AstraZeneca Oncology Conference

My wife Debra and I were kindly invited to the AstraZeneca Oncology Conference in June 2024 as guest speakers to share our cancer patient and carer journey. We spent a couple of days on the beautiful Gold Coast in Queensland speaking to over 100+ employees across multiple sessions.

AstraZeneca strive to put the patient at the centre of everything they do. The oncology was keen to gain a lot from our valuable insights, helping them improve patient outcomes. The question and answers sessions were extremely valuable, confronting, honest and brutal in both truth and reality. There was laughter, sadness and many tears shared by everybody.

Debra and I were so very honored, humbled and proud to not only be given the opportunity to share our story but also have a huge positive impact towards making a difference for those battling Upper GI cancers like myself.

Feedback from the AstraZeneca employees who attended:
In a survey of the attendees they said that the patient session was the highlight of the conference.
Many stated that it was helpful to better understand the patient experience, giving them hope and purpose in what we do.

Below are some quotes:

• "Hearing from Grant and Debra was the most valuable, to truly understand the importance of having the patient at the centre of everything that we do",

• "I really enjoyed the patient session. This brought it back home for me and gave me perspective on why we do what we do- very inspiring and touching"

• "Patient session was incredible, I learnt a new perspective",  

• "Patient session was a stand out"

• Thank you again for sharing your time and your perspectives – your passion and your advocacy are making a huge difference.

We cant thank Charlene, Maggie and Bianca (AstraZeneca) for their hospitality, generosity and kindness giving us the opportunity to share our story.

Shout out to David and Mira from Pancare Foundation (PanSupport) for collaborating with AstraZeneca and making this happen.