Amber Johns
2025 Alumni Award Winner for Research Excellence recipient, Amber Johns is reshaping the future of pancreatic cancer, bringing new hope to a disease that holds a daunting 13 per cent five-year survival rate. She is determined to transform our understanding and treatment of the disease – and offer genuine hope for a cure.
Amber is an award-winning, multidisciplinary pancreatic cancer researcher. She has spent nearly two decades at the intersection of clinical practice, research and policy, building capacity and infrastructure for cancer research in Australia and beyond.
“I have worked with investigators and organisations in over 13 countries, been involved in the establishment of global policies for research, and facilitated landmark translational programs,” Amber says.
She spent over 15 years at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research, growing a fledgling pancreatic cancer lab into a thriving international research hub. She led the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Genome Initiative (APGI) – part of the International Cancer Genome Consortium (ICGC) – to map the pancreatic cancer genome and created a rich library of clinical data and samples, now central to advancing new pancreatic cancer treatments worldwide.
Amber also played a key role in the ICGC’s ambitious mission to analyse specimens from 100,000 cancer patients, delivering high-quality data vital to defeating cancer. As she reflects on the progress so far, there is much to celebrate.
“I could have cried during the 2025 AACR symposium. If you’d told me 15 years ago, starting out as a pancreatic cancer researcher, that we’d now have nearly 20 RAS inhibitors in trials –some showing double-digit response rates – I honestly wouldn’t have believed you,” she says. “Science can be slow, unpredictable, even heartbreaking. But it moves. And when it does, it’s nothing short of incredible.”
In 2024, Amber joined Pankind, the Australian Pancreatic Cancer Foundation, as Head of Research and Programs. With her strategic vision and unique blend of clinical, community and scientific expertise, she is advancing translational research to lift survival rates and quality of life for Australians impacted by pancreatic cancer.
She continues to contribute globally as an honorary researcher at the Garvan, through her work with the ICGC, and as product translation lead for Concr, a UK-based biotech company applying astrophysics methods to predict patient treatment responses. She received the 2018 NSW Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research (Wildfire Highly Cited Publication), recognising her leadership and impact in this work that she loves.
“Contributing to knowledge that can lead to better care and outcomes for people with cancer, and bringing people together to make it possible, is incredibly fulfilling.”
