Medallist’s personal tragedy changes trajectory of childhood brain cancer

University of Newcastle and HMRI researcher Professor Matt Dun officially received the Australian Society for Medical Research Medal today.   He also addressed the National Press Club in Canberra, sharing his deeply personal motivation for expanding his research from paediatric leukaemia to childhood brain cancer.

National Health and Medical Research Council CEO, Professor Steve Wesselingh, presented the Medal, before Professor Dun gave his address, which offered an insight into his research focused on improving the survival of patients diagnosed with the world’s deadliest and most aggressive form of paediatric cancer.

In 2018, Professor Dun’s two-year-old daughter Josephine was diagnosed with Diffuse Intrinsic Pontine Glioma (DIPG) – an incurable childhood brain cancer.

Professor Dun, a paediatric leukaemia research specialist at the University of Newcastle and Hunter Medical Research Institute, extended his research to DIPG after discovering that palliative radiation was the only therapy available for patients who, on average, survive between nine and 11 months after diagnosis.

Through genetic sequencing of Josephine’s tumour and an extensive literature review, Professor Dun and his team identified a gene critical to the development of DIPG, and a combination of drugs to target it.

^{Professor Matt Dun and his wife Phoebe at the National Press Club in Canberra, where he was presented with the Australian Society for Medical Research Medal.}

Josephine was the first child in the world given the new therapies that slowed the tumour’s growth and gave her another year of life. She passed away in December 2019, 22 months after her diagnosis.

Professor Dun’s research showed for the first time that the trajectory of DIPG could be changed.

“The therapies stabilised the disease and Josie learnt to walk again, swim and have her one and only dance concert. And we had a great Christmas with her cousins and our family,” Professor Dun said.

Professor Dun’s National Press Club address explored Josephine’s heartbreaking battle with DIPG, provided stories of hope, and outlined his views on how governments should partner with philanthropists to boost investment in medical research and target funding to areas of need.

“The community should set the health research priorities. Every dollar that is raised by philanthropy should be matched by the government,” Professor Dun said.

“It's a huge honour to be named the ASMR Medallist in 2024 and extremely humbling. It comes with a really good opportunity to advocate for health and medical research and for families who have faced this terrible monster and those who will tragically face it in the future.”

Professor Dun leads a team of more than 20 researchers who are analysing DIPG tumours to identify disease subtypes and further refine treatments. Phase 2 adaptive clinical trials testing the new therapies are underway involving 150 patients and 32 hospitals around the world. Professor Dun is also looking at targeted immune therapies to further extend patient survival.

Professor Dun will travel around Australia delivering his ASMR Medallist speech to various audiences until 28 October.

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