To read Richard Scolyer’s “final farewell” letter is to recognise that our nation has lost a truly great and gracious Australian.
In that goodbye, Professor Scolyer said that “cancer does not define us.” Yet Professor Scolyer’s more than three decades of work has defined cancer research and treatment – inroads that ultimately will help humanity defeat this dreadful disease.
Professor Scolyer will be remembered for his breakthroughs in melanoma treatment, including immunotherapy, and being the first patient to receive brain cancer treatment based on what he helped develop. Among his many achievements was his nurturing of young doctors and researchers who will carry on his work.
If Professor Scolyer was driven by a responsibility to try and “change the future for others and leave the world a better place”, he did just that. He was brave, bold and challenged the status quo. He was an Australian of the Year, yet Australians will honour him for all the years to come.
Our heartfelt thoughts are with Richard’s wife Katie, his children Emily, Matthew and Lucy, his wider family, his colleagues in medicine, and all those whose lives he changed for the better.
May Richard Scolyer rest in peace.