Philip Hogg awarded NSW's top cancer research gong

Professor Philip Hogg has been awarded this year’s prestigious Cancer Institute NSW Premier's Award for Outstanding Cancer Researcher.

Hogg was presented the $50,000 honour by Commonwealth Chief Medical Officer, Professor Jim Bishop AO, at a black-tie dinner in Sydney last night.

Hogg, director of the University of NSW Cancer Research Centre, developed a dye that fastens onto dead or dying cancer cells and reveals whether cancer treatments are working just days into the course. His other breakthrough discovery of a protein that stops cancerous tumours growing by targeting blood cell production could extend the lives of patients.

Hogg’s research centres around a new mechanism of regulating protein function. He discovered a new type of functional disulphide bond called allosteric disulphides. He has defined a structural motif that characterises allosteric bonds and has predicted that about 10 percent of proteins contain these bonds. The indications are that allosteric disulphides are an important way that certain protein function is regulated. This research has been published in Nature and Nature Immunology.

Hogg has published 109 research articles, 86 as first or senior author in Nature, Nature Immunology, Cancer Cell, Journal of Experimental Medicine, Trends in Biochemical Sciences and many others. He has won nineteen awards, prizes or fellowships for his research. His most prominent awards are the 2001 Commonwealth Health Minister’s Award for Excellence in Health and Medical Research, the 2001 GlaxoSmithKline Australia Award for Research Excellence, the 2008 NSW Scientist of the Year (Biomedical Sciences category) and the 2009 Oscar Ratnoff Prize from the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis.

The Cancer Institute NSW Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Researcher recognises the potential for Professor Hogg’s research to change cancer treatment and improve the survival chances of patients.

Other award recipients at the 2009 Cancer Institute NSW Premier’s Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research

Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow: Professor Richard Scolyer, whose research into melanoma at Royal Prince Alfred Hospital is aimed at improving the accuracy of diagnosis and treatment.

Outstanding Cancer Research Scholar: Emily Colvin, of the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, for her research into pancreatic cancer.

Innovation in Cancer Clinical Trials: Border Medical Oncology Clinical Trials Unit, Albury, for their commitment to providing access to clinical trials by developing an innovative model of clinical research in a regional setting.

Excellence in Translational Cancer Research: Sydney Melanoma Unit for their groundbreaking and internationally recognised research into melanoma and translating their findings into clinical practice.