MBBS, MMedSci (Clin Epi), FRACP

Medical Oncologist

Professor Chris Karapetis is Network Director for Cancer Services in the Southern Area Local Health Network of Adelaide, and Head of the Department of Medical Oncology at the Flinders Medical Centre. He is also the Director of Clinical Research in Medical Oncology at the Flinders Medical Centre and the Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, Flinders University. He practices as a senior consultant medical oncologist at the same institution where he was instrumental in the establishment of a Clinical Research Unit.

Professor Karapetis has been the principal investigator on over 160 clinical trials. His interest in clinical research developed following a research fellowship at Guy’s Hospital in London. He has established research interests in the areas of lung cancer, gastro-intestinal malignancy, molecular targeted therapies, predictive biomarkers, epidemiology and clinical research methodology.

He is an active contributor to clinical research conducted through the Australasian Gastrointestinal Trial Group (AGITG). He was the principal investigator for the AGITG for the CO.17 clinical trial and he led the K-ras biomarker research from this study. The findings from this study had a global impact on clinical practice in the management of colorectal cancer. The associated NEJM publication was nominated as one of the 5 key medical publications of 2008 by the Lancet. He continues to research the clinical impact of predictive biomarkers and is currently leading an international collaboration exploring the role of several molecular biomarkers in colorectal cancer.

Professor Karapetis is also involved in research coordinated through the Australian Lung Trials Group (ALTG). He was a preceptor for the inaugural ALTG Lung Cancer Preceptorship in 2015. He also serves on the Executive Committee of the Australia and Asia Pacific Clinical Research Development (ACORD) initiative. This initiative provides educational workshops that help to develop clinical research skills for clinical researchers in the field of oncology across the Asia-Pacific region. He has worked as a facilitator at 4 workshops.

Professor Karapetis has served on NHMRC Grant Review Panels through 2015 to 2017. He is a current member of the Cancer Council SA Cancer Research Committee. He is the current Deputy Chair of the AGITG Lower GI Working Group and he is a former chair of the Gastrointestinal Group of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia (COSA).

Professor Karapetis is the immediate past chair of the Medical Oncology Group of Australia. He was the convener of the 2007 Annual Scientific Meeting of COSA and the 2011 MOGA ASM when these meetings were held in Adelaide. He is a past board board of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia.

Professor Karapetis is a member of editorial boards and has acted as a reviewer for several high-impact factor medical journals. Professor Karapetis has published over 150 scientific papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals.