Professor Anne Cust is an internationally recognised cancer epidemiologist whose research focuses on melanoma prevention and early detection. An NHMRC Investigator Fellow and Interim Director of the Daffodil Centre, a joint venture between Cancer Council NSW and the University of Sydney, she leads the Melanoma and Skin Cancer stream of research. She is also a Faculty member at the Melanoma Institute Australia.  

Her research emphasises translational outcomes that impact policy and clinical practice. Two Cancer Institute NSW’s fellowships have helped develop her career.  

The Fellowship years 

During the fellowships, Professor Cust’s research focused on finding more effective ways to prevent melanoma and better and more cost-effective care for people with melanoma. Specifically, her research looked at the genetic and environmental causes of melanoma to identify and manage high-risk individuals so they could avoid developing melanoma or detect the disease at an early stage.  

It was Professor Cust who found a link between sunbed use and the risk of early-onset melanoma. This finding played a major role in banning commercial sunbeds in NSW and other Australian states. Working alongside the Cancer Institute NSW, Professor Cust advocated for policy changes to solarium regulations in NSW to reduce sunbed exposure. Her work received national and international interest and she was invited to present her research findings at major conferences to describe how this led to a change in government policy. 

She was invited to join a large international collaborative consortium (GenoMEL) that identified new genes involved in melanoma risk; this included being invited as a Chief Investigator on an NIH-funded project on this topic. Following a successful pilot to examine genomic risk and its impact on behaviour change, Professor Cust received funding for another large trial. This one investigated the impact of communicating personalised genomic risk of melanoma, including the impact on behaviours and psychosocial outcomes, and the assessment of ethical aspects and cost effectiveness.  

At the time, Professor Cust was primary supervisor for five PhD students which yielded high-quality outcomes. One particularly notable finding was that specialised surveillance of high-risk melanoma patients was cost-effective when compared with standard care in the community.  

Professional growth 

The two fellowships helped Professor Cust build an independent program of research, a research team, and gain a national and international reputation in the field. It also provided her with key opportunities for collaboration.  

“The Cancer Institute NSW’s clear focus on research translation played a major role in shifting my attention to research translation early in my career,” she said.  

Professor Cust received an NHMRC Career Development Fellowship in 2014, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2016 and Professor in 2020, and was awarded the Cancer Institute NSW’s Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow in 2018. 

Current focus and future ambitions 

As the Deputy Director of the Daffodil Centre, Professor Cust’s current focus is helping the centre grow and become successful. As an NHMRC Investigator Fellow she is looking at tailored approaches to prevention and early detection of melanoma and other skin cancers. In one project, she is evaluating the potential benefits, harms, cost effectiveness and implementation of a targeted, national melanoma screening program in Australia.  

Advice to Early Career Researchers 

“Navigating your research career is a bit of a roller coaster so it’s important to keep your sense of humour. But find what you are interested in, be clear on the research questions and what impact you are going to have and talk to other people. Find the best team for you and establish collaborations and networks.”