Professor Maria Kavallaris is an outstanding research leader who has made seminal discoveries on mechanisms of clinical drug resistance and tumour aggressiveness in childhood and adult cancers. Recognised as a world leader in cancer and microtubules, her discoveries have led to patents and industry linkages for the development of cancer therapeutics.   Professor Kavallaris is a founding Director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine at UNSW Australia, an innovative cross‐disciplinary initiative developing nanotechnology for medical applications. Professor Kavallaris has demonstrated outstanding leadership in medical research advocacy, peer review, mentoring and advanced research policy.