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Co-Head, Leukaemia Translational Research

MB ChB (Hons) MRCPCH FRACP PhD

Areas of research expertise: Preclinical and clinical leukaemia research; Supportive care in cancer; Rare childhood cancers

Associate Professor Kotecha is a highly qualified clinician-scientist. He obtained his MB ChB degree with Honours from the University of Leicester, England in 2002. He obtained his postgraduate clinical qualifications from both the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health (U.K.) and the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and has been working as a Consultant in Child and Adolescent Haematology/Oncology in Perth, Western Australia (WA) since 2012. His laboratory-based PhD was conferred by the University of Western Australia and awarded a place on the Dean’s list in recognition of an outstanding thesis across all disciplines.

He has raised over $8.6 million dollars in research support as CIA and has authored over 80 original research articles. He was named the 2017 Cancer Council of WA Early Career Researcher of the year and co-leads the WA Paediatric Leukaemia Translational Research program. Associate Professor Kotecha has a strong passion for research mentoring and is currently supervising 5 PhD, 1 Master of Research and 1 Honours student. In 2014, he established the Paediatric Haematology and Oncology Fellowship Clinical Training Program for WA. As Program Director, he has supervised 14 clinical trainees to completion, enabling them to emerge as specialist Consultant physicians.

Associate Professor Kotecha is an integral member of the Children’s Oncology Group (COG), which is responsible for the design and implementation of clinical trials for children with leukaemia worldwide, including the COG AALL2321 trial for which he is co-Chair. He is also a member of the international INTERFANT acute lymphoblastic leukaemia committee, tasked with design and implementation of global clinical trials for babies diagnosed less than one year of age with acute lymphoblastic leukaemia.

Associate Professor Kotecha is the current Chair of the Australian and New Zealand Children’s Haematology/Oncology Group (ANZCHOG) Leukaemia–Lymphoma group, Clinical Lead for paediatric leukaemia and lymphoma for WA, and an inaugural member of the federally commissioned National Blood Cancer Taskforce. Within these roles, he is responsible for strategic planning and engagement with key stakeholders to ensure appropriate delivery of services and equitable access to medicines for children with leukaemia in Australia. Ultimately, he envisages taking outstanding results from his preclinical research program to these national and international collaborative groups, facilitating the translation of novel biomarkers and efficacious agents into frontline clinical trials, to improve the outcome for children suffering from leukaemia.

Find Associate Professor Kotecha on ORCID.