Professor Ricky Johnstone has many titles and leadership positions in his line of work. He is the Head of the Gene Regulation Laboratory at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, the Head of The Sir Peter MacCallum Department of Oncology at The University of Melbourne and the Executive Director of Cancer Research at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre where he oversees 700 staff and students and plays a key role in strategic decision making across the organisation.

He has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, was awarded an NHMRC Senior Principal Research Fellowship in 2015, Pfizer Australia Senior Research Fellowship award in 2005 and attended Harvard Medical school along with many other accolades on his extensive list of achievements, however it is not what defines him and from very humbling beginnings, it's easy to see why.

Prof Johnstone was born and raised in Preston by a single mother who worked three jobs just to put food on the table. It is his mother who he attributes a lot of who he is today too.

Throughout our conversation, Prof Johnstone discusses his upbringing, why his roots and mates from Preston are keys to his leadership, humility and grounding. He also discusses what his mother taught him about hard work, about having a dream and vision and combining the two to make it a reality.

This was a really uplifting and powerful conversation with a beautiful blend of high level intellect (not from me I might add) and down to earth, simple messages that Prof Johnstone explains so well.

Please enjoy this inspiring conversation with Professor Ricky Johnstone.