Current Positions

2020-              Director of Bronchoscopy, Austin Health, Victoria

2014 -             Respiratory and Sleep Physician, Austin Health, Victoria                

2019-              David Bickart Clinical Researcher Fellow, University of Melbourne

2019-              Post-doctorate Researcher, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research

2018-              Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand, Victoria Executive

Education

2019-              Australasian Society for Ultrasound in Medicine, Certification of Clinician Performed Ultrasound

2012-2018      PhD, University of Melbourne, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, Royal Melbourne Hospital. Thesis entitled “Pre-clinical Applications of Endobronchial Ultrasound in Lung Cancer”

2009-2013      Master of Public Health (major Epidemiology and Biostatistics), University of Melbourne

2006-2011      Fellowship of Royal Australasian College of Physicians (Respiratory and Sleep Medicine)

1998-2003      Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery (Honours), University of Adelaide

Publications

Book chapters

• Leong T, Conron M. Clinical use of interstitial lung disease guidelines. European Respiratory Society Monograph 2009; 46: 386-395

Thesis

• Leong TL. Pre-clinical applications of endobronchial ultrasound in lung cancer. Minerva Access 2018

Journal articles (original research)

• Bozinovski S, Vannitamby A, Rangamuwa K, Aujila S, Wang H, Aloe C, Irving L, Leong T, Steinfort DP. Integrating endobronchial ultrasound bronchoscopy with molecular testing of immunotherapy biomarkers in non-small cell lung cancer. Transl Lung Cancer Res. In press 2020
• Manners D, Dawkins P, Pascoe D, Crengle S, Bartholomew K, Leong TL. Lung cancer screening in Australia and New Zealand: the evidence and the challenge. Int Med J 2020. In press
• Sarah A. Best, Jonas Hess, Fernando Souza-Fonseca Guimaraes, Joseph Cursons, Ariena Kersbergen, Jai Rautela, Stephanie Hyslop, Melissa J. Davis, Tracy L. Leong, Louis Irving, Daniel Steinfort, Nicholas D. Huntington, Kate D. Sutherland. Harnessing natural killer immunity in metastatic small cell lung cancer. J Thorac Oncol 2020. In press
• Leong TL, Gayevskiy V, Steinfort DP, De Massy MR, Gonzalez-Rajal A, Marini KD, Stone E, Chin V, Havryk A, Plit M, Irving LB, Jennings B, McCloy RA, Jayasekara WSN, Alamgeer M, Boolell V, Field A, Russell PA, Kumar B, Gough DJ, Szczepny A, Ganju V, Rossello FJ, Cain JE, Pappenfuss AE, Asselin-Labat ML, Cowley MJ, Watkins DN. Deep multi-region whole-genomic sequencing reveals heterogeneity and gene-by-environment interactions in treatment-naïve, metastatic lung cancer. Oncogene 2019; 38(10): 1661-1675
• Leong TL, Loveland PM, Gorelik A, Irving L, Steinfort DP. Pre-operative staging by EBUS in cN0/N1 lung cancer: systematic review and meta-analysis. J Bronchology Interv Pulmonol 2019; 26(3): 155-165
• Leong TL, Christie M, Kranz S, Pham K, Hsu A, Irving LB, Asselin-Labat ML, Steinfort DP. Evaluating the genomic yield of a single endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration in lung cancer: meeting the challenge of doing more with less. Clin Lung Cancer 2017; 18(6): e467-e472
• Le Roux PY, Leong TL, Barnett SA, Hicks RJ, Callahan J, Eu P, Manser R, Hofman MS. Gallium-68 perfusion PET/CT to assess pulmonary function in lung cancer patients undergoing surgery. Cancer Imaging 2016; 16(1): 24-31
• Steinfort DP, Siva S, Leong TL, Rose M, Gunawardana D, Antippa P, Ball DL, Irving LB. Systematic endobronchial ultrasound-guided mediastinal staging versus positron emission tomography for comprehensive mediastinal staging in NSCLC before radical radiotherapy of non-small cell lung cancer: a pilot study. Medicine (Baltimore) 2016; 95(8): e2488
• Steinfort DP, Leong TL, Laska IF, Beaty A, Tsui A, Irving LB. Diagnostic utility and accuracy of rapid on-site evaluation of bronchial brushings. Eur Respir J 2015; 45(6): 1653-1660
• Leong TL, Marini KD, Rossello FJ, Jayasekara SN, Russell PA, Prodanovic Z, Kumar B, Ganju V, Alamgeer M, Irving LB, Steinfort DP, Peacock CD, Cain JE, Szczepny A, Watkins DN. Genomic characterisation of small cell lung cancer patient-derived xenografts generated from endobonchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration specimens. PLoS One 2014; 9(9): e106862
• Stirling RG, Evans SM, McLaughlin P, Senthuren M, Millar J, Gooi J, Irving L, Mitchell P, Haydon A, Ruben J, Conron M, Leong T, Watkins, McNeil JJ. The Victorian Lung Cancer Registry Pilot: Improving the quality of lung cancer care through the use of a disease quality registry. Lung 2014; 192(5): 749-758

