Remembering one of the brightest minds in the fight against melanoma — and the work that gave families like ours hope.
We’re heartbroken to learn of the passing of Professor Richard Scolyer AO, one of the brightest minds in the fight against melanoma.
As Co-Medical Director of Melanoma Institute Australia, Richard helped change melanoma medical science forever — turning it into a disease people can now survive.
His work in immunotherapy gave families hope where there had once been none, including our own Daffodil Chef who received immunotherapy in 2013 back when it was still in its trial stages.
Richard was diagnosed with an incurable brain cancer glioblastoma in June 2023, a cancer whose treatment has been mostly unchanged for the last twenty years. Richard underwent experimental combination immunotherapy before and after removing the tumour, using his own research in melanoma against his brain cancer. While not a cure, this trial gave Richard an extra two years with his family, possibly paving the way for future clinical trials, and it exciting to remember how far we’ve come in the past twelve years.
The money we raise together at The Daffodil Chef goes straight to supporting Melanoma Institute Australia — the very place Richard led.
More than $100,000 from our dinners has gone into that work. That’s the legacy every one of you has been part of.
Thank you, Richard.
We’ll keep going in this fight — for you, for thousands of others, and for Steve. So that we can one day we no longer need to lose a loved one to not only melanoma, but all cancers.