A new WA Institute for Medical Research opened to study adult disease

3/9/99Western Australia's growing reputation as a centre for world-class medical research received a further boost today with the official opening in Perth of the nation's first multi-campus research institute devoted to the study of adult disease.
Premier Richard Court and Health Minister John Day this morning simultaneously opened the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research at its two facilities located at Sir Charles Gairdner and Royal Perth Hospitals.
Using a video link between the two campuses, Mr Court said the institute would become an internationally competitive centre of excellence.
"Western Australia has already attracted world wide attention with the important research breakthroughs achieved by the Child Health Research Institute at Princess Margaret Hospital and now we plan to build on that record of success with the establishment of a state-of-the art medical institute committed to specialised research of adult diseases," the Premier said.
Founded by the University of WA and the research foundations at the participating hospitals, the institute will be the first multi-disciplinary, multi-campus institute of its kind in Australia.
Mr Day said the new facility had already attracted one of Australia's leading research scientists to WA and would immediately provide opportunities and a career path for local graduates.
"It has been a coup to attract a scientist of the standing of Professor Glenn Begley to head the institute," the Minister said.
Prof Begley, who is currently the director of the Bone Marrow Research Laboratories of The Royal Melbourne Hospital, head of the Human Leukaemia Laboratory at The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research and Fraser Fellow of the Anti-Cancer Council of Victoria, will take up his new position in February.
During his career, Prof Begley has been responsible for several first time achievements in the field of medical research. He was part of a team that identified the human G-CSF molecule that is now used around the world for patients receiving chemotherapy and bone marrow transplantation.
In 1990, Prof Begley was awarded the Young Investigator of the Year Award by the Haematology Society of Australia, in 1991 the Burnet Prize for Medical Research, and in 1996 the Eric Susman Prize of the Royal Australasian College of Physicians and the Amgen Research Award from the Australian Society for Medical Research.
Mr Court said the new institute would not only help discover new cures and treatments for diseases, it would provide employment opportunities for Western Australian researchers currently forced to work overseas. It would also facilitate the growth of the biotechnology industry in WA and encourage international trade, especially with countries that do not have ready access to world class medical facilities.
"This is yet another example of how the State's economic base continues to diversify as we expand and develop new and existing areas of expertise," the Premier said.
Mr Day said the State Government was committed to the ongoing development of medical research in Western Australia and had allocated $8.5 million over four years to the Medical and Health Research Infrastructure Fund.
Media contact: Bronwyn Hillman 9222 9475