A drive to zero deaths from melanoma underlined a keynote speech which celebrated a milestone in Queensland medical research history.
World-leading melanoma researcher and 2024 Australian of the Year Professor Georgina Long delivered QIMR Berghofer’s 80th Anniversary Derrick Mackerras Memorial Lecture at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre this week.
QIMR Berghofer Director and CEO Professor Fabienne Mackay said Professor Long exemplified the values that had defined the medical institute for eight decades.
Professor Mackay said Professor Long, who is the Medical Director of the Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), was internationally recognised for pioneering clinical trials and research that had transformed survival outcomes for melanoma patients.
She said her lecture explored the science driving the push towards zero deaths from melanoma, including advances in immunotherapy and drug development, and a better understanding of why some patients stopped responding to treatment.
“Professor Long and her team are not only delivering drug therapy breakthroughs for melanoma but they are fundamentally transforming how clinical trials are run, to accelerate options for these patients.
“At the heart of Georgina’s work is her unwavering commitment to people with melanoma.”
In her address, Professor Long, who is also Chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research at MIA and Royal North Shore Hospital, The University of Sydney, said a shift towards neoadjuvant therapy, or drug treatment before surgery, was as a “big change” in melanoma care.
“The big change in melanoma is not [only] giving it neoadjuvantly, but that we only give it for six to eight weeks and our patients do a whole lot better,” she said.
“With patient-focused research … we have a conscious philosophy of creating evidence – not just using it, but creating it.”
Professor Mackay said the Derrick Mackerras Memorial Lecture was held annually to commemorate the pioneering contributions of the Institute’s founding directors.
She said this year’s special anniversary edition highlighted QIMR Berghofer’s legacy of skin cancer research, including, the Nambour sunscreen studies led by Professor Adele Green, and major collaborations with Melanoma Institute Australia on the Australian Melanoma Genome project and the QSkin study.
– QIMR Berghofer is holding a gala dinner on November 1, at the Royal International Convention Centre, Bowen Hills, Brisbane, to mark its 80th anniversary. Ticket details on the QIMR Berghofer website.
