LATEST NEWS; 26 November 2025

Medical physics researcher and TROG Member Professor Paul Keall has been honoured with two prestigious Premier’s Awards, recognising excellence and innovation in research in cancer imaging and radiation therapy technology, including in TROG clinical trials.

Prof Keall was this month named:

• Outstanding Cancer Researcher of the Year in the NSW Premier’s Awards for Outstanding Cancer Research 2025
• The Leadership in Innovation Award, NSW Premier’s Prizes for Science and Engineering 2025.

Congratulations to Prof Keall, Director of the Image X Institute and NHMRC Leadership Fellow, University of Sydney, who has been at the forefront of imaging innovations, including pioneering a new imaging modality called Computed Tomography (CT) ventilation imaging.

He is leading a new trial, led by the University of Sydney and in collaboration with TROG Cancer Research, which is set to open at Australian sites in coming months, which will investigate the CT ventilation imaging modality in lung cancer patients.

The trial, TROG 21.08 ViTaL (Ventilation Imaging To improve the quality of life for patients with Lung cancer treated with radiation therapy), will investigate whether the new imaging modality can be used as the basis for directing radiation away from the healthy, high functioning regions of the lung towards the low functioning regions, thereby reducing toxicity and improving the patient’s quality of life..

Watch the video of Prof Keall describing his work:

Professor Keall’s work was also key to the TROG 15.01 SPARK prostate cancer trial, which tested new technology invented and pioneered by his team, called Kilovoltage Intrafraction Monitoring (KIM), to allow real-time motion tracking of the radiation therapy target during treatment. Prof Keall was one of the trial chairs or the multicentre SPARK trial, which was run by TROG in collaboration with the University of Sydney and funding from Cancer Australia. The technology improved dose accuracy during prostate stereotactic ablative body radiotherapy and demonstrated that it was safe, with no significant toxicities noted. By enabling real-time motion tracking on a standard radiation therapy treatment machine, KIM provides a practical and scalable pathway for bringing this advanced motion-tracking technology into routine prostate cancer care across more treatment centres.

“Professor Keall’s leadership exemplifies value-based, patient-led innovation: technologies that are more precise, faster, more accessible, and scalable, particularly for communities historically underserved by complex cancer care,” the Award nomination stated. “His work couples scientific excellence with practical translation – driving better outcomes, strong NSW capability, and enduring economic benefit.”

The Award also recognised Professor Keall’s contribution to the NSW Cancer Plan, including his research harnessing mathematics, physics, engineering and artificial intelligence to create solutions that improve cancer outcomes for all, with a particular focus on Aboriginal people, regional, rural and remote communities, and people from lower socio-economic backgrounds.

His mentorship, professional leadership and research record – including more than 400 publications and 32,000 citations, were recognised.

The Premier’s Prize noted that Prof Keall has forged several successful industry partnerships to translate his medical device research into practice, with more than 40 approved and filed patents for his medical devices, and 20 licences to 10 companies.

• Read more about the TROG 21.08 ViTaL trial