Professor Elgene Lim

Professor Elgene Lim is a medical oncologist and researcher with a focus on breast cancer research and treatment, and the Principal Cancer Theme Lead at the Faculty of Medicine, UNSW Sydney, and the inaugural National Breast Cancer Foundation Endowed Chair. He completed his doctoral research, medical and oncology training in Melbourne. Findings from his PhD research under the mentorship of Geoffrey Lindeman and Jane Visvader at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, had a major impact on the identification of the culprit cells in carriers of the BRCA1 mutant gene, a hereditary breast cancer syndrome. He subsequently furthered his research and clinical training at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Eric Winer and Myles Brown, both internationally acclaimed leaders in breast cancer research and clinical trials, through fellowships from the Fulbright Foundation, National Health and Medical Research Council of Australia, and Royal Australasian College of Physicians.

Elgene currently oversees the breast oncology unit at The Kinghorn Cancer Centre, St Vincent’s Hospital in Sydney. He also heads the Connie Johnson breast cancer research laboratory at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research. In partnership with their patients, their research spans the laboratory to clinical trials. The laboratory performs clinically focused research, including the evaluation of novel therapies, and overcoming resistance to hormone receptor positive breast cancers. Their research is funded through Cancer Australia, NHMRC, Cancer Council NSW, and the National Breast Cancer, Love Your Sister, White Butterfly, Balnaves, Curran Foundation and Garvan Research Foundation.

Elgene also seeks to improve healthcare more globally. At a local level, he volunteered as a physician to asylum seekers without access to Medicare. He currently works with the Asha Kiran Hospital in Orissa, India, on a longer-term strategy of expertise transfer and partnership with local doctors.