CRT Board of Directors
The Cancer Research Trust’s Board of Directors are committed to the highest standards of corporate governance and ethics. The Board comprises the following five members:
Peter Mansell (Chairman) BComm, LLB, FAICD
Mr Peter Mansell practised as a corporate and resources lawyer for over 35 years before he retired from practice in 2004. In Australia he was a corporate and resources partner of legal firm Freehills, the predecessor firm to Herbert Smith Freehills and, at various times, was the Managing Partner of the Perth office, a member of the firm’s National Board and the Chair of the firm’s National Board.
He has extensive experience as a non-executive director and as a Board Chair. In addition to his current listed directorship, Peter has, amongst others, previously held positions on Energy Resources of Australia Ltd (Chair), West Australian Newspapers Holdings Ltd (Chair), Zinifex Ltd (Chair), Foodland Associates Ltd, BWP Ltd, OZ Minerals Ltd and the non-listed Western Australian Government Trading Enterprise, The Electricity Networks Corporation (trading as Western Power).
Peter’s current listed company directorship is Ora Banda Mining Ltd (Chair).
He also served on the Boards of the Not For Profit companies, Foodbank of Australia Ltd and Foodbank of Western Australia Inc (Chair).
Peter Leonhardt FCA, FAICD (Life)
Mr Peter Leonhardt has been a non-executive director and business adviser for over 20 years.
His prior experience encompassed 35 years in professional practice as a Chartered Accountant with PricewaterhouseCoopers, including over 20 years as a partner of the firm and positions in four offices in Australia and London.
Peter held appointments as Managing Partner of Coopers & Lybrand in Western Australia and, as a member of the firm’s National Board for six years, roles that carried responsibility for the strategic direction and management of the firm.
From 1991 to 1999 he was a Member of the State Council of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and is a Life Fellow.
As a non-executive director he has sat on a range of ASX-listed, private company and not-for-profit boards, with extensive committee experience including chairmanship.
Peter was formerly a founding director of the Perkins Institute of Medical Research, which he served for 17 years, Chairman of St Hilda’s Anglican School for Girls, a member of the advisory board of the Perth International Arts Festival and a director of the organising company for the 2011 Perth ISAF World Sailing Championships held in Fremantle. Currently he is a long-standing member of the Western Australian Yachting Foundation.
Professor Ruth Ganss BSc, PhD, GAICD
Ruth Ganss is the Head of the Cancer Microenvironment Laboratory at the Harry Perkins Institute for Medical Research and holds a professorial appointment at the University of Western Australia.
Ruth obtained her PhD at the University of Heidelberg/Germany in 1994 and, over the last 30 years, has conducted internationally competitive cancer research in Germany, the US and since 2006 in Australia. Her current research activities focus on translational anti-cancer aspects which combine stromal remodelling and immunotherapy.
In 2014, Ruth received the inaugural Cancer Council WA “Cancer Researcher of the Year” Award and has been a CCWA Board Director since 2019. She has held leadership positions in national and international research and scientific advisory committees with a strong commitment to the not-for-profit sector. Ruth is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors (GAICD) and has served on the CRT Board since 2018.
Dr Joost Lesterhuis MD, PhD
Dr (Willem) Joost Lesterhuis is Scientific Director of the Cancer Centre at The Kids Institute of Australia, where he also leads the Sarcoma Translational Research team. He is an Adjunct Associate Professor at The University of Western Australia and has a background as a dual-trained medical oncologist and basic researcher in tumour immunology and cancer biology.
Joost obtained his MD at the Free University in Amsterdam 2001, and completed his medical oncology specialisation and his PhD in cancer immunology at the Radboud University in Nijmegen, The Netherlands in 2010. From 2011-2012 he was a visiting post-doc at the University of Western Australia. Since 2013, when he and his family moved permanently to Australia, he has been a fulltime researcher. His research focuses on identifying new effective treatment combinations in sarcoma and other cancers, focusing on immunotherapy.
Joost published over 80 peer-reviewed publications, translated several of his laboratory findings into clinical trials, and is co-founder and director of Setonix Pharmaceuticals. He was awarded an NHMRC Excellence Award in 2017.
Dr Helga Mikkelsen BSc, MSc, PhD
Dr Helga Mikkelsen is WA-based Investment Manager at Brandon Capital, which is Australia and New Zealand’s largest large life science-focused venture capital firm.
Following degrees in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology, Helga completed her PhD in microbiology at the University of Cambridge and postdoctoral research in bacterial genetics at Imperial College London. She has since focused on the translation and commercialisation of biomedical research discoveries and has worked with early-stage companies developing devices and drug treatments in the UK and Australia.
Helga is a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors, Director and co-founder of Respirion Pharmaceuticals, and a Board Observer at OncoRes Medical, Catalym and Azura Ophthalmics.