Professor Joe Trapani named Distinguished Fellow of Peter Mac
12 December 2023
Professor Joe Trapani has been inducted as a Distinguished Fellow of Peter MaCallum Cancer Centre, at a ceremony attended by his family and colleagues from leading health and medical research institutes.
Nominated by peers and confirmed by the Board of Directors, Distinguished Fellow is the highest honour bestowed by Peter Mac. It recognises sustained excellence in cancer treatment, care, research, or education, underpinned by significant contribution to Peter Mac.
In presenting the award to Professor Trapani, Board Chair Professor Maxine Morand AM praised his impeccable work ethic, integrity, collegiality, and modesty.
In accepting his award Professor Trapani said, “I’m immensely grateful for this honour, and I can genuinely say that being appointed a Distinguished Fellow at my own institution is the most cherished honour I can ever hope to receive.”
“Today is not about me. It’s about celebrating the unique and wonderful institution that is our Peter Mac.”
Over an impactful career spanning more than 40 years, Professor Trapani has published more than 360 research papers, which have been cited 33,000 times.
Since 2000, Professor Trapani has led Peter Mac’s world-leading Cancer Immunology program. Established with just 23 people in 2000, the program has grown to over 100 and made many groundbreaking discoveries.
He has had a major impact on understanding how T cells kill tumour targets, and played an important role in the development of CAR T-cells for the treatment of cancer.
As Executive Director of Cancer Research from 2009 to 2018, Professor Trapani oversaw the successful move of Peter Mac’s research programs from East Melbourne to the new facilities at Parkville.
The inaugural Head of the Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology, Professor Trapani was instrumental to formalising Peter Mac and the University of Melbourne’s highly successful partnership.
He was won many significant awards, including the NHMRC Prize for Excellence in Health and Medical Research, and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and the Australian Academy Health and Medical Sciences.
Fostering the careers of junior colleagues has also been a focus for Professor Trapani, having supervised and mentored over 80 students who now work at the forefront of cancer research. 16 of them now lead research groups.
In offering thanks to his family and many colleagues, he also acknowledged Peter Mac’s other Distinguished Fellows: Professors Sanchia Aranda, Joe Sambrook, Lester Peters, Robert Thomas and David Bowtell.
Peter Mac extends warm congratulations to Professor Trapani on this major achievement.