Professor Georgina Long AO, BSc (Hons1, UM) PhD MBBS (Hons) FRACP FAHMS AAHMS FAA, is Co-Medical Director of Melanoma Institute Australia (MIA), and Chair of Melanoma Medical Oncology and Translational Research at MIA and Royal North Shore Hospital, The University of Sydney. She leads an extensive clinical trials team and laboratory at MIA, with a focus on targeted therapies and immuno-oncology in melanoma. She is principal investigator on phase I, II and III clinical trials in adjuvant and metastatic melanoma, including trials in patients with active brain metastases. She is the chief investigator on NHMRC funded research into the molecular biology of melanoma, with a particular interest in clinical and tissue biomarker correlates of systemic therapy sensitivity and resistance.

In recognition of her ground-breaking research and work, Professor Long was named 2024 Australian of the Year and was awarded Fellowship with the Australian Academy of Science (2024), recognized with the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences Outstanding Female Research Medal 2021 and was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (2020) and has received numerous awards, including ESMO Fulbright U.S. Mission Australia Award for Leadership Excellence (2024), Women for Oncology Award (2023), Sydney Local Health District/Sydney Research 2022 Research Excellence Award (2022) the prestigious Ramaciotti Medal for Biomedical Research (2021), Vice Chancellor’s Award for Excellence Award for Outstanding Research (2021), University of Sydney (2021), Research Australia GSK Research Excellence Award (2018) and the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund Prize for Discovery in Medical Research (2016). She has a number of CINSW Premiers Awards, including; the Outstanding Cancer Researcher (2018), the Excellence in Translational Cancer Research Award (2017), the Wildfire Award for the most highly-cited, original, peer-reviewed article published (2011, 2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 & 2020), and in 2013 she was named the Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow. She is also Clarivate highly-cited Researcher for 2017-2022. Her H index is 141 and in September 2024 she was ranked the world’s equal 1st melanoma expert in all fields and discipline (https://expertscape.com/ex/melanoma).

Professor Long is the author of over 500 peer-reviewed publications in clinical and translational research in melanoma, including the New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet, Lancet Oncology, Science, Nature, Journal of Clinical Oncology and Cancer Discovery. Professor Long has presented her work at international conferences and meetings on more than 250 occasions. She is Past President for the prestigious international Society for Melanoma Research (President 2018-2020), is a member and Chair of the ASCO (2015-2017) and ESMO (2017-2020) Scientific Committee for Melanoma/Skin cancer, is medical oncology lead for the Australian Melanoma Management Guidelines Committee, and is member of both the ASCO Plenary Series and ASCO AGM Education committees (2021-2024) she is on the editorial boards of several high-impact journals, and is a member of the Melanoma Expert Panel for AJCC Cancer Staging System 8th edition.

Professor Long was awarded the University Medal in Organic Chemistry. She subsequently completed her PhD in Chemistry in the field of anti-cancer agents and their binding to DNA. She then moved to the USA to take up a Fulbright Postdoctoral Fellowship at Scripps Research Institute, exploring nanotechnology in cancer treatment, before returning to Australia to complete her MBBS (Hons). Professor Long became a Fellow of the Australasian College of Physicians in January 2008, specialising in medical oncology.