Invited review

• Leong TL. Access to lung cancer screening and treatment during the Covid pandemic. Respirology 2020. In press
• Leong TL, Li J. 3D printed airway simulators: a new dimension to bronchoscopy training. Respirology 2020. In press
• Barnes H, Goh NSL, Leong TL, Hoy R. Silica-associated lung disease: an old-world exposure in modern industries. Respirology 2019. doi: 10.1111/resp.13695 [Epub ahead of print]
• Leong TL, Steinfort DP, Fong K. Lung cancer screening update: where are we now? Respiratory Medicine Today 2016; 1(1): 34-36

Abstracts

• TREE study. Accepted abstract at Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting in 2021
• Smokers in Surgery study. Accepted abstract at Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting in 2021
• Austin pulmonary nodule experience. Accepted abstract at Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting in 2021
• Koh TL, Ong WL, Leong T, Lapuz C, Lim A. Outcomes following stereotactic body radiotherapy (SBRT) for biopsy-confirmed vs. radiologically-diagnosed primary lung cancer. Accepted abstract at World Conference on Lung Cancer in 2019
• Guo H, Leong T, Khor Y, Ahmed N, McDonald C. Pleural effusion management at Austin. Accepted abstract at Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting in 2019
• Tracy Leong, Daniel Steinfort, Aneta Strezlecki, Samantha Jayasekara, Beena Kumar, Prudence A. Russell, Michael Farmer, Louis Irving, David Neil Watkins, Anette Szczepny. Development of small cell lung cancer primary xenografts using specimens obtained by endobronchial-ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration: a novel pre-clinical model. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2013;8(2):S462
• Tracy Leong, Parm Naidoo, Beena Kumar, Daniel Stefanski, Ian Woolley, Michael Farmer. Acute Mediastinal Melioidosis: Diagnosis by Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration. Am J Crit Care Med. 2012;185(1):A4568
• Leong TL, Strzelecki A, Steinfort D, Kumar B, Russell P, Wright G, Conron M, Irving L, Watkins DN, A Szczepny. Development of primary xenografts using lung cancer specimens obtained by endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration. Journal of Thoracic Oncology. 2012;7(9):S175

Media

Active Learning Module for implementation of “Investigating symptoms of lung cancer: a guide for GPs”, endorsed by the Royal College of General Practitioners and funded by the Australian Government through Cancer Australia

Scholarships / Grants

2020                Rob Pierce Memorial Award grant-in-aid ($1000)

2018                David Bickart Clinician Research Fellowship

2016                Cancer Therapeutics PhD Top Up Scholarship ($20000 per annum 28/03/16 to 27/11/17)

2013                NHMRC Postgraduate Scholarship ($36706 per annum 08/02/13 to 30/11/16)

2012                Australian Lung Foundation Lung Cancer Program Grant-in-Aid for Lung Cancer Research ($5000 per annum 02/12 to 03/13)

2011                Royal Australasian College of Physicians Arnott Research Entry Scholarship in Cancer Research ($30000 per annum 02/12 to 03/13)

2010                Vojakovic scholarship for involvement in asbestos related lung disease ($5000)

Professional Development

Chaired sessions

2021                Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting, Melbourne

2020                Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand national webinars

2020                Lung Foundation Australia, Empowering Women in Research event, Melbourne

2020                Australian Lung Cancer Conference, Melbourne

2019                Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting, Gold Coast

2016                Australian Lung Cancer Conference, Melbourne

2016                Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting, Perth

2009                Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand National Lung School, Melbourne

Oral presentations

2021                Invited speaker, Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand Annual Scientific Meeting, Melbourne

2020                Invited speaker, WCBIP, Shanghai

2020                Invited speaker, The Limbic ERS Highlights

2017                Oral abstract, World Conference on Lung Cancer, Yokohama

2016                Oral abstract, World Conference on Lung Cancer, Vienna

2016                Oral abstract, Australian Lung Cancer Conference, Melbourne

2016                Invited speaker, “Role of Endobronchial Ultrasound in translational lung cancer research”. Austin Health Grand Round

2016                Invited speaker, ““Role of Endobronchial Ultrasound in translational lung cancer research”. Royal Melbourne Hospital Grand Round

Poster presentations

2016                Selected abstract, “A single endobronchial ultrasound-guided transbronchial needle aspiration yields sufficient DNA for targeted molecular testing in lung cancer”. Cancer Therapeutics Higher Degree Research Symposium, Melbourne

2013                Selected abstract, “Development of small cell lung cancer primary xenografts using specimens obtained by endobronchial ultrasound transbronchial needle aspiration: a novel pre-clinical model”. World Conference on Lung Cancer, Sydney

2012                Selected abstract, “Acute Mediastinal Melioidosis: Diagnosis by Endobronchial Ultrasound-Guided Transbronchial Needle Aspiration”. American Thoracic Society International Conference, Denver

Leadership

2020               Victorian Advanced Respiratory Trainee match panel

2020               Chairperson, Lung Foundation Australia Women in Research

2019               Convenor, Radial Endobronchial Ultrasound Course, Melbourne

2019-              Executive, TSANZ Victoria

2018-              Convenor, TSANZ Lung Cancer Special Interest Group

2017-              Clinician panellist, Shine A Light On Lung Cancer for lung cancer awareness

2012               Executive, TSANZ Victoria

2011               Victorian Lung Cancer Registry steering committee

2010-2011      TSANZ Victoria branch advanced trainee representative

Professional affiliations

Thoracic Society of Australia and New Zealand (TSANZ)

Lung Foundation Australia (LFA)

International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (IASLC)

World Association for Bronchology and Interventional Pulmonology (WABIP)