Research committee named for SAHMRI

A who’s who of Australian scientists have been tapped to direct the research of the new South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) in Adelaide.

Announced mid-last year, the $200 million centre is to be built alongside the new Royal Adelaide Hospital in the city’s CBD where it is expected to open in 2013, attracting some 600 international scientists from around the world.

The ten-member SAHMRI Research Committee will be headed by Professor John Hopwood, South Australian Scientist of the Year and the 2009 recipient of the prestigious CSL Florey Medal.

Three of the other nine members named as part of the committee include cervical cancer vaccine pioneer Professor Ian Frazer, human hormone gene cloning specialist Professor John Shine as well as renowned psychology and neuroscience expert Professor Vicki Anderson.

“Individually, the Research Committee’s members are recognised internationally for their leadership in their various areas of specialisation in medical and health research,” Professor Hopwood said.

“Collectively, this group’s extraordinary knowledge and expertise will allow SAHMRI to identify the world’s most promising researchers and research directions with the goal of translating their work into leading edge health and medical outcomes for commercialisation and universal benefit.”

SAHMRI chair Raymond Spencer said that he was confident the new institute would create a new benchmark for innovative and flexible research buildings in Australia and “deliver and translate innovative health and medical research into real outcomes for patients and the community.”

Jointly funded by the federal and South Australian governments, the centre will span around 25,000 square metres and will house nine separate research modules supported by extensive and flexible wet and dry lab space. It will also include a vivarium (area for keeping and nurturing plans and animals) and space for a cyclotron.

Full list of committee members:

Professor John Hopwood, South Australian Scientist of the Year and the 2009 recipient of the prestigious CSL Florey Medal.

Professor Ian Frazer – 2006 Australian of the Year, recipient of the 2008 Prime Minister’s Award for Science and a pioneer of the cervical cancer vaccine;

Professor Vicki Anderson – Director of the Department of Psychology at Royal Children’s Hospital and Director of Critical Care & Neuroscience Research at Murdoch Children’s Research Institute;

Professor Richard Head - Director of the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) Preventative Health Flagship;

Professor Douglas Hilton - Director of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI), Research Professor of Medical Biology and Head of the Department of Medical Biology at the University of Melbourne;

Professor John Lynch - Professor of Epidemiology and Population Health at the Sansom Institute in the School of Health Sciences at the University of South Australia, and Professor of Epidemiology at the University of Bristol (UK);

Professor Caroline McMillen - Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation at the University of South Australia (UniSA);

Professor Alan Pearson AM - Professor of Evidence-based Health Care at the University of Adelaide, Executive Director of the Joanna Briggs Institute, and Coordinator of the Cochrane Nursing Care Field;

Professor John Shine AO – Executive Director of the Garvan Institute in Sydney and a central figure in the cloning of the first human hormone gene; and,

Professor Nadia Rosenthal – Head of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory Mouse Biology Unit in Rome, Professor of Cardiovascular Science at Imperial College London, co-director of the UK’s Harefield Heart Science Centre, and founding Director of the Australian Regenerative Medicine Institute at Monash University.