QIMR Professor honoured in Australian of the Year shortlist

Professor Adele Green AC is a Queensland finalist in the Australian of the Year Awards, an honour recognising her 20-year war on skin cancer at the Queensland Institute of Medical Research.

Professor Green is a senior scientist at QIMR, a former Deputy Director, and Head of the Institute’s Cancer and Population Studies Group.

QIMR director Professor Frank Gannon congratulated Professor Green.

“This is well-deserved recognition of Professor Green’s passion and commitment and recognises the significance of health and medical research for all Australians,” Professor Gannon said.

“She’s led significant advances in understanding the causes and prevention of skin cancer.”

Adele Green’s world-first research established that daily sunscreen use can prevent melanoma.

Professor Green also headed up a study which determined that the survival rate of patients with thin invasive melanoma was 96%, offering hope and reassurance to sufferers. It remains the only published analysis of very long-term survival rates for these patients.

Another of Professor Green’s key projects is the 20-year follow-up study of almost 1,000 residents of the town of Nambour, Queensland. This study focuses on the most common skin cancers: basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC)

“Professor Green has also proven herself to be a brilliant mentor to early-career scientists at QIMR,” Professor Gannon said.

“Her commitment to students demonstrates her passion and support for science and medical research as an important and vital vocation.”

Professor Green was also appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia in 2004 for service to medical research to public health including improved Indigenous health, and for leadership in the wider scientific community.

QIMR congratulates the other finalists in the category: Professor Lisa Gasteen AO, Graeme Wood AM and Anna Meares OAM. The Queensland winner will be announced on November 15 ahead of the national awards in January.