Georgina Long

Georgina Venetia Long AO (born 15 November 1970^{[citation needed]}) is an Australian oncologist, clinical trialist and translational researcher, and works in drug therapy development. Long was the first woman and first Australian to be named president of the US-based Society for Melanoma Research.^[1]

Georgina Long AO FRACP FAHMS
Born	(1970-11-15) 15 November 1970 (age 54) Sydney, Australia
Education	University of Sydney
Occupation	Medical oncologist
Employer(s)	Melanoma Institute Australia University of Sydney Royal North Shore Hospital Mater hospital
Spouse	Greg O'Dea ​ (m. 2000)​
Children	3
Awards	Australian of the Year 2024

She was the joint recipient of the National Australia Day Council's 2024 Australian of the Year Award.^[2]

Early life and education

Long had five siblings and grew up in Sydney's inner west. She also lived in Europe and America as a child.^[3] She completed high school at Santa Sabina College in 1988.^[4]

Long began studying a combined degree of science and law at the University of Sydney, but gave up law and graduated with a double major in pure maths and chemistry in 1993, before completing a PhD in organic chemistry, also at Sydney University, in 1996.^[5][6] She was a postdoctoral researcher at the Scripps Research Institute in California as a Fulbright Fellow, before returning to Australia to undertake her medical degree, graduating with an MBBS in 2001.^[5][6]

Career

Long is a medical oncologist specialising in melanoma. She has led numerous clinical trials,^[7][8] focusing on targeted therapies and immuno-oncology in melanoma.^[9] She is the chief investigator on research into the molecular biology of melanoma.^[10]

Long is Director of the Melanoma Institute Australia. Together with pathologist Richard Scolyer, they have been part of a team pioneering the use of immunotherapy treatment for melanoma, which Long then adapted for brain cancer when Scolyer was diagnosed with it in June 2023.^[11][12] He was the first brain cancer patient in the world to have pre-surgery combination immunotherapy.^[13][14]

In June 2024, Long was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science.^[15]

Awards and honours

• University Medal in Organic Chemistry, University of Sydney, 1993^[16]
• New South Wales Cancer Institute Awards Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow of the Year, 2013^[17]
• New South Wales Cancer Institute Awards The Wildfire Highly Cited Publication Award, 2014^[17]
• New South Wales Cancer Institute Awards Excellence in Translational Cancer Research Award, 2017^[18]
• New South Wales Cancer Institute Awards Outstanding Cancer Researcher of the Year, 2018^[19]
• Officer of the Order of Australia, 2020^[20]
• Ramaciotti Medal for Biomedical Research, 2021^[21]
• Medal for Outstanding Female Researcher, Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences, 2021^[22][23]
• New South Wales Cancer Institute Awards The Wildfire Highly Cited Publication Award, 2021^[24]
• Novartis Oncology Cancer Achievement Award, Medical Oncology Group of Australia, 2023^[25]
• Australian of the Year, 2024^[26]
• In December 2024, Georgina Long was included on the BBC's 100 Women list.^[27]

Selected publications

• Long, Georgina V; Menzies, Alexander M; Nagrial, Adnan M; et al. (2011). "Prognostic and Clinicopathologic Associations of Oncogenic BRAF in Metastatic Melanoma". Journal of Clinical Oncology. 29 (10): 1239–1246. doi:10.1200/JCO.2010.32.4327. PMID 21343559.
• Robert, Caroline; Long, Georgina V; Brady, Benjamin; Dutriaux, Caroline; et al. (2015). "Nivolumab in previously untreated melanoma without BRAF mutation". New England Journal of Medicine. 372 (4): 320–330. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1412082. hdl:11365/1090095. PMID 25399552.
• Robert, Caroline; Schachter, Jacob; Long, Georgina V; et al. (2015). "Pembrolizumab versus Ipilimumab in Advanced Melanoma". The New England Journal of Medicine. 372 (26): 2521–2532. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1503093. PMID 25891173.
• Gershenwald, Jeffrey E; Scolyer, Richard A; Hess, Kenneth R; Sondak, Vernon K; Long, Georgina V; et al. (2017). "Melanoma staging: evidence-based changes in the American Joint Committee on Cancer eighth edition cancer staging manual". CA: A Cancer Journal for Clinicians. 67 (6): 472–492. doi:10.3322/caac.21409. PMC 5978683. PMID 29028110.
• Long, Georgina V; Atkinson, Victoria; Lo, Serigne; et al. (2018). "Combination nivolumab and ipilimumab or nivolumab alone in melanoma brain metastases: a multicentre randomised phase 2 study". The Lancet. 19 (5): 672–681. doi:10.1016/S1470-2045(18)30139-6. PMID 29602646.
• Long, Georgina V (2020). "Pan-cancer analysis of whole genomes". Nature. 578 (7793): 82–93. Bibcode:2020Natur.578...82I. doi:10.1038/s41586-020-1969-6. PMC 7025898. PMID 32025007.
• Carlino, Matteo S; Larkin, James; Long, Georgina V (2021). "Immune checkpoint inhibitors in melanoma". The Lancet. 398 (10304): 1002–1014. doi:10.1016/S0140-6736(21)01206-X. PMC 6094677. PMID 30190854.