NSW premier honours top melanoma expert INTERNATIONALLY recognised melanoma expert Professor John Thompson has been named NSW's top cancer researcher of the year. Prof Thomson received the Premier's Award at a Cancer Institute NSW function hosted by Barry O'Farrell on Friday. "Melanoma is Australia's national cancer challenge," said Mr O'Farrell, praising Prof Thompson's work at the Melanoma Institute Australia and the University of Sydney. He said Prof Thomson and his team were making important advances in the prevention, detection and treatment of melanoma. It was a big night for the Melanoma Institute. Apart from Prof Thomson's award, honours also went to Dr Georgina Long and Dr Pascale Guiterra. A team from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) won the inaugural Big Data, Big Impact grant program. The team comprised of Dr Jason Wong, Dr Luke Hesson, Associate Professor John Pimanda and Dr Joe Thurbon will be funded to work on a project called Exploring the Dark Matter of Cancer Genomes. Explaining the new award, Professor David Currow, CEO of the Cancer Institute NSW, said: "Cancer research has entered a new era - and NSW is at the forefront. Gone are the days when researchers toiled in isolated labs with limited samples. He said there was much data available but "the challenge is unlocking it." Another UNSW winner was Professor Neville Hacker, who won the Professor Rob Sutherland Make a Difference Award for his pioneering work in the field of gynaecological oncology. His centre at the Royal Hospital for Women has become a model for similar centres throughout Australia. Other awards went to Dimitri Conomos, outstanding research scholar; Goldie Yuan Lam Lui, Pfizer oncology scholarship; TROG Cancer Research, innovation in cancer clinical trials; Anthony Gill and Roderick Clifton-Bligh, excellence in translational cancer research; and Dr Orazio Vittorio, the kids' cancer project.