Queen’s Birthday Honour for Prof Georgina Long

Professor Long has been appointed as an Officer (AO) of the Order of Australia (General Division) for distinguished service to medicine, particularly, to melanoma clinical and translational research, and to professional medical societies.

‘This is well deserved recognition of Professor Long’s lifesaving work and ground-breaking research,’ said fellow MIA Co-Medical Director, Professor Richard Scolyer. ‘She has changed the face of melanoma treatment around the world and many thousands of people are alive today thanks to her intellect, determination and passion.

‘It is due to her research and thought leadership globally that the world is now realistically looking towards a day with zero deaths from melanoma,’ he added.

Professor Long is one of the world’s most renowned melanoma clinicians and researchers with her clinical trials tripling life expectancy for some advanced melanoma patients and essentially curing others. She leads the clinical trials team at MIA, with a focus on targeted therapy and immune-oncology in melanoma, and is Principal Investigator on Phase I, II and III trials in adjuvant and metastatic melanoma, including trials in patients with active brain metastases.

Professor Long is a fierce advocate that recent advances and breakthroughs in melanoma treatment stem from the collective effort of the dedicated multi-disciplinary team at MIA that she co-leads with her colleague and friend Professor Scolyer.
In a double world first, she is the first woman and the first Australian to be President of the prestigious US-based Society for Melanoma Research (SMR). She has authored over 300 publications in melanoma clinical and translational research, including in the world’s leading scientific high-impact journals such as the New England Journal of Medicine and The Lancet, and has presented at hundreds of international conferences.

Professor Long’s Queen’s Birthday Honour follows numerous awards including being named the 2018 Outstanding Researcher of the Year at the NSW Premiers Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research and receiving the prestigious Research Australia, GSK Research Excellence Award in 2018 and the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund Prize for Discovery in Medical Research in 2016.

‘Professor Long’s recognition in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List is a proud day for all of us here at Melanoma Institute Australia,’ said CEO Matthew Browne.

‘Not only is she saving lives and changing the future for melanoma patients around the world, but she is also an inspiring role model for all young Australians, particularly women, who may be working towards a career in science and medicine,’ he said.