Current Institute board member Mr Malcolm Broomhead AO and former Institute board member Mr Mike Fitzpatrick AO have been recognised in this year’s Australia Day honours.

Mr Broomhead was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to business and mining, including through financial support for education and medical research. Mr Fitzpatrick was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia for his distinguished service to Australian rules football through executive roles, to business, and to medical research.

Institute director Professor Doug Hilton said it was wonderful to see two astute business leaders and supporters of medical research honoured.

“Malcolm and Mike are exceptionally active members of the community and passionate supporters of Australian medical research. I would like to extend to them a hearty congratulations on behalf of the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute,” Professor Hilton said.

Supporting vital research

Through his support of a five-year Institute Centenary fellowship, Mr Broomhead is helping to advance research using Australian-first genome-engineering technology to investigate cancer. This research is contributing to the investigation of new treatments for lymphoma and leukaemia, aggressive diseases that can develop quickly and often have a poor prognosis.

A generous $1 million Centenary gift from Mr Fitzpatrick and his wife Ms Helen Skyes has contributed to establishing a new Drug Discovery Centre at the Institute. Officially opening in June 2019, the centre is set to enhance Australia’s drug discovery capabilities. Its world-class facilities, equipment and expertise will increase the capacity of Australian researchers to undertake ultra-high throughput screening – a critical step in the translation of biomedical research discoveries into new medicines for patients.

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