The recipient of the inaugural Connie Johnson Award for Breast Cancer at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research will be announced in Parliament House today.

Garvan Institute announces recipient of the Connie Johnson Award for Breast Cancer Research

The Award, funded by the hugely successful 

campaign, will support Dr Elgene Lim. Dr Lim is an  outstanding breast cancer researcher who will take up the position as Principal Research Fellow in the Genomic Cancer Medicine Laboratory at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research.

 was formed by Connie and Samuel Johnson in 2013, following Connie’s terminal breast cancer diagnosis. Connie set her brother some hefty challenges - to break the world record for the longest distance travelled on a unicycle, raise $1 million for breast cancer research and spread Connie’s message of breast cancer awareness - “Don’t fall into the booby trap, be breast aware!”

 is a nationally recognised campaign having set the world record for distance travelled on a unicycle (15,478km) doubling its fundraising target by raising $2 million for Garvan’s cancer research and sharing its awareness message to communities across Australia.

According to Connie, the development of the Connie Johnson Award for Breast Cancer Research is an important step in achieving 

goal – ensuring no other young mum has to lose her life to breast cancer.

“We are incredibly proud of what we’ve achieved since Sam set out on his unicycle two years ago, and we are hugely grateful to the supporters who have helped us raise money for Garvan’s cancer research,” said Connie.

The CEO of the Garvan Research Foundation, Mr Andrew Giles, welcomes the Connie Johnson Award for Breast Cancer Research, saying: “The Connie Johnson Award for Breast Cancer Research funded by 

will progress Garvan’s work in understanding breast cancer and how to best treat it. Our researchers rely on the generosity of people like Samuel and Connie Johnson to support their work.

“The reality is, for every dollar of funding our researchers receive, we still need to raise another 70 cents in order to sustain research projects. We cannot do that without the support of the community,” said Mr Giles.

For more information, or to support breast cancer research at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, visit 