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Colonial Foundation Diagnostics Centre

A $21 million philanthropic investment has established the Colonial Foundation Diagnostics Centre, a pioneering research centre to advance precision diagnosis for diseases that affect millions of Australians.

Compilation of three logos: WEHI, Colonial Foundation and The Royal Melbourne Hospital

The new centre brings together cutting-edge research platforms at WEHI and the advanced diagnostic laboratory services of the Royal Melbourne Hospital to enable innovation and rapid translation of new discoveries to clinical care.

The centre uses ‘spatial omics’ technologies to deliver enhanced diagnosis and, in turn, personalised care for patients with inflammatory diseases, like rheumatoid arthritis and inflammatory bowel disease.

Co-led by WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital, and with philanthropic investment from the Colonial Foundation, the centre builds on an existing partnership that has pioneered potential new tests for detecting early-stage dementia.

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Visionary leaders to drive pioneering research centre

Associate Professor Edwin Hawkins and Dr Michael Christie have been appointed to lead the Colonial Foundation Diagnostics Centre after an extensive global recruitment process.

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Xenium, the first to be installed in Australia, is a cutting-edge spatial omics instrument at WEHI. By visualising millions of gene products and applying bioinformatics analysis, cell types can be colour-coded for deeper exploration of tissue, like cancer's cellular and molecular makeup.
Xenium, the first to be installed in Australia, is a cutting-edge spatial omics instrument at WEHI. By visualising millions of gene products and applying bioinformatics analysis, cell types can be colour-coded for deeper exploration of tissue, like cancer’s cellular and molecular makeup.

An evolving approach to new diagnostics

The Colonial Foundation Diagnostics Centre builds on the foundations of the Colonial Foundation Healthy Ageing Centre (CFHAC), established in 2019 by WEHI and the Royal Melbourne Hospital with philanthropic support from the Colonial Foundation.

CFHAC’s achievements include the development of a cheaper clinical test for a biomarker of dementia, and significant progress towards a molecular ‘signature’ that could identify dementia before the onset of disease symptoms. The new centre will continue CFHAC’s work, with the goal of bringing an early blood test for dementia into clinical use.

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