The Australian Melanoma Research Foundation (AMRF) is proud to announce the 2026 John Walter Holland Memorial Award, created through a generous bequest from the late John Walter Holland.
John passed away shortly after celebrating his 90th birthday, leaving behind a remarkable legacy of service, and community contribution. A carpenter and farmer by trade, John dedicated much of his life to supporting others through his involvement with the YMCA, the Salvation Army and the Men’s Shed woodworking program. He was widely known and respected for his generosity and “give everything to others” approach to life.
John’s connection to melanoma research was deeply personal. He lived with leukaemia and several members of his family were affected by skin cancer. Notably, his nephew Graeme Holland lost his life to melanoma at a young age.
“John dedicated much of his life to supporting others. He was widely known and respected for his generosity and ‘give everything to others’ approach to life.”
Graeme Holland was the founder of the Bendigo March for Melanoma and a passionate advocate for melanoma awareness and research. John and Graeme shared a close bond, and John wished to honour Graeme’s legacy and his family through a gift that could help create a better future for others.
To celebrate John’s life and generosity, AMRF has established the John Walter Holland Memorial Award which will support promising researchers pursuing innovative approaches to melanoma research.
The inaugural recipient of the award is Ms Rachael Stone, a PhD candidate at the Centre for Cancer Biology in Adelaide. Rachael’s research focuses on improving the effectiveness of immunotherapy for melanoma patients. While anti-PD-1 immunotherapy has transformed outcomes for many people with advanced melanoma, some patients do not respond to treatment or eventually develop resistance.
Her project aims to better understand a molecule called CD15s, which appears to help cancer-fighting immune cells reach and attack melanoma tumours. Previous research has shown that patients with higher levels of CD15s on their immune cells are more likely to respond successfully to immunotherapy and experience improved survival outcomes.
Through the John Walter Holland Memorial Award, Rachael will investigate how CD15s is regulated and whether factors such as immune cell interactions and the gut microbiome can influence its expression. The ultimate goal is to identify new ways to increase patient responses to immunotherapy and improve outcomes for people living with melanoma. Read more about Rachael’s Research >>
AMRF is deeply grateful for John Walter Holland’s generosity and foresight. His gift will continue to make a difference for years to come, helping researchers like Rachael pursue discoveries that have the potential to save lives.
We extend our heartfelt thanks to John’s family for sharing his story and helping ensure that his legacy is honoured through the establishment of the John Walter Holland Memorial Award. Their reflections on John paint a picture of a man whose kindness touched many people and whose legacy will continue through the research this award supports.
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