Richard Scolyer, cancer researcher and former Australian of the Year, dies

Prof Richard Scolyer, the world-renowned cancer researcher and former Australian of the Year, has died at the age of 59. His family shared a statement the eminent pathologist and melanoma expert penned before his final stages of illness. "My final message to all Australians is to say thank you for your outpouring of love and support for me and my family," Scolyer wrote.

He was diagnosed with grade-four inoperable brain cancer and told he had six to eight months to live in May 2023. In a world first, he underwent a series of novel immunotherapy treatments that successfully slowed the growth of the glioblastoma until its return in early 2025.

In March he announced via his Facebook page that the cancer had progressed: "Not the best day ever", he wrote. A week earlier he had told his 150,000 followers he was "a bit anxious" about the brain scan, which was scheduled shortly before he was due to take part in a four-day leg of the Tour de Cure charity cycling event in Tasmania, where he was born and grew up.

Australia, Tasmania

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