Work to create a business case for the establishment of a landmark National Centre for Inflammation Research in Clayton is nearing completion.
Inflammation is the world’s biggest killer. Caused by our immune system, inflammation is behind hundreds of illnesses including cancer, diabetes, stroke, heart diseases and viral infections like coronavirus, which together cause more than half of all deaths around the globe.
By improving our understanding of this complex response, we can improve and save lives. That’s what some of the world’s top inflammation experts are doing at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research in Clayton, which has been at the forefront of breakthroughs and new treatments since the institute was founded in 2014.
To help take their important work to the next level, the Andrews Labor Government committed $1 million in the Victorian Budget 2020/21 for the Hudson Institute to prepare an investment case for a National Centre for Inflammation Research.
Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford visited the Hudson Institute today and was updated on plans for the centre, which would be the first of its kind in Australia and is earmarked for the Monash Health Translation Precinct within the Monash Medical Centre campus in Clayton.
With a purpose-built centre, Victorian researchers would have the labs and equipment they need to turn breakthrough into new treatments to control harmful and deadly inflammation.
Victoria is home to 14 independent medical research institutes that employ more than 5,800 people. The state’s wider medical research sector supports more than 30,000 jobs across institutes, universities and industry.
The Victorian Budget 2020/21 dedicated more than $260 million to boost jobs in Victoria’s medical research sector, helping our hardworking researchers, clinicians and scientists to do what they do best.
Quote attributable to Minister for Innovation, Medical Research and the Digital Economy Jaala Pulford
“Our dedicated and talented medical researchers make discoveries that improve and save lives – we are backing them so that they can continue on with their vital work.”
Quote attributable to Parliamentary Secretary for Medical Research Frank McGuire
“You can’t deliver on big dreams if you don’t mine big data. The Hudson Institute does this so well and we’re proud to support them and our other world-class research centres.”
Quote attributable to Member for Clarinda Meng Heang Tak
“The researchers at the Hudson Institute do amazing work and that’s why we’ve funded this important first step towards establishing a National Centre for Inflammation Research.”
Quotes attributable to Hudson Institute of Medical Research Director and CEO of Professor Elizabeth Hartland
“There is immense potential for medical innovation targeting the body’s inflammatory responses. If we can short-circuit the ‘inflammation cascade’ – a chain reaction that leads to severe, chronic inflammation – we can potentially impact hundreds of diseases.”
“The NCIR will establish our state as Australia's inflammation research powerhouse and strengthen Melbourne's reputation as a world-leading centre for life-science.”
Reviewed 29 January 2021