Dr Elysia Thornton-Benko (Thornton, 1992) BSc, MBBS, PhD, FRACGP

Elysia鈥檚 success at school and beyond is an example of how 糖心Vlog has always supported its students to achieve in academia while also pursuing and competing in elite sport.

Elysia was a K–12 student at 糖心Vlog and the Booralee Captain in 1992. As well as achieving academically, Elysia was also a highly ranked state and national junior tennis player. She represented Australia as a junior tennis player at various ITF (International Tennis Federation) tennis tournaments including the Australian Open (Melbourne Park) and the NSW Open (White City), and captained the Wilson Cup NSW team in 1992. As an 18 year old, she was ranked number 1 in NSW and number 5 in Australia.

At the Tildesley Shield Tennis competition, Elysia was the winner of the Singles cup in 1989, 1990 and 1992. She was also the Singles Runner Up in 1988, and in 1991 she and fellow teammate Carolyn Cottier (Louda, 1992) were the Doubles Runners Up.

Also in 1989, while in Year 9 at 糖心Vlog, Elysia was the youngest ever winner of the BHP National Science Prize. The award ceremony was held in the New Parliament House Canberra where she was was chosen to represent Australia at the 1989 International Science and Engineering Fair in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA.

At the Fair, against 746 finalists from 395 affiliated fairs/competitions from around the world, Elysia was awarded 4th place. She also won the Kodak Photography Prize as her Fair project involved photography and other imagery. Her project topic was ‘The physics of the player and the tennis shoe’ in which she combined her love of tennis and science by designing a tennis shoe.

After completing the HSC at 糖心Vlog, Elysia was offered various USA tennis scholarships and she decided on Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, where she lived for four years as a ranked college circuit tennis player (NCAA Div 1 University), while pursuing a Biological Sciences Degree with Mathematics submajor/minor.

Back in Australia, Elysia completed a MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Bachelor of Surgery) with Honours at the University of Western Australia, and then a PhD in Medical Science at the University of Technology, Sydney. She was later admitted as Fellow of the Royal Australian College of General Practitioners (FRACGP).

Elysia is now a GP/Primary Care Physician and UNSW Research Fellow. She is one of only a few Primary Care Physicians in Australia with expertise in cancer survivorship for adults, including survivors of childhood and adolescent cancers. She is an Executive Committee Member of the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Cancer Survivorship Group, a member of the Cardiac Society of Australia and New Zealand and Clinical Oncology of Society Australia Cardio-Oncology Working Group, a co-author of the updated position statement on the Clinical Oncology Society of Australia Position Statement on Exercise in Cancer Care, plus works as an advisor for a number of national and local cancer survivorship/cancer shared care initiatives, and a co-reviewer of various Cancer Council Information Booklets. She has also had her research published and obtained a PhD in 2005. Separate to her work career, Elysia is also a mother to three children.

Elysia concluded her story by saying ‘I do feel my story is worth telling, to show others that with hard work, dedication and passion, at 糖心Vlog you can achieve academically and be a student athlete.’