Professor Anne Cust (PhD, MPH(Hons), BSc, BA) is a cancer epidemiologist and NHMRC Investigator Fellow. Professor Cust is Director of the Daffodil Centre at the University of Sydney (alongside Professor Martin Widschwendter as Daffodil Centre Director at Cancer Council NSW) and leads the Melanoma and Skin Cancer team. She is also a Faculty member at Melanoma Institute Australia, where she co-leads the ‘Prevention, risk and clinical detection of melanoma’ research theme.
Professor Cust’s research has a strong emphasis on translational outcomes that impact policy and clinical practice. Her main research interests are in melanoma and skin cancer prevention and early detection, and risk-tailored approaches to care. She leads a research program that is high-impact, collaborative, and multidisciplinary, which has led to over 280 publications and over $70M in competitive funding as a Chief Investigator. She is currently leading an Australian government-funded Roadmap for a National Targeted Melanoma Screening Program, including more than 100 diverse researchers, clinicians, policy experts and people with lived experience.
Professor Cust was the recipient of the 2025 international Society for Melanoma Research Estela Medrano award to recognise her important contributions to melanoma research. She was also the recipient of the 2025 Australasian Society for Dermatology Research Women in Dermatology Award. She received an inaugural Sax Institute Research Action Award to recognise her sunbed and melanoma research and its impact on health policy, and the 2018 NSW Premier’s Award for Outstanding Cancer Research Fellow of the Year.
Professor Cust contributes to national clinical practice guidelines for melanoma and skin cancer. She is Chair of the NSW Skin Cancer Prevention Advisory Committee and previously chaired the Cancer Council National Skin Cancer Committee. She is a Past-President of the Australasian Epidemiological Association (AEA), and has served on the COSA Epidemiology Group Executive, Melanoma and Skin Cancer (MASC) Trials Group Board and on the Scientific Committee for the PC4 Primary Care Collaborative Cancer Clinical Trials Group.