By rights, he should be dead. But joint Australian of the Year Professor Richard Scolyer is very much alive.
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"It's pretty amazing I'm still able to function relatively normally and now past 14 months, which is the average survival for the incurable or supposedly incurable brain cancer that I have," the pathologist says via phone from Tasmania.
He's softly spoken but his voice carries immense positivity.
At best, the longstanding treatment for aggressive glioblastoma, now almost 20 years old, could offer patients another two months of life.
Professor Scolyer is the first human to trial an immunotherapy regime devised by his colleague and fellow 2024 Australian of the Year Professor Georgina Long.
But don't call him a guinea pig, as some did when he revealed his brain cancer - and the pioneering treatment for it - during his Australian of the Year acceptance speech on January 25.
"Guinea pig is not what human research is about," explains Professor Long. "Humans are not in cages. They consent. And in fact 'guinea pig' is unhelpful for science because it makes it sound like people don't have a choice."
She speaks with electrifying and infectious passion.
The pair were accorded the 2024 Australian of the Year Award for their work in treating melanoma. Thanks to their work in boosting the human immune system to fight the disease, stage IV melanoma, once a death sentence, now has a 50 per cent survival rate.
The honour has given them a platform to push their message of prevention.
"Every dollar you spend on prevention - let's not get this disease in the first place - Australian taxpayers get $4 back," Professor Long says
They've spent the first six months of their tenure as Australians of the Year visiting schools and research institutes and advocating for governments to invest in broadcasting the preventative message across media platforms used by young people.
"There's this cultural thing that we sometimes call the glamorisation of tanning, particularly in young people," says Professor Scolyer. "They think it's cool to have a tan, particularly people with pale or European type skin."
They've been spreading the message while in Tasmania.
"We're seeing a lot of schools," says Professor Long. "And we're going to two research institutes. Getting the prevention message out to the younger, the better. We're also energising them about science.
"Science seeks out. Science wants to understand. Science is curious. And science recognises it's not perfect and that's why we have literature which builds upon what we know and disproves previous hypotheses. That's what we do. We're just doing our best to discover and understand the world around us."
The Australian of the Year experience has been enriching in other ways too.
"One of the incredible things was to meet some of the people who've been nominated and received awards from their own states," says Professor Scolyer.
"It's just amazing the people from different aspects of life, what they're doing to make a difference to our society and the world from all different fields. There are many Australians to be celebrated and to be able to nominate Australians of the Year is really important and we'd encourage all Australians make those nominations."
Professor Long says the awards don't just celebrate the individuals nominated.
"It's not just about those individuals, it's about Australia. It's about saying, 'Together we've done this'."
There is just one week left to nominate people for the four categories of the Australian of the Year Awards: Australian of the Year, Young Australian of the Year, Senior Australian of the Year and Australia's Local Hero.
Visit australianoftheyear.org.au to submit a nomination. The deadline is midnight AEST, July 31.
- ACM, the publisher of this masthead, is proud to be the media partner of the 2025 Australian of the Year Awards.
John Hanscombe
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
Four decades in the media, working in print and television. Formerly editor of the South Coast Register and Milton Ulladulla Times. Based on the South Coast of NSW.
