A cancer researcher who helped develop a treatment for melanoma before using��a similar approach to tackle his own incurable brain cancer has died aged 59.

Richard Scolyer, the first person to undergo a pioneering treatment for brain tumour, died on 7 June, three years after his diagnosis.

In 2024, he was named joint Australian of the Year along with his friend and fellow scientist Georgina Long.

Together they took what they had learned studying skin cancer to treat Scolyer’s grade-four glioblastoma, described by��the scientist himself as the “worst subtype of brain cancer” that causes “certain death”.

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He told������Vlog��at the time that “there was understandable resistance from some in the medical community” regarding his decision.

“Maybe I’m too much of an optimist,” he said. “But our deep scientific understanding has allowed me to view my own diagnosis through a different lens. Rather than just a devastating challenge, I also see my diagnosis as a unique opportunity to progress research and treatment for another incurable cancer, like melanoma was.”

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The world’s most published melanoma pathologist, Scolyer contributed more than 1,000 research publications to the field, and had also held roles at the American Joint Committee on Cancer and the World Health Organisation.

��responding to Scolyer’s death, his peers at the Melanoma Institute Australia remembered him as an “esteemed colleague and friend”.

“Richard was a renowned pathologist and a world authority on skin cancer and melanoma diagnoses,” the statement said.

“His broad knowledge of and passion for pathology, along with his generous mentorship and teaching, have inspired many and transformed melanoma and skin cancer research and diagnosis across the globe.”

Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese called Scolyer “one of our brightest lights and one of our biggest hearts”, while his long-time collaborator Long said he had “left an indelible mark”.

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“He shared his expertise widely: through consultation on external specimens, through diagnostic and classification frameworks now used worldwide, and as a devoted teacher and mentor,” she said.

Mark Scott, vice-chancellor and president of the University of Sydney, where Scolyer held a professorship, said: “Professor Scolyer will be forever remembered as one of our most remarkable researchers and alumni.

“He is one of only a few people who have helped change the fate of melanoma diagnosis in Australia, by daring to imagine the possibility of ending one of Australia’s most insidious cancers and doing everything in his power as a researcher to achieve that."

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Diagnosed with a grade-four IDH-wildtype glioblastoma in May 2023, Scolyer became the first brain cancer patient to have combination pre-surgery immunotherapy, a process involving using a range of drugs before attempting to remove a tumour.

The process was not expected to save but to prolong Scolyer’s life, with subsequent scans showing a positive response in the brain.

In����published on announcement of his death, Scolyer wrote to “all Australians”, urging government and the wider community to “keep funding science and medical research”.

He called on fellow scientists to “stay inquisitive” and to “keep striving to break new ground”, adding: “If my legacy was to continue beyond these words, I would be delighted and humbled to be remembered as a proud everyday Aussie who ‘gave it a crack’ and, in doing so, inspired others to pursue their dreams and passions with humility, love and compassion.”

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Scolyer is survived by his wife, fellow pathologist Katie Nicholl, and three children.

georgia.luckhurst@timeshighereducation.com