About

In 2017, Mrs Pamela Galli AO made a significant gift to the Faculty of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences to establish The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Medical Research Trust.

The Trust supports collaborative research programs across the Parkville medical precinct in the areas of cancer and developmental disorders and enables a unique partnership between the University of Melbourne, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the WEHI, the Royal Children's Hospital and the Murdoch Children's Research Institute.

Mrs Galli’s extraordinary philanthropic support of medical research was inspired by her late husband Lorenzo and the specialist care he received during his treatment for skin cancer and a blood related cancer.

This extraordinary gift follows the success of three professorial chairs Mrs Galli established at the University of Melbourne since 2012 to lead the research programs supported by the Trust:

  • Professor David Amor, The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Developmental Medicine
  • Professor Ken Smith, The Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Chair in Medical Biology
  • Professor Grant McArthur, The Lorenzo Galli Chair in Melanoma and Skin Cancers

Professor Ken Smith was announced as the new Chair in Medical Biology in April 2024, following on from outgoing Director of WEHI and inaugural Chair in Medical Biology, Professor Doug Hilton AO.

In November 2024, a new $20 million donation was announced to an audience of researchers and institute partners at the Galli Research Symposium at the University of Melbourne.

The new donation continues the impact of the Pamela and Lorenzo Galli Medical Research Trust and enables new areas of investigation and research collaboration between the University and partner organisations.

Attendees of the inaugural Galli Symposium seated for a group photo in a conference room facility. There are about 30-40 people in shot.

Attendees at the Inaugural Lorenzo and Pamela Galli Research Symposium, November 2024.

Research programs supported by the Trust

Under the leadership of the three Galli Chairs, Professor Grant McArthur, Professor David Amor and Professor Ken Smith, researchers from the University of Melbourne, the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the Royal Children’s Hospital are collaborating on three key projects that will impact developmental disorders and cancer.

  • Aim: To generate new evidence about the causes of neurodevelopmental disabilities and determine whether new and existing therapies are effective in improving outcomes and quality of life for these children and their families.
    Collaborators: The Royal Children’s Hospital and the University of Melbourne

  • Aim: To improve the quality of life for children and their families through the identification of new treatments for patients with a wider spectrum of genetic causes of brain developmental disorders.
    Collaborators: The Royal Children’s Hospital, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne

  • Aim: To use state-of-the-art genomics and computational research methods to understand how cancer cells evolve, adapt and influence response to therapy at the single cell level.
    Collaborators: The Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne.

In partnership with

Logos: Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Royal Children's Hospital and the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute