Pioneering Australian scientist Richard Scolyer dies after brain cancer battle
Pioneering scientist Richard Scolyer has died after a long battle with brain cancer that he used to advance scientific knowledge and benefit future patients.
The renowned melanoma pathologist and father of three, who died Sunday aged 59, helped save the lives of thousands of people throughout his career with his groundbreaking skin cancer research.
Together with Professor Georgina Long, he transformed the disease from a death sentence to a largely treatable state through treatment that stimulated the patient’s own immune system and brought hope and healing to many.
Born in Tasmania, Scolyer was diagnosed with incurable and aggressive stage four brain cancer called glioblastoma in June 2023, aged 56, and was told he had just six to eight months to live.
The internationally respected clinician undertook the world-first experimental treatment based on his and Prof Long’s melanoma research, despite the risk of further shortening life.
Immunotherapy and a personalized vaccine before surgery to remove the tumor helped stop the disease for almost two years.
Scolyer has amassed thousands of followers on social media by sharing insights into her cancer journey and has been praised for her courage in advancing scientific understanding.
However, in March 2025, it was revealed that after a complex surgery in which the entire mass could not be removed, a recurrent tumor on the left side of his brain had returned and was growing rapidly like tree roots on the left side of his brain.
He told his followers that immunotherapy treatments and a vaccine could make a difference and that the potential benefits of experimental procedures were worth the risk.
“More work needs to be done in clinical trials to prove this,” he said.
“At worst, I will leave a legacy of increased scientific knowledge to benefit future brain cancer patients.”
Scolyer was a keen triathlete and former head prefect and dux at high school before studying medicine at the University of Tasmania.
After four years of clinical medical education, he continued to specialize in pathology and completed his education at the University of Sydney, becoming a professor.
He was also a senior staff specialist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital in Sydney.
Widely regarded as the world’s leading melanoma pathologist and one of the world’s top melanoma researchers, Scolyer has provided clinical consultation for the diagnosis of difficult pigmented lesions and receives more than 2000 cases from around the world each year.
Over more than two decades, he wrote more than 700 scientific articles on cancer, making him the world’s most published melanoma pathologist.
Scolyer and Prof Long, who are co-medical directors at the Australian Melanoma Institute, were jointly awarded Australian of the Year in 2024 and met King Charles during the monarch’s visit to Australia that same year.
In September, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced a $5.9 million commitment to establish the Richard Scolyer Chair in Brain Cancer Research at the Chris O’Brien Lifehouse in Sydney.
The Prime Minister congratulated Scolyer and Prof Long as representatives of “the best of this country”.
“The skill, tenacity and courage in this beautiful Australian inspires so many Australians through their own cancer journey,” he said at the time.
The humble Scolyer said he never intended to be honored by name and just wanted to make a difference.
Scolyer was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2021 for distinguished service to medicine, particularly in the field of melanoma and skin cancer.
He was also an expert member of the World Health Organization and received numerous awards from medical, research and pathology organizations worldwide.
He has also represented Australia as an age-group triathlete, and his book Brainstorm, co-authored with Garry Maddox, won the Social Impact Book of the Year award at the 2025 Australian Book Industry Awards.
