A procession of cyclists in purple jerseys slowly made their way down Macquarie Street on Monday morning, escorted by a fleet of police cruisers with sirens blaring. <\/p>\n
As they reached the Opera House, the riders were greeted by members of Tour de Cure, a riding group which raises money for cancer research.<\/p>\n
Perched on the top of a white Lexus was the bicycle owned by Professor Scolyer, paying tribute to his love for the sport. <\/p>\n
Professor Scolyer was a keen cyclist who participated in events with Tour de Cure, including cycling 500km across Tasmania in four days just 11 weeks before his death. <\/p>\n
\u2018Game on\u2019: Touching tributes<\/p>\n
Monday\u2019s service is being led by Hamish Macdonald, who fondly remembered the first time he met Professer Scolyer, who was wearing a T-shirt that read \u2018game on, mole\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat stands out in my memory is a guy who walked straight into the studio, looked you directly into the eye, gave you a great big smile and in an instant, he connected,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
\u201cRichard Scolyer connected with people. When so many in our world use the freedoms that we all share to accentuate the differences between us, Richard was someone who <\/p>\n
saw those differences and lent into them, with delight.\u201d <\/p>\n
Macdonald described Professor Scolyer as a \u201ccurious\u201d person who never turned away from a challenge. <\/p>\n
\u201cRichard invited us all to remember him as a proud, everyday Aussie, who gave it a crack,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n
Sat on the stage were a pair of Ugg boots, a bicycle, a scientific instrument and an akubra, all of which played an important role in Professor Scolyer\u2019s life.<\/p>\n
Governor-General Sam Mostyn smiled as she paid tribute to Professor Scolyer, whom she remembered as someone who \u201cled with profound courage, humility, generosity and openness\u201d.<\/p>\n
She described the moment Professor Scolyer met King Charles III, gifting him an akubra, which she said \u201c(underscored) his mantra of prevention and sun safety\u201d.<\/p>\n
Notables out in force<\/p>\n
Notable Australian figures are among the thousands of people expected to pay their respects to Professor Scolyer, who was one of Australia\u2019s most prominent advocates for research and funding of brain cancer treatment.<\/p>\n
Mr Albanese and his wife Jodie Haydon arrived at the service escorted by a convoy of vehicles.<\/p>\n
He joined Governor-General Sam Mostyn, NSW Premier Chris Minns, Treasurer Jim Chalmers, Health Minister Mark Butler, and Opposition Leader Angus Taylor among the high-profile political figures already at the memorial service. <\/p>\n
Other attendees included NSW Governor Margaret Beazley, Dennis Wilson and outspoken political activist and former Australian of the Year Grace Tame is also among the attendees. <\/p>\n
Inside the service, Councillor Yvonne Weldon performed a Welcome to Country and took a moment to reflect on the life of Professor Scolyer.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are gathered here where ancient practices took place for over 65,000 years,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cInterest continuation of ancient practices, aren\u2019t for what we need to take from each other, but, rather, what we give, and what we share, just as Richard and his family gave to all of us,\u201d she said. <\/p>\n
\u2018Indefatigable\u2019: Scolyer remembered<\/p>\n
Professor Scolyer was named co-Australian of the Year in 2024 alongside colleague Georgina Long, undergoing a world-first treatment they pioneered in treating melanomas.<\/p>\n
Speaking to NewsWire ahead of Professor Scolyer\u2019s state memorial in Sydney on Monday, Chris O\u2019Brien Lifehouse chief clinical officer and director of research Lisa Horvath remembered her colleague and friend as \u201cindefatigable\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cSomebody asked me the other day what I will remember about Richard, and I will remember his massive energy. He was always, moving, always thinking of the next research question,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was running, he was lecturing, he was doing triathlons around the world, he was bringing up his three wonderful children with his wife.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was somebody who just wanted to do everything and I think you can see that in what he\u2019s documented during his cancer journey.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t want to leave anything out on the pitch.\u201d <\/p>\n
Chris O\u2019Brien Lifehouse chief executive Michael Boyer said Professor Scolyer had left the team with a \u201ccan-do attitude\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cRichard\u2019s legacy was all about an approach to problems. It was this idea that you\u2019ve got to try, you\u2019ve got to not give up, you\u2019ve got to do what you can,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Chris O\u2019Brien Lifehouse has announced a new brain cancer research position in Professor Scolyer\u2019s name.<\/p>\n
Professor Horvath said the $5.9m grant would fund a team including a new chair of brain cancer research, researchers, and PhD students along with expanded clinical trials.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe chair is going to be a collaboration between the Chris O\u2019Brien Lifehouse and the University of Sydney, as well as the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital,\u201d Professor Horvath said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to fill it with a clinician scientist, because that\u2019s what Richard was \u2026 we want someone who has that patient focus but who also has excellence in research.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want that person to bring innovative ideas that we can turn into new treatments for brain cancers so that in the future there are more options for treatment, and people can live longer and spend more time with their families.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Horvath said she hoped the chair would help make sure Professor Scolyer\u2019s legacy was \u201cincredibly productive\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re going to make him proud.\u201d<\/p>\n
Professor Horvath and Professor Boyer have urged anyone capable to donate to Chris O\u2019Brien Lifehouse to support their ongoing work.<\/p>\n
Read related topics:Anthony Albanese<\/a>Sydney<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Anthony Albanese has led tributes at the state memorial for pioneering cancer specialist and former Australian of the…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":796664,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,187436,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-796663","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-newswire-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796663","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=796663"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/796663\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/796664"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=796663"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=796663"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=796663"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}