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With a landmark philanthropic gift of $11 million the Paul and Katherine Gobits (Koh) Chair of Pancreatic Cancer Research is being established at the ������. The role is designed to accelerate discovery, improve treatment, and save lives.

It is the largest individual philanthropic gift to pancreatic cancer research in Australia.

When Katherine Gobits passed away from pancreatic cancer just after Christmas in 2024, her husband Paul faced life without the woman who had been his partner in work, love, and life for over two decades. 

In the aftermath of her passing, Paul channelled his heartbreak into a commitment to prevent other families from experiencing the same devastation.  

“I just thought, there’s got to be another path,” Paul reflects. “We’re not doing enough in pancreatic cancer research. There needs to be hope. There needs to be a cure.”

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Pancreatic cancer is Australia’s deadliest major cancer, with more than 4,500 Australians diagnosed each year and a shocking five-year survival rate of just 11.5 percent. Globally, the statistics are equally grim: in 2021 alone, 508,000 people were diagnosed, and 505,000 died from the disease. These figures have remained stubbornly stagnant for decades.

“Pancreatic cancer is silent and fast-moving,” explains Professor Nick Pavlakis, a ������ medical oncologist and leading researcher, who was Katherine’s oncologist. 

 “Most people present at an advanced stage, where surgery is not an option and treatments only extend life for a short time. That’s what we faced with Katherine.”

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Born in Malaysia, Katherine moved to England at 17, working two jobs to put herself through college before returning to Malaysia and quickly securing a banking role. After moving to Australia to further her career, she met Paul, an alumnus of the University (BPharm’65) while working at a bank.

“She was brilliant,” Paul said. “She joined my business in 2002, and we built a life together from there.” 

It was while visiting family in Malaysia that Katherine began experiencing back pain. The eventual diagnosis - pancreatic cancer - was a thunderbolt. 

“She had pain in the lower back,” Paul recalls. “It didn’t make sense. She was young, healthy. But within weeks, we found ourselves facing the grim diagnosis.”

Her journey through chemotherapy, radiotherapy, and numerous clinical interventions was marked by courage and determination. 

But like so many others, Katherine's health deteriorated rapidly. “She dropped from 60 kilos to 38,” Paul said. “The disease was digesting her from the inside out.” 

Still, Katherine faced each stage with grace. “She was proud,” said Professor Nick Pavlakis. “She didn’t want to give up hope and Paul never did either. They tried everything.”

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For Paul, the experience was not just emotionally devastating, but profoundly eye-opening. “I did a lot of reading. I started asking: why is there so little progress in this field? Why is pancreatic cancer still a death sentence? All we’re doing is buying people a few months. That’s not good enough.”

Professor Pavlakis agrees. “It’s a devastating diagnosis,” he explains. “Most patients present late. The tumour’s location and the fibrous tissue it creates make it hard for treatments to reach it. We need better therapies - better ways to attack the disease. But historically, funding has been minimal.”

While survival rates for other cancers have steadily improved, pancreatic cancer remains one of the most lethal. “There’s been a nihilism around it,” Professor Pavlakis adds. “Pharmaceutical companies haven’t invested much because the success stories are few. But that needs to change. And change starts with investment.” 

Hope for the future

Paul credits his interactions with Nick for helping him understand the impact that academic leadership can have in driving research excellence. “It became clear that establishing a Chair would be the most meaningful way to make a difference,” Paul recalls.

Dean of the ������’s Faculty of Medicine and Health Professor John Prins said, “Endowed chair positions are one of the most powerful mechanisms for driving long-term impact in medical research, particularly for underfunded areas like pancreatic cancer.”

“The Paul and Katherine Gobits (Koh) Chair of Pancreatic Cancer Research will empower world-class research into one of the most complex and underfunded cancers in Australia. It will provide long-term support for a senior academic to pursue innovative treatments and raise the visibility of a disease that too often progresses undetected until it’s too late.” 

The University currently has two studies underway testing how to optimally refine treatments for pancreatic cancer.

James Elliott, a Professor of Allied and Public Health at the ������ and Academic Director of the Kolling Institute, where the Chair will be based, said, “Pancreatic cancer steals too many lives too quickly, and for families the impact is profound. This Chair gives our researchers something they have never had before in this field; sustained, targeted investment to pursue bold ideas. It will empower us to push harder, go further, and uncover answers that have remained out of reach.”

At the heart of Paul’s decision is the hope that Katherine’s legacy can help save others.

“What we need is a new path. Success, for me, is a cure. If this Chair can help find new answers so that others don’t have to go through what my family went through, that would be an incredible legacy,” he said. 

He hopes the research will inspire new thinking, new collaborations, and new possibilities. “I want them to be bold. I want them to try things that haven’t been tried before.”

As Professor Pavlakis puts it: “This gift is about saving lives, Paul has turned personal grief into public good.

“Think big. Be bold. That’s what this Chair is about. That’s what patients like Katherine deserve.”

Title image: Paul and Katherine Gobits (Supplied)