Partners and Affiliates
ACRF Centre for Therapeutic Target Discovery
Launched in 2006, the ACRF Centre for Therapeutic Target Discovery (ACRF CTTD) is an inter-institution collaboration created on the Royal Melbourne Hospital campus to maximise shared resources (both human and material) for the purpose of conducting highly innovative cancer research. It forms the scientific cornerstone of the first Comprehensive Cancer Centre established in Australia. The consortium includes the Royal Melbourne Hospital (Melbourne Health), Royal Women's Hospital, The Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (Parkville campus), The University of Melbourne and The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research. Currently, the Clinical Director is Assoc. Professor Geoff Lindeman (RMH and WEHI) and the Scientific Director is Professor Andreas Strasser (WEHI). A generous $5 million grant from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation in honour of its Founder, Sir Peter Abeles, has enabled the purchase of a range of cutting-edge technology platforms for flow cytometry, molecular pathology, systems biology, gene suppression and in vivo imaging of tumour growth. www.wehi.edu.au/ACRF_CTTD/
Australian Genome Research Facility: (AGRF)Together with the University of Queensland, the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute helped found the Australian Genome Research Facility in 1996 and hosts the Melbourne branch. AGRF’s mission remains focused on being the key enabler of genome science in Australia, performing high throughput DNA sequencing and resequencing; SNP genotyping and mutation detection. www.agrf.org.au
Bio21 Cluster: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is a Founding Member of the Bio21 Cluster, a not-for-profit company which was initiated in 1999 and today comprises 21 closely-located research institutes, teaching hospitals, universities and publicly funded research agencies in the wider Parkville area. The shared vision is to enhance basic medical research, translation into clinical practice, research training and biotechnology development. By working together, and with strong support from the Victorian Government, the Cluster has attracted major shared research infrastructure, including an 800 mHz NMR, a high throughput chemical screening facility, a cancer tissue bank (Victorian Cancer BioBank) and a clinical informatics data base (BioGrid). www.bio21.com.au
BioGrid: BioGrid, based at the Royal Melbourne Hospital, is a unique IT platform for life science research teams to access and share genetic and clinical research data across multiple organisations in an ethically approved and secure way, using the internet. www.biogrid.org.au
Cancer Trials Australia (CTA): Cancer Trials Australia is a leading provider of early phase cancer clinical trials. Established in 1993 as the Centre for Developmental Cancer Therapeutics (CDCT), Cancer Trials Australia is a not-for-profit service organisation that operates with the highest standards of ethics and integrity. WEHI was one of the founding Members. www.cancertrialsaustralia.com
Co-operative Research Centre for Cancer Therapeutics (CRC-CTx): The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is a core member of the CRC for Cancer Therapeutics, which is headquartered within our Biotechnology Centre at Bundoora. Cancer Therapeutics CRC (CTx) started on July 1 2007 as a new Australian company focussing on discovering and developing novel small molecule therapies for treating cancer. The other core participants are Bionomics Limited, Adelaide; Cancer Council of Victoria; Cancer Research Technology Limited, London; CSIRO Molecular Health Technologies, Melbourne; Griffith University, Brisbane; Millipore Corporation, Sydney; Monash University / Victorian College of Pharmacy, Melbourne; Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre, Melbourne; and St Vincent’s Institute, Melbourne. Dr Julian Clark, interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Dr Ian Street, Chief Scientific Officer, both from WEHI, guided CTx during its formation and through its first year of operation. In Feb 2008, Dr Tony Evans was appointed CEO. The independent Board is chaired by Professor Richard Fox. www.cancercrc.com
Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre: The Diabetes Vaccine Development Centre (DVDC) is a joint initiative of the Australian Government, through the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC), and the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation International (JDRF). The DVDC was established to identify, evaluate, support and coordinate a range of projects as approved by its Board. DVDC bridges the gap between fundamental research and full-scale clinical product development. It was launched in March 2003 initially operating from within the School of Poplulation Health, The University of Melbourne and, from late 2007, from The Garvan Institute of Medical Research, Sydney. www.dvdc.org.au
