The SWAN Project

The SWAN Project is a multi-disciplinary cancer research effort to translate data collected during clinical trials to improved cancer therapies. Initially focused on Radiation Oncology, the SWAN Project now encompasses all oncology and allied fields. The SWAN Project employs novel analytics, biostatistics and artificial intelligence methods to extract actionable models and biomarkers from the diverse and potentially complex datasets collated during clinical trials (including DICOM-formatted imaging and radiotherapy data, and trial-participant demographics, treatment, pathology and outcomes information). This SWAN Project is an overall planned program of research that utilises analysis of observations of treated patients, combined with advancements in technology, to adapt treatment processes. The overall aim is the increasing eradication of cancer with decreasing incidence of side-effects. 

The SWAN Project was founded in 2000 via a grant from the Cancer Council Western Australia. Since then, the project has received considerable support from the Australian National Health and Medical Research Council and Cancer Australia. The project is principally supported by the Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital in Western Australia.