Professor Stephen Ackland is Professor, Faculty of Health, University of Newcastle and Consultant Medical Oncologist at Lake MacQuarie Oncology. He is an Executive member, Hunter Cancer Research Alliance; Director, University of Newcastle Priority Research Centre for Cancer Research Innovation and Translation; Director of Clinical Cancer Research Network HNE Health; Co-director of Hunter Medical Research Institute Cancer Research Program; Director, Australasian GastroIntestinal Trials Group .

Professor Ackland has played a key role in organisation, harmonisation and enhancements of translational and clinical research locally, on a state basis and nationally. He is Editor-in-Chief, Asia-Pacific Journal of Clinical Oncology. He was previously the Director of Hunter Cancer Research Alliance (2011-2019), and was an inaugural member of the PRIMe consortium (Pharmacogenomics Research towards Individualised Medicine), a NSW Cancer Council-funded collaboration of 8 NSW hospitals and research institutes with the aim of facilitating cancer pharmacogenomics research in NSW (2011-2016).

Previous committee appointments include: Honorary Secretary, Medical Oncology Group of Australia, 1997-2000; Chairman, Medical Oncology Group of Australia, 1999-2000. Chair, Specialist Advisory Committee in Medical Oncology, RACP, 1999-2000; AMWAC Committee on Medical Oncology 1999-2001; President, Clinical Oncological Society of Australia 2004-2005; Director, Australian & New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group, 2007-, (and Chairman 2015-2017); Director, NSW Cancer Council, 2006-2014.

He is the author of over 150 original publications in peer-reviewed journals and first author on 31 of these. He was co-owner of 2 patents. He has been investigator on grants totaling $30m since 1999, including lead investigator on 24 grants valued at approx $22m. He has had extensive involvement in cancer clinical trials, clinical pharmacokinetics and pre-clinical pharmacology of anticancer drugs and combinations. He has been the principal investigator on several Australian multi-institutional randomised controlled trials run through cancer cooperative trials groups, and principal investigator on a number of phase I & II trials. He is/has been a member of the trial management committee of a number of cancer cooperative trials groups, undertaking multi-institutional trials in breast and GI cancer.