Congratulations to Graeme Morgan AM

The College congratulates three FRANZCRs whose dedication and achievements in their chosen field of radiation oncology have been recognised in this year’s Australia Day Honours List from the Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia: Dr Marie Frances Burke OAM, Professor Geoffrey Delaney AM and Associate Professor Graeme Morgan AM.

Inside News spoke to the clinicians recognised this year to hear how they felt on receiving the news.

Their responses highlight their enthusiasm and passion for the specialty and for passing on their knowledge to today’s trainees, they join a number of FRANZCR colleagues honoured for their work by the Governor General on behalf of the Australian state.

Associate Professor Graeme Morgan

A/Prof Morgan has been honoured for a lifetime of dedication to the profession of radiation oncology.

He has been a Fellow of the College since 1984 and a Fellow of the United Kingdom Royal College of Physicians since 1997. He completed a Bachelor of Pharmacy in 1964 before gaining his medical degree in 1972, both from the University of Sydney. After working in the UK and Hobart in the 1970s, he settled in New South Wales in 1978 and became a radiation oncology staff specialist at St Vincent’s Hospital in 1984. In 1995, he became the Director of Radiation Oncology at St Vincent’s, and later the Director of Radiation Oncology at Royal North Shore.

In 1989, A/Prof Morgan was a member of the Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council Working Party on radiation oncology, and in 1997 and 1998 he participated in the Australian Medical Workforce Advisory Committee Working Party for the future supply of specialist radiation oncologists and trainees in Australia. In these roles he produced the evidence and structure for adequate workforce planning to deal with the increased demands for radiation oncology services. He was also the Chair of the College’s Faculty of Radiation Oncology Workforce Review Committee.

Throughout his career he advocated to regulatory bodies and the government to improve access to radiation therapy in Australia. He worked on the NSW Health Radiation Therapy Strategic Plan in the early 1990s and in 2001, A/Prof Morgan published a paper in Australasian Radiology on his research into radiation oncology workforce, workloads and equipment in Australia between 1986 and 1999. His research into the use of radiation therapy in Australia led to interviews with Dr Norman Swan on ABC’s Health Report.

A/Prof Morgan’s commitment to improving access to radiation therapy extended to South East Asia. He established the College’s Asia-Pacific Radiation Oncology Special Interest Group (APROSIG), which aims to develop interaction with and support for radiation oncologists and their staff in low- and middle-income countries

A/Prof Morgan worked on a radiation therapy equipment project to improve cancer services in Nepal, conducted a review of radiation therapy and cancer services in Papua New Guinea, and in 2010/11 he facilitated a mentoring fellowship in collaboration with the Clinical Oncological Society of Australia, enabling a radiation therapist from Hanoi to attend a conference in Darwin and then a ten-week fellowship at Liverpool Hospital, NSW. He also visited radiation therapy centres in Vietnam and Cambodia.

In addition to founding APROSIG, A/Prof Morgan held several roles at the College including as secretary of the Radiation Oncology Standing Committee between 1986–1994, as a member of the Faculty of Radiation Oncology Executive between 1995– 1998, and as a member of the NSW Branch Council between 1986–1995.

A/Prof Morgan retired from clinical practice in 2012, however he continues to work to improve radiation therapy services in the Asia-Pacific region. In 2015, he was awarded funding from the College’s International Development Fund to fund a mid-career radiation oncologist from Myanmar to visit various cancer services in Sydney for six weeks and attend the Australian Brachytherapy Group meeting in Perth. He has also been awarded Life Membership of the College for his outstanding work in radiation oncology.

His colleague A/Prof Michael Back had this to say of his extraordinary contribution:

This award recognises the voluntary work that Graeme performed as an advocate for improving the access to quality cancer therapy both nationally and internationally. During his working career Graeme made a significant and long-lasting impact to increase the proportion of people able to receive appropriate cancer therapy (radiation therapy) within Australia through his committee work and self-initiated advocacy to regulatory bodies and government; and then in retirement extended that sphere of advocacy to the South East Asian region with the establishment of education and training programs in collaboration with AusAid, the University of Sydney Office for Global Health, and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). In this manner he has had a positive influence as an Australian that will continue to impact the lives of thousands of people both within our nation and the South East Asian region.

Asked how he felt on receiving the honour, A/Prof Morgan humbly said, “I am not sure how I felt on learning I had been honoured by the award as I had been retired from clinical practice for over 10 years and thought I was very unlikely to have been considered. I felt a great deal of pride for my family, colleagues and the specialty of radiation oncology.”

He pointed to his work in raising the status of the specialty by improving the numbers of staff and equipment.

When I became an MRACR in 1984, the new speciality of medical oncology actively suggested that radiation oncology was an expensive modality and medical oncology had the ‘cure for cancer’.

In 1988, the late Dr David Wigg published “Radiation Oncology in Australia: An increasing Crisis’’ (Australasian Radiology 1988; 32: 24–37) which was published in the ‘Bulletin’ on 1 November 1988. The Australian Health Minister’s Advisory Council (AHMAC) convened a meeting with the College before Christmas. A report was completed by early January for the February 1989 AHMAC meeting, but no reply was received by the College. As a College member for the AHMAC meeting I became involved in a several meetings relating to staffing and equipment in radiation oncology. One of the earliest was the NHMRC/AHTAC meeting in early 1990. This aimed at public servants gaining basic knowledge about radiation therapy.

In my retirement in the mid-2000s, I was involved in establishing APROSIG which worked with Hoc Mai, IAEA and AusAid to support the development of radiation oncology in Low-Income Countries in SE Asia. This included visits to Papua New Guinea, Vietnam, Nepal, Myanmar, Cambodia and lately in Mongolia, Indonesia and Fiji, although this has lately been curtailed by COVID-19.

During my career there has been a continuing development in the accuracy of the delivery of radiation therapy and integration with diagnostic radiology, nuclear medicine and cooperation with other specialties in multidisciplinary clinics. The major change came in the late 1970s with X-ray planning, CT planning in the 1980s, IMRT in the 1990s, the increasing use of Stereotactic (Body) treatments in the 2000s and the later use of IMRT-CT. There is no doubt that further important changes will continue.

Radiation therapy is a very satisfying and stimulating branch of medicine that requires any improvements and developments are properly evaluated by a number of committees at state and government level to ensure that the proper documentation is undertaken. There is always something very satisfying to do be done!