Finding a treatment for cancer has Australians of the Year Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer risking it all for science
Fifteen years ago when Georgina Long and Richard Scolyer began their research into advanced-stage melanoma, the diagnosis was fatal. Patients had a less than five per cent chance of surviving five years.
As co-medical directors of the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), based in Wollstonecraft, Georgina and Richard have spent years carrying out clinical trials leading to the development of the immunotherapy approach, which activates a patient’s own immune systems to fight cancer.
Now, thanks to their research at the MIA, survival from this type of melanoma is more than 50 per cent at five years.
The pair were awarded Australians of the Year by the Australia Day Council in January, but say their research is just beginning. Along with wanting to complete their mission of ‘zero deaths from melanoma,’ they are now using their discoveries to treat Richard’s incurable grade-four stage brain cancer.
In accepting their award, Richard spoke of the diagnosis he was given in June 2023.
“I stand here tonight as a terminal brain cancer patient. I’m only 57. I don’t want to die. I love my life, my family, my work. I have so much more to do and to give,” the husband and father of three said.
“First experimental treatment for my type of cancer was bold for me. The decision to take on Georgina’s groundbreaking plan was a no-brainer. Here was an opportunity for us to crack another incurable cancer and make a difference. If not for me, then for others.”
The due have been researching melanoma for 15 years.
Photos: NADC/Salty Dingo
At the risk of shortening his life, Richard undertook an experimental treatment – becoming the world’s first brain cancer patient to have pre-surgery combination therapy.
In doing so, he and Georgina have advanced the understanding of brain cancer, benefiting future patients.
Georgina, 53 and a former Artarmon resident, added to Richard’s comments at the ceremony. “We are extremely proud that the data we have generated from this fearless approach is already changing the field,” she said. “There was early push- back but we backed our strong science, tried and tested in melanoma.”
Georgina, a medical oncologist, leads an extensive clinical trials team and laboratory at MIA. Both she and Richard, who is a surgical pathologist, have been appointed officer of the order of Australia for their services to medicine, particularly in the field of melanoma and skin cancer.
The pair used their acceptance speech to call for clinical trials to be opened to all eligible cancer patients. Currently, less than six per cent of these patients are on a trial.
“Research into any cancer can transform the field globally,” Georgina said. “It is how we will save lives across all cancers.”
Australia has the highest melanoma rates in the world and is the most common cancer affecting 20- to 30-year-olds.
The newly minted Australians of the Year will take part in the Melanoma March this month, MIA’s annual fundraising event. Normally held in Manly, the march has been moved to Rodd Point and aims to raise $1 million for MIA’s life-saving research.
For more information, visit melanomamarch.org.au