2024 Australians of the Year, Professor Georgina Long AO and Professor Richard Scolyer AO joined Forrest Research Foundation researchers for an in-conversation breakfast, sharing insights into their incredible journey and ground-breaking work in melanoma research.
Known as Australia’s national cancer, melanoma affects thousands every year. This devastating disease not only sees one Australian diagnosed every thirty minutes, but it takes the life of one person every six hours.
As co-directors of the Melanoma Institute of Australia (MIA), Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer are at the forefront of global advances in melanoma research. Their pioneering work in immunotherapy has transformed advanced melanoma from a fatal disease into a curable one. Based at The Poche Centre in Wollstonecraft near North Sydney, the MIA’s high-performing team of specialists spearhead new research, undertake clinical trials and develop novel treatments.
As melanoma is the most common cancer for people aged 20 to 39, Professor Long and Professor Scolyer emphasised the importance of prevention and the unique challenges of delivering the ‘slip, slop, slap’ message to a new generation of Australians influenced by skin tanning culture.
With many of the Forrest Research Foundation researchers focused on health, spanning computational blood flow to molecular mechanisms, their talk provided valuable insights into the multi-faceted medical, surgical and research specialities required to combat this complex disease.
