As head of several large organisations with several millions of dollars of turnover, Nat Lenzo is mainly involved in the production or use of radiopharmaceuticals for imaging and treating medical illness.
This work also involves medical research to improve care and treatment for patients with cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, epilepsy and heart disease.
Dr Lenzo is the head of Nuclear Medicine at Royal Perth Hospital, the head of the PET/Cyclotron facility at Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, a director of Canning Medical Centre and a visiting physician to several hospitals.
The $10 million world-class clinical and research PET/Cyclotron facility opened in November 2002 and allows cancer patients to be treated in Western Australia, whereas they previously had to go interstate, and Dr Lenzo is responsible for the ongoing development of the facility.
Dr Lenzo said within two years of introducing the PET/Cyclotron service, the facility was making more imaging tracers than most other sites in Australia and regularly has international visitors wanting to see the clinical and research facilities.
In the past 12 months Dr Lenzo has been involved in the production of a number of new cancer imaging agents and will be the first in the Southern Hemisphere to introduce one of those into clinical practice.
Dr Lenzo says his top business tip is to surround yourself with smart and decent people and give them the freedom and opportunity to develop – they will grow to be the best they can be and in doing so, reward you and your business several times over.