A/Prof Melita Kenealy is a Consultant Haematologist at Cabrini Hospital. She manages patients with all blood and bone marrow disorders including lymphoma, myeloma, leukaemias and myeloproliferative and myelodysplastic disorders. Melita also looks after people with bleeding and clotting disorders as well as low blood counts, iron and B12 deficiency and blood disorders in pregnancy.
A/Prof Kenealy is qualified as a consultant physician and a specialist in Clinical Haematology as well as having a qualification as a Haematopathologist. She graduated with honours from Monash University in 1996 and completed her early training at Monash Medical Centre. She undertook specialist training at Monash Medical Centre, St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre becoming a Fellow of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Royal College of Pathologists of Australia in 2006. She is a member of the Haematology Society of Australia & New Zealand and the Australasian Society of Thrombosis and Haemostasis and the Australian and New Zealand Society of Blood Transfusion. She completed a Specialist Certificate in Clinical Research (Oncology) at Melbourne University School of Enterprise, and is an Adjunct Associate Professor (Clinical) at Monash University.
A/Prof Kenealy has an active research interest in Myelodysplastic Syndromes (MDS), a pre-leukaemia condition, and in epigenetic therapies. She was awarded the Max Whiteside Leukaemia Foundation Scholarship in 2006, and has been an active member of the Australasian Leukaemia and Lymphoma Group pioneering new treatments in MDS. She established and successfully recruited the largest 2 clinical studies in this disease in Australia and has presented results at international meetings. She has an interest in translational research, investigating the mechanism of action of epigenetic and immunologic treatments and researching biomarkers which may predict a good response to therapy. She was Project Manager of the Victorian Epigenetics Group until 2017, supported by the Victorian Cancer Agency. She is involved in numerous other clinical studies in MDS and other blood diseases at Cabrini Institute and is involved in the education of medical students and specialist haematology trainees. Melita is the current Chair of Medical Staff at Cabrini Hospital and leads the Haematology Specialty Group at Cabrini.
A/Prof Kenealy's practice is based at Cabrini full time; she consults at Cabrini Malvern on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursdays and Cabrini Brighton on Wednesdays with additional appointments for urgent care available when required. Care of her private inpatients on some days is shared by the rostered Haematologist from The Blood Unit supervising an accredited advanced trainee in haematology in direct collaboration with A/Prof Kenealy.