South Australia gains more support for the fight against cancer

Thursday, 29 November 2018

The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) and the University of Adelaide are honoured to receive a major research grant to establish Australia’s first Centre for Integrated Cancer Systems Biology.

SAHMRI’s Cancer Theme Leader, Professor Tim Hughes, thanked the Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) for the $2.5 million grant which was announced this evening.

“The ACRF Centre for Integrated Cancer Systems Biology will be a state-of-the-art facility bringing together next generation technologies to transform patient outcomes through the delivery of targeted and personalised cancer therapy,” Professor Hughes said.

“My colleagues and I are excited by this opportunity to build on South Australia’s proud history of ground-breaking translational research for the benefit of cancer patients globally.”

The centre will be housed within SAHMRI and the University of Adelaide’s adjacent Adelaide Health and Medical Sciences building. It will target five critically important cancer streams – chronic myeloid leukaemia, acute lymphoblastic leukaemia, multiple myeloma, prostate cancer and colorectal cancer.

It will build on the work of several previously funded ACRF centres in Adelaide and harness an existing collaborative relationship with the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) which is co-located in Adelaide BioMed City.

“ACRF grants are competitively assessed and the success of the SAHMRI application is testament to the high quality of cancer research and treatment in South Australia. The deeper understanding of cancer biology that will result from this grant will improve the outcomes for cancer patients throughout Australia and beyond.” Professor Ian Brown, CEO of ACRF said.

Since its inception in 1984, the ACRF has been awarding major grants of up to $10 million for building and updating research centres and laboratories, purchasing the latest technology and equipment and the establishment of national facilities.

The grants were announced at a reception hosted by the Governor General of the Commonwealth of Australia, His Excellency General the Honourable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK MC (Retd) and Lady Cosgrove, tonight at Admiralty House in Sydney.

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