Internationally recognised cancer prevention leader Professor Martin Widschwendter was appointed Director of the Daffodil Centre in May 2026. Under Professor Widschwendter's leadership, the Daffodil Centre will accelerate its focus on precision cancer prevention, an emerging approach that uses a person's individual signals from the body, including epigenetic information, chemical signals that affects genes, that records how lifestyle and environment shape gene activity, helping prevent cancer before it starts.
More than half a million Australians are expected to be diagnosed with cancer over the next three years. While treatment outcomes continue to improve, cancer remains one of the leading causes of illness and death, placing significant strain on individuals, families and the health system.
Precision cancer prevention will offer a new way forward by enabling earlier risk identification, smarter screening, tailored prevention strategies and better use of health resources, particularly for communities that experience higher cancer risk and poorer outcomes. This new era of cancer prevention allows people to take action earlier, based on their individual risk, rather than waiting until cancer develops.
"Cancer survival has improved significantly over the past few decades, but the next frontier is a personalised approach to prevention," Professor Widschwendter said. "Precision cancer prevention gives us the tools to predict risk earlier and intervene sooner, helping more people avoid a cancer diagnosis and ensure they never have to hear the words 'you have cancer'."
He will lead the Daffodil Centre alongside Professor Anne Cust, University of Sydney Director of the Daffodil Centre, strengthening collaboration between research, public health, policy and real‑world implementation.
"By making prevention more personal, we can empower individuals, inform smarter policy and build a future where fewer people face a cancer diagnosis," said Professor Widschwendter.
Subheading: New guidelines to improve early detection of prostate cancer
A new set of national clinical guidelines, supported by evidence-based data from the Daffodil Centre, were developed for the early detection of prostate cancer, providing clearer recommendations to help men and their doctors make informed decisions about testing and diagnosis.
The updated recommendations reflect significant advances in prostate cancer research, diagnosis and management over the past 10 years. A key change is a stronger focus on risk-based testing, allowing clinicians to find cancer in earlier stages.
Professor David Smith, Prostate Cancer Stream Lead at the Daffodil Centre, said the new guidelines provide long-awaited clarity for both GPs and the community.
"Australia now has a clear and coherent set of recommendations about what GPs should recommend to their patients and what men should do in relation to early detection of prostate cancer," he explained.
"The main change that we've seen now is that GPs are recommended to initiate a discussion around prostate cancer risk and testing with men from age 50 to 69. Men were often left in the wilderness and didn't really know what they should be doing in relation to prostate cancer."
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