Radiation Oncology Group Outstanding Contribution

American Head and Neck Society Chris O’Brien Travelling Scholar

Pre-eminent status by Queensland Health

Rouse Fellowship, Royal Australian and New Zealand College of Radiologists

Teaching

Dr Porceddu has had a life-long commitment to teaching and is a supervisor and mentor to Doctor of Philosophy and Master of Philosophy candidates, Clinical Research Fellows, MBBS Honours students, resident, registrars and other allied health professionals.

Research Impacts

Dr Porceddu’s has been investigating methods to reduce the morbidity of treatment, improve cure rates and quality of life for cancer patients. He runs an active head and neck/skin cancer research program and is the principal investigator of numerous trials including an NHMRC-supported Randomised Phase III trial on head and neck skin cancer (POST TROG 05.01). In line with his research goals he has been examining the integration of radiation therapy and new technologies in the management of head and neck cancer and has received his Doctorate of Medicine (MD) on this topic with UQ. His current research on Positron Emission Tomography in the management of the neck following chemo-radiotherapy has been internationally recognised and incorporated into the USA National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) guidelines. He has been the recipient of over $3.91M in competitive funding, including one recently closed and two open NHMRC grants.

Qualifications

  • Doctoral Diploma of Medicine, The University of Queensland
  • Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery and Medical Science, Monash University
  • Bachelor of Science, Monash University

Publications

View all Publications

Publications

Book Chapter

  • Adams, Gerard and Porceddu, Sandro V. (2015). Future directions in the management of non-melanoma skin cancer. Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer of the Head and Neck. (pp. 193-201) edited by Riffat, F, Palme, CE and Veness, M. New Dehli, India: Springer India. doi: 10.1007/978-81-322-2497-6_13

  • Porceddu, Sandro V., Veness, Michael J. and Soyer, H. Peter (2015). Skin: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and Merkel cell carcinoma. UICC manual of clinical oncology. (pp. 674-688) edited by Brian O'Sullivan, James D. Brierley, Anil K. D'Cruz, Martin F. Fey, Raphael Pollock, Jan B. Vermorken and Shao Hui Huang. Chichester, West Sussex, United Kingdom: John Wiley & Sons. doi: 10.1002/9781119013143.ch53

  • Porceddu, Sandro V., Waldron, John and Hicks, Rodney J. (2011). Functional imaging of head and neck cancer with positron emission. Multidisciplinary management of head and neck cancer. (pp. 197-214) New York, United States: Demos Medical.

  • Porceddu, Sandro V., Martin, Jarad M., O'Sullivan, Brian and Fay, Michael (2010). Acute and late radiation therapy effects. When cancer crosses disciplines: A physician's handbook. (pp. 179-200) edited by Monica Robotin, Ian Olver and Afaf Girgis. London, United Kingdom: Imperial College Press. doi: 10.1142/9781848163652_0008

Journal Article

Conference Publication