Prof Michael Hofman

Professor Michael Hofman is a nuclear medicine physician and physician-scientist at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. He previously completed a research fellowship at Guy's & St Thomas' in London. He has broad research interest in radiopharmaceuticals for imaging and therapy (Theranostics) in Oncology. This includes neuroendocrine tumours and haematologic applications and more recently has focussed on improving outcomes for men with prostate cancer.

Dr Hofman has a strong track record leading Phase I, II and III clinical trials ranging from first-in-human evaluation of novel radiopharmaceuticals to conducting large multi-centre randomised clinical trials. In the latter, through his involvement on the scientific committee of the The Australasian Radiopharmaceutical Trials Network (ArtNet), he has established a network of more than 10 centres around Australia with multi-disciplinary expertise culminated in research presented at leading conferences (ESMO, ASCO, EAU) and published in high impact journal such as The Lancet. He has active grants as chief investigator totalling more than $15 million dollars including the Prostate Cancer Foundation (PCF), Movember, Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF), Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia (PCFA) and the U.S. Department of Defence.

Prof Hofman has a leading academic track record for his specialty relative to experience, with over 170 peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters. He has received a number of international awards including the Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) Image of the Year 2018 and awards for best scientific research at several international conferences. He is a frequent invited speaker at national and international meetings, and was the co-chair of the scientific committee for the 4th World Theranostic World Congress in 2016. In 2015 he was elected a fellow of the International Cancer Imaging Society, one of three Australians recognized by the society. He was a member of the oncology subcommittee of the ongoing MBS Review where he advocates for fair and equitable access to PET scanning for patients with cancer.

Prof Hofman is a keen educator, and was the RACP representative on the RACP / RANZCR Joint Specialty Advisory Committee  (JSAC) in Nuclear Medicine from 2008-2015 . In this capacity, he was the co-author of the national Nuclear Medicine Advanced Training Curriculum. He has been the director of training for molecular imaging at Peter MacCallum, and has been supervisor of several post-graduate researchers.

In 2016, Prof Hofman undertook a six month sabbatical in leading centres in Germany, Israel, France and the United Kingdom focusing on PET/MRI, preclinical PET translational research, novel radiotracers and theranostics.

He currently serves as the vice chair of the oncology program for the SNMMI, the peak body representing nuclear medicine and molecular imaging professionals. He is an associate editor for several journals including the international editorial committee of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and the nuclear medicine subsection editor for Cancer Imaging.  Prof  Hofman is a member of the PMCC Research Leadership Group and is the Program Director of the newly established Prostate Theranostics and Imaging Centre of Excellence (ProsTIC).

IN THE NEWS

A prospective randomized multicentre study of the impact of gallium-68 prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA) PET/CT imaging for staging high-risk prostate cancer prior to curative-intent surgery or radiotherapy  - proPSMA study

Nuclear medicine could be a game changer for advanced prostate cancer, Australian Financial Review

ASCO 2020 oral presentation: TheraP Trial  Study results