NSW, feds to fund Sydney medical research complex

Sydney's Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute will get new digs, the Garvan Institute will get its building back, and both will be sharing café and confocal microscopy facilities with researchers from over the road at St Vincent's Hospital, if a $46 million new laboratory building gets underway.

And that looks increasingly likely, after the NSW state government yesterday raised its contribution from $20 million to $25 million and the federal government agreed to kick in $10 million to a revamped St Vincent's medical research precinct.

The Victor Chang Cardiac Research Institute will launch a capital campaign this weekend to raise the $11 million funding shortfall, as well as $4 million for fit-out of the building,

When the new building - which will front Liverpool St and house 240 people -- is complete, more than 700 researchers will work within the research precinct each day.

The Garvan's chief operating officer, John Dakin, said he was delighted at the prospect of the Garvan re-occupying two floors of its building currently occupied by Victor Chang researchers. "We will move from having five floors to seven floors," he said. "The model is to try and share as many facilities as we possibly can.

"We intend that the other building will break in on two levels, so things like auditoria, café facilities, confocal microscopy and microarray will be shared with the Victor Chang and St Vincent's."

Garvan researchers are working in the areas of diabetes, obesity, bone and pituitary research, neurobiology and cancer.

"We're bursting at the seams," said Victor Chang chief operating officer Timothy Dugan. He explained that, since it was founded 10 years ago with an executive director and one researcher, the Victor Chang had grown to employ 77 people. The new building will allow that number to swell to 170 or 180 staff, and will also house around 70 St Vincent's scientists.

"In the past when we've recruited we've been inundated with applications which we'd like to take. That includes Australians who want to come back as well as international scientists who want to come here," said Dugan. "We hope we'll be able to take some of these people on."

Dugan said he anticipated a development application would be ready by the end of the year. Construction will take at least two years, so the building should be completed in 2007.

The land for the proposed new facility has been contributed by the St Vincent's Trust.