The University of Adelaide has opened a brain tumour research lab funded by donations from Santos and South Australia Police.
Researchers at Dean Bowman Brain Tumour Laboratory will investigate the causes behind one of the deadliest and least understood cancers, which kills one Australian every six hours.
The lab is named after one of Santos' senior executives who died from a brain tumour in 2010.
Donations to the NeuroSurgical Research Foundation (NRF) from Santos and South Australia Police, who raised money through an annual cycling event following the death of Senior Sergeant Mick Koerner from an inoperable brain tumour, funded the lab.
Professor Bob Vink, chair of the NeuroSurgical Research Foundation and head of the School of Medical Sciences at the University of Adelaide, said: "Brain cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in people aged under 40, yet research into this area is badly needed as survival rates have not improved in two decades.
"More than 1,400 people die of brain cancer each year in Australia and it accounts for more than one third of cancer deaths in children aged under 10."
Once cancer enters the brain, the illness is very difficult to treat and has a high fatality rate. The researchers hope to investigate how cancer cells enter the brain and therefore prevent a tumour from developing.
"By preventing cancer cells from other parts of the body entering the brain, we hope to reduce the impact of brain cancer and save lives in the process," Professor Vink said.
The University of Adelaide established Australia’s first chair of neurosurgical research in 1992 with funding from the NRF.