The Sydney Opera House will host a state memorial service for Professor Richard Scolyer on Monday, July 13. Doors open at 9.30am for the 11am start.
Scolyer, a melanoma pathologist and joint 2024 Australian of the Year, died on June 7 at 59, three years after doctors diagnosed him with glioblastoma, an incurable brain cancer. The Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet confirmed the date. His family also shared it on social media and said they were “honoured” by the announcement.
An online listing for the event promised “a range of tributes from friends, family members and dignitaries.” A limited number of free tickets will go to the public. They are released on Monday, June 29, at 9am through the Sydney Opera House website.
The family has asked that people give to charity instead of sending flowers. Donations can go to the Brain Cancer Group, which supports patient care, or to Chris O’Brien Lifehouse, which funds research through the Richard Scolyer Chair in Brain Cancer Research.
The work
Scolyer was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2021. He co-authored more than 800 peer-reviewed publications over two decades and was regarded as a world authority on diagnosing skin cancer and melanoma. With Professor Georgina Long, his work has been credited with saving “thousands of lives from melanoma.” The two shared the 2024 Australian of the Year title.
Then the disease came for him. A year before that award he was diagnosed with Grade 4, IDH wild-type glioblastoma, and he chose to share every step of his treatment with the public.
He became the first brain cancer patient in the world to receive neoadjuvant immunotherapy, meaning the drugs came before surgery to remove the tumour. The approach grew out of melanoma research that he and his colleagues had advanced and that Long developed further. It stretched his prognosis from months to years. He completed his 250th Park Run before he died.
His own words
At his request, a letter he wrote was published after his death. “Having dedicated my 35-year working life to patient care, cancer research and improving lives, I wanted to keep contributing, even in my darkest hour,” he wrote.
He asked to be remembered as “a proud everyday Aussie who ‘gave it a crack’,” and as someone who inspired others “to pursue their dreams and passions with humility, love and compassion.”
Scolyer is survived by his wife, Katie, and their children, Lucy, Matt and Emily.
Sources
- Date set for Richard Scolyer's state memorial service
- State funeral date announced for Professor Richard Scolyer
