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Brain cancer remains one of the most devastating and difficult diseases to treat. The Brain Cancer Centre was founded to drive connection between brilliant researchers, bringing together the brightest minds with a single focus on brain cancer.
BrainPOP exemplifies how that mission will be delivered now and into the future – through collaboration, team science and the recognition that no one institute has the resources to solve this problem alone. BrainPOP is the platform through which discovery becomes treatment, and scientific collaboration becomes patient impact.
This work is only possible because of where we are and who we work with. The Parkville precinct brings together a globally unique concentration of hospitals, research institutes and universities – a place purpose-built for the translation of research into care. BrainPOP draws on the full depth of that ecosystem, connecting neurosurgeons, oncologists, laboratory scientists and data systems across institutions that together represent the best of Australian biomedical science.
The Brain Cancer Centre
The Brain Cancer Centre, founded by Carrie’s Beanies 4 Brain Cancer and established in partnership with WEHI with support from the Victorian Government, brings together the brightest medical research minds with a single focus: that one day no lives are lost to brain cancer.
The Centre brings together phenomenal talent, infrastructure and experience from leading hospitals, medical research institutes and universities through our collaborators from across Australia: The Florey, Mark Hughes Foundation Centre for Brain Cancer Research, Menzies Institute, Monash University, Murdoch Children’s Research Institute, Royal Hobart Hospital, Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, The Royal Children’s Hospital, The Royal Melbourne Hospital, Telethon Kids Institute, The University of Adelaide, The University of Melbourne, The University of Queensland, Victorian Government, VCCC Alliance and WEHI.
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre
Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre is Australia’s only public hospital dedicated exclusively to cancer, with internationally recognised expertise in medical oncology, radiation oncology and early-phase clinical trials.
Within BrainPOP, Peter Mac provides the medical oncology, radiation oncology and early-phase trials leadership that translates laboratory insights into testable clinical questions. It is Peter Mac’s infrastructure that supports designs and delivery of BrainPOP’s sophisticated, biomarker-driven studies. The institute’s extensive global industry alliance and partnership network connects the platform to international pharmaceutical and biotechnology company drug development pipelines.
The Royal Melbourne Hospital
The Royal Melbourne Hospital (RMH) is the neurosurgical heart of BrainPOP, home to the busiest neurosurgical unit in Australia and one of the few genuinely academic neurosurgery departments in Australasia. The RMH provides the clinical foundation that makes perioperative trials possible.
Professor Kate Drummond, Director of Neurosurgery at the RMH and BrainPOP Principal Investigator, led the program’s first perioperative trial, which when published in Nature Medicine in 2025 was described internationally as among the most significant advances in brain cancer research in two decades. That trial was conducted at the RMH, with tumour tissue collected in theatre and analysed in real time, demonstrating for the first time at scale that perioperative trials in previously untreated brain cancers are safe, feasible and scientifically productive.
WEHI
WEHI (Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research) is the home of BrainPOP. For over 100 years, WEHI has been bringing brilliant scientists together to help solve some of the world’s most complex health issues.
Within BrainPOP, WEHI provides the research infrastructure, governance and translational science capability, integrating laboratory discovery with clinical studies across the partnership. Through dedicated programs in brain cancer biology, immunotherapy and computational research, WEHI ensures that insights generated at the bench find their way into therapeutic strategies and clinical trials.
The Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute
The Royal Children’s Hospital and Murdoch Children’s Research Institute bring specialised expertise in paediatric neuro-oncology and translational research to BrainPOP – ensuring the program extends beyond adult brain cancer to address one of the most devastating realities of this disease: brain cancer kills more children in Australia than any other disease.
Within BrainPOP, RCH and MCRI provide the clinical and research capability to extend perioperative trials and precision medicine approaches to paediatric, adolescent and young adult populations.
University of Melbourne
The University of Melbourne is ranked first in Australia and among the world’s leading universities for life sciences and medicine. Together with Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the University leads the Collaborative Centre for Genomic Cancer Medicine – pioneering the integration of genomics into routine cancer care.
Within BrainPOP, the University contributes advanced genomics, bioinformatics and biomarker discovery expertise through programs that harness real-time genomic sequencing, machine learning and big data to decode cancer in clinically useful timeframes. This capability underpins BrainPOP’s precision medicine platform – strengthening the program’s ability to move from molecular insight to clinical application and better treatment development.