June 08, 2026
Richard Scolyer, the Australian cancer specialist who became a test case for an experimental treatment after being diagnosed with an aggressive brain tumour, has died aged 59, prompting tributes to a researcher whose work helped transform melanoma care.
He died on Sunday night, Australian media reported.
Scolyer, a pathologist and co-medical director of Melanoma Institute Australia, was named joint 2024 Australian of the Year with his longtime collaborator Georgina Long for advances in immunotherapy that have helped make advanced melanoma a treatable disease for many patients.
Diagnosed in 2023 with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest brain cancers, Scolyer agreed to a world-first approach that applied lessons from melanoma treatment to his own tumour. The treatment included immunotherapy before surgery, an approach designed by Long and a team seeking to provoke an immune response against the cancer. A clinical trial using the treatment began in the U.S. earlier this year.
