Professor Richard Scolyer (left) presents Professor Brett Delahunt with the medal and certificate.
Professor Brett Delahunt ONZMKStJFRSNZ, from the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine at the University of Otago, Wellington, has won the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia's Article of the Year award for 2022.
The annual award is presented for the top research paper published in the College's journal Pathology and was for the article, 'Percentage grade 4 tumour predicts outcome for prostate adenocarcinoma in needle biopsies from patients with advanced disease: 10-year data from the TROG 03.04 RADAR trial'.
The chair of the Article of the Year selection panel, Professor Richard Scolyer, said Professor Delahunt's paper was of outstanding scientific merit and was the most significant manuscript published during the year.
The paper was based on results of the RADAR oncology trial, a joint Australian-New Zealand study which focused on the most effective treatment for patients with inoperable prostate cancer. More than 1,000 patients were enrolled in the trial, of which 588 had tumours with combined grades 3 and 4.
As the pathologist for the study, Professor Delahunt reviewed each of the cases and made more than 100,000 detailed observations on the pathology of the tumours. These were used in a number of separate studies and resulted in eight published papers.
Professor Delahunt was delighted to receive the award.
“It's humbling to have my research recognised by my peers.”
During Professor Delahunt's more than 40 years with the University he has published more than 500 academic papers.
He was presented with the award at the RCPA's Admission of New Fellows and Awards Ceremony in Melbourne on 25 February, held as part of the College's annual Pathology Update scientific meeting.
His co-authors, who include Otago colleagues Associate Professor Diane Kenwright, Head of the Department of Pathology and Molecular Medicine on the Wellington campus and Senior Lecturer Associate Professor Michelle Thunders, were also awarded certificates.
The publisher of Pathology, Elsevier, has made the winning article freely available online for the next 12 months: