Professor Zalcberg has held the position of Director of the Cancer Medicine Division at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, followed by seven years as Professor of Cancer Research in the School of Public Health and Preventative Medicine at Monash University.
After obtaining a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Melbourne and a PhD in cancer immunology, he served as Director of Medical Oncology at the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital and Director of Cancer Services at the Austin and Repatriation Medical Centre.
A founder of the Lorne Cancer Conference and Australasian Gastrointestinal Trials Group (AGITG), Professor Zalcberg holds current board positions for AGITG (Chair), Cancer Trials Australia, Cancer Drugs Alliance (Co-Chair) and Australian Clinical Trials Alliance (Interim Chair). His prior board appointments include New South Wales Cancer Institute, Clinical Oncological Society of Australia (President) and Consultative Council of the Victorian Cancer Agency.
In recognition of his substantial service to cancer research and clinical practice, Professor Zalcberg was honoured with a Medal of the Order of Australia Award (OAM) and the 2011 Cancer Achievement Award from the Medical Oncology Group of Australia.
In 2023, Prof Zalcberg was appointed Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to oncology as a clinician-researcher, and as an advocate for those living with cancer.