Allan Coates AM has practised as a medical oncologist in the Sydney Melanoma Unit since 1978.  He was Research Director from 1985 fo 1998. Professor Coates' research interests include clinical trials in breast cancer and melanoma, and studies of quality of life in cancer patients.

In 1998 he became Chief Executive Officer of The Cancer Council Australia and Clinical Professor in the School of Public Health.  He is the first elected non-US member of the Board of Directors of the American Society of Clinical Oncology; Chairman of the Scientific Advisory Committee of the Australia New Zealand Breast Cancer Trials Group and co-Chairman of the Scientific Committee of the International Breast Cancer Study Group.  He was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in 2002 for "service to medicine in the field of oncology, particularly through breast cancer research."