Helen Stevens is the inaugural Clinical Nurse Consultant for Early Phase Trials at the Parkville Cancer Clinical Trials Unit at Peter Mac. Helen initially trained in intensive care nursing, but then moved to Oncology and Haematology, including Apheresis. She has over 30 years in Cancer Clinical trials at Royal Melbourne Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre. 

The Parkville Cancer Clinical Trial Unit (PCCTU) is the largest cancer trial unit within Australia with a strong focus on complex early phase clinical trials. Over the last few years, PCCTU has seen a significant increase in the number of First Time in Human (FTIH) and phase 1 studies across all tumour streams. The complexity of these individual trials has also expediently increased, meaning many aspects of logistical planning, drug administration and patient management no longer fitted into the formal models of clinical trial care. In response to the changing nature of trials, a new role was developed, the Clinical Nurse Consultant for Early Drug Development within PCCTU.  

This specialised role, works in close collaboration with the Early Drug Development Investigators to aid with overview of the Early Phase Program and plays a pivotal role within the early phase clinics, in the pre-screening of patients and education around phase 1 trials. As this role is firmly cemented within the PCCTU, it has allowed for development of standardised processes with various other departments within the health service, to aid with risk mitigation and improvement logistics no matter the complexity of the trial. 

Helen is currently the Research Nurse representative on the global Clinical Trial Experts Council for Roche Genentech and a member of the AZ Early Oncology Study Coordinator Panel and is a current member of the Peter MacCallum HREC committee.