Prof Richard Scolyer AO has announced that he has decided to step down from his role as Co-Medical Director of Melanoma Institute Australia. Richard has been in this role since January 2017. The Board understands and supports Richard’s decision.

Since 2017, Prof Scolyer has held the position of Co-Medical Director alongside his colleague Prof Georgina Long AO, who remains in the role.

Richard has advised that he intends to stay working within the melanoma field and will remain in his roles with the University of Sydney and with MIA Faculty.

All of us at MIA are indebted to Richard for his valuable and significant contribution over many years. Of particular note, Richard:

  • was a founding member of MIA when it transitioned out of the Sydney Melanoma Unit in the early 2000s
  • developed and led MIA’s Biospecimen Bank – the world’s largest melanoma Biospecimen bank
  • is an internationally recognised researcher, with prodigious research output of more than 1,000 publications, including in the world’s most prestigious journals (Nature, New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet)
  • held leadership roles at the World Health Organisation and remains Vice Chair of the Melanoma Expert Panel for the latest editions of the American Joint Committee on Cancer
  • was co-leader of the Australian Melanoma Genome Project, and
  • has mentored, supervised and provided guidance to many fellows, researchers and pathologists at MIA.

In addition to being joint 2024 Australian of the Year, Richard was named an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in 2021 for distinguished service to medicine, particularly in the field of melanoma and skin cancer and to national and international professional organisations.

MIA congratulates and thanks Richard for his dedication to MIA and moving the field ever closer to reaching our mission of zero deaths from melanoma and wishes Richard the very best of health and every success in the next stage of his journey.