Dr John Park with colleagues in the MQ Health Clinical Trials Unit.

Dr John Park is a medical oncologist and a Senior Clinical Lecturer in the Faculty of Medicine, Health and Human Sciences.

His subspecialty interest is melanoma, lung and breast cancers and he is currently co-leading phase 1 clinical trials in MQ Health’s rapidly growing Clinical Trials Unit. He is also currently completing a PhD Macquarie investigating signalling pathways using uveal melanoma cell lines and circulating tumour DNA in metastatic uveal melanoma.

1) In a nutshell, my job is to…
To run phase 1 clinical trials at Macquarie University Clinical Trials Unit.

2) My definition of success is…
Learning something new each day and not making the same mistake again.

3) A person at Macquarie that inspires me is…
I have been very fortunate to be working with two great teams at Macquarie – the research lab led by Professor Helen Rizos for my PhD and the Clinical Trials Unit led by Professor Howard Gurney. From both I’ve learnt importance of leadership, team work and achieving goals, and they’ve inspired me to follow their footsteps.

4) My hobby is…
I signed up to play over-35s men’s soccer for my local club last year and has been the best decision I’ve ever made. It has been a great outlet physically and mentally.

5) As a kid, I was…
Our family migrated from South Korea when I was 10 years old. We lived in northern beaches and one of first new things I learnt was bodyboarding. I still remember to this day when I was caught in a rip and nearly died… that was the end of my bodyboarding career…

6) My guilty pleasure is…
I indulge on ice cream after kids go to bed.

7) I’m scared of…
Heights.

8) The most important thing I’ve learned in the last five years is…
There’s no short cuts in life.

9) I’m happiest when…
When my kids go to bed early….(as much as I love spending time with them…)

10) If I had the day off today, you would find me…
Enjoying my coffee at a local café.