HEARing CRC: The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute is a supporting member of the HEARing CRC, a consortium of 5 core members and 20 support members. In 2007 the group was awarded $32.55 million over seven years through the Federal Government’s CRC program. The goal is to prevent and better remediate the lost productivity resulting from hearing loss in children and adults. http://www.hearingcrc.org/
Gene Technology Access Centre: GTAC, named for the letters of the genetic code, is an innovative science education initiative partnered between the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, the Department of Microbiology and Immunology of the University of Melbourne and the University High School. Its purpose-designed facilities at University High School, completed in 2004, were built with generous support from the Victorian Government and philanthropy - the Colonial Foundation, Dame Elisabeth Murdoch and the Pratt Foundation. GTAC delivers world class education programs in cell and molecular biology for Victorian students (from year 5 through to year 12) and their teachers, through laboratory courses, special workshops and professional development lecture courses. www.gtac.edu.au
Joint ProteomicS Laboratory
Joint ProteomicS Laboratory (JPSL): JPSL, a joint initiative of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (LICR), was established in 1983 to make cutting-edge analytical technology for protein and peptide characterisation available to both institutes. It now undertakes advanced proteomics. JPSL comprises two separate but interrelated components: a research arm led by Professor Richard Simpson and a high throughput proteomics service facility managed by Ms Heather Patsioutas. www.ludwig.edu.au/jpsl
TrialNet International: Type 1 Diabetes TrialNet is an international network of researchers who are exploring ways to prevent, delay and reverse the progression of type 1 diabetes. TrialNet was established in response to the Surgeon General's Report Healthy People 2010. This report identified diabetes as a national health objective for the Nation. In response to the report, Congress created the Diabetes Research Working Group (DRWG) to develop a plan for diabetes research. One recommendation of the DRWG was to conduct additional research studies (clinical trials) to prevent type 1 diabetes. www.diabetestrialnet.org
Royal Melbourne Hospital: The Royal Melbourne Hospital is the oldest hospital in Victoria, Australia, built just prior to the gold rush era that led to a boom in Melbourne's population. RMH City Campus first began as The Melbourne Hospital in 1848 and RMH Royal Park Campus as the Immigrants' Aid Society in 1853. The Royal Melbourne Hospital is a privileged member of Melbourne's world-leading Parkville Precinct, and enjoys strong relationships with many of the city's major universities and research institutes. www.mh.org.au/Royal_Melbourne_Hospital
The University of Melbourne: The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. The second oldest university in Australia, and the oldest in Victoria, its main campus is in Parkville, an inner suburb just north of the Melbourne CBD. It is a member of Australia's "Group of Eight" lobby group. Melbourne University is ranked among the top universities, both in Australia and the world. The University is highly regarded in the fields of the engineering, arts, law, humanities, and biomedicine. www.unimelb.edu.au
Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium: Victorian Breast Cancer Research Consortium is a consortium formed between eight Melbourne medical research institutes and The Cancer Council Victoria. It was established in 1997 by the Victorian State Government to conduct world-class fundamental breast cancer research. The Consortium operates as an 'institute without walls' and its research groups are located in host research institutes where they can benefit from infrastructure support and intellectual collaboration. The Walter and and Eliza Hall Institute’s VBCRC laboratory was founded by Assoc. Professor Jane Visvader and Assoc. Professor Geoffrey Lindeman. www.vbcrc.org.au
Victorian Cancer BioBank: The Victorian Cancer Biobank is a collection of blood and tissue samples, taken with consent from healthy individuals or patients diagnosed with cancer or at risk of developing cancer. Samples and information from the Biobank are available for research into cancer including its causes, development, diagnosis and treatment. The overall aim of the Biobank is to improve our knowledge of cancer and cancer-related diseases as well as our ability to manage cancer in the future. The Victorian Cancer Biobank is a not-for-profit consortium or network of Tissue Banks, supported by The Cancer Council Victoria and the Victorian Government. It has been established to increase the collection of normal and cancer tissue and support the sharing of tissue amongst researchers located in a number of institutions and organisations. Assoc. Professor Geoff Lindeman and Dr Julian Clarke, both from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, played a major role in the establishment of the Cancer BioBank, which was funded with a $16 million grant from the Victorian Government. The BioBank was launched in September 2007. www.viccancerbiobank.org.au