Tag: Medical Research

2015 Great Australian Philanthropy Award: Mr John Gandel & Mrs Pauline Gandel

Research Australia
Health & Medical Research Awards

2015 AskRIGHT Great Australian Philanthropy Award

The Great Australian Philanthropy Award recognises personal philanthropic contributions over a period of time by an individual or family to health and medical research

Award Winners

Mr John Gandel, AO &
Mrs Pauline Gandel
Gandel Philanthropy

Gandel Philanthropy is one of Australia’s largest independent family philanthropic funds. Gandel Philanthropy has been the vehicle for charitable giving by the extended Gandel family since its formation as the Gandel Charitable Trust back in 1978.

John Gandel AO and Pauline Gandel are actively involved in the philanthropic work and they are universally recognised for their generosity and commitment to both Jewish and general Australian causes. Through Gandel Philanthropy, over the years they channeled tens of millions of dollars towards supporting various charitable causes in the community.

While they provide support for a range of programs and fields, including arts, education, Jewish identity and leadership, youth at risk and Indigenous programs, their support for health and medical research has always been one of the strongest interests.

The statistics on granting done by Gandel Philanthropy over the past three years showed that Health and Medical Research category was, in fact, by far the biggest recipient of funds, registering 38% in funding in 2012/13, 49% in 2013/14 and 32% in 2014/15 of all funds distributed. In each of the above years the amount provided in this category exceeded $2 million.

While direct financial support for research and other medical programs has always been important, both John and Pauline have over the years also been passionate advocates for the sector, taking a hands-on approach to a range of initiatives.

One such activity was the Alfred Hospital Appeal, which John Gandel chaired from 1987 to 1991, raising nearly $6 million to establish the William Buckland Radiotherapy centre. John also served on the hospital Board of Management for several years. Subsequently in 2002, on the 10th anniversary of the centre and the opening of the new $93 million research centre, John was appointed Life Governor of the Alfred Hospital.

John also served on the Board of the Australian Drug Foundation for a number of years and was appointed the Life Governor for the organisation.

Pauline, on the other hand, has been the Patron of Emmy Monash Aged Care for many years and more recently she supported The Women’s Hospital with the establishment of the Pauline Gandel Women’s Imaging Centre which at the time helped revolutionise care for women and newborn babies.

Most recent support for medical research projects includes some innovative and cross-sectoral partnerships aimed at tackling complex medical conditions or challenges.

A recent example of this is the grant awarded to Neuroscience Research Australia (NeuRA), for the research project titled “A Multifaceted Intervention Using iPad Technology to Prevent Falls, Reduce Fear of Falling and Increase Physical Activity in Older People: a Double-blind, Randomised Controlled Trial”.

This was a “challenge grant” for the trial stage, allowing NeuRA to raise the remainder of the funds from other donors, as well as help build a case for support from government.

Another innovative example is the funding for the proof-of-concept study, initiated by Vision Australia and in collaboration with Alzheimer’s Victoria and Deakin University. The study is looking at the viability of using guide dogs to support people with Young Onset Alzheimer’s Disease.

Together John and Pauline have supported a whole range of research projects and initiatives that span different medical fields and conditions, including but not limited to diabetes, ageing-related research, mental health, Crohn’s and Colitis, cancer-related research and allergies.
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2015 Lifetime Achievement Award: Professor Perry Bartlett

Research Australia
Health & Medical Research Awards

2015 Cook Medical Lifetime Achievement Award

The Research Australia Cook Medical Lifetime Achievement Award honours a significant lifetime commitment to supporting and promoting health and medical research

Award Winner

Professor Perry Bartlett, FAA
Professor Of Molecular Neuroscience
Queensland Brain Institute

Professor Perry Bartlett is the founding director of the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at The University of Queensland and is an internationally-renowned neuroscientist doing ground-breaking research into the fundamental mechanisms that underpin brain function.

During his 30-year career, his research and discoveries have overturned existing dogma and led to new understanding, particularly in the areas of neuronal precursor regulation and neuron survival in the developing and adult nervous system. Most prominent among these has been his pioneering role in the discovery and characterisation of neuron-producing stem cells in the adult brain, which has resulted in an entirely new view of the adult brain’s restorative capacity and, more importantly, to the realisation that cognitive functions such as learning and memory appear to be regulated, at least in part, by the production of new neurons. This is leading to the development of new therapeutic strategies to stimulate functional recovery following stroke, ageing dementia and depression. This is of vital importance as the Australian community confronts the growing social and economic cost of neurological and mental health conditions, which account for almost 50 per cent of this nation’s burden of disease.

Professor Bartlett has published more than 240 papers, many of which have appeared in the world’s most influential journals and have attracted more than 13,000 citations and an h-index of 60. One of the most remarkable aspects of Professor Bartlett’s career has been his ability to correctly identify new mechanisms and concepts even though they appear to contradict the prevailing view. This speaks to an intellectual prescience and experimental ingenuity possessed by only a few scientists.

One of the cornerstones of Professor Bartlett’s career is the building of QBI in 2003. Since then he has grown the Institute from a fledgling operation with several of the world’s best neuroscientists to an international research hub with 500 staff dedicated to to finding out more about debilitating diseases of the brain. Beyond that, his achievements in neuroscience research and neuroscience leadership have been recognised with several prestigious awards.

This year he received the CSL Florey Medal and Prize, for significant achievements in biomedical science and the advancement of human health, which has been awarded just seven times since its inception in 1988. Previous winners include Professor Barry Marshall, Professor Jacques Miller and Professor Ian Frazer. He was also recently awarded the Australian Neuroscience Society’s Distinguished Achievement Award for an outstanding contribution to neuroscience in Australian and New Zealand, which has just six prior recipients since its inception in 1993.
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2015 Discovery Award Winner: Dr Andrew Gardner

Research Australia
Health & Medical Research Awards

2015 Griffith University Discovery Award

The Griffith University Discovery Award recognises an early career researcher (no more
than five years post PhD) whose discovery has already demonstrated its importance or impact

Award Winner

Dr Andrew Gardner
School Of Medicine & Public Health
University Of Newcastle

Dr Gardner has conducted research in the field of sports concussion for the past eight years. He received first class honours in Psychology (University of New England) and subsequently completed a Doctor of Psychology (Clinical Neuropsychology) degree at Macquarie University, Sydney, where he conducted research in to the acute and cumulative neuropsychological consequences of sport-related concussion. His thesis received the prestigious award for the Most Outstanding Dissertation for 2011 from the National Academy of Neuropsychology (USA). During his post-graduate studies he also pioneered and managed the Macquarie University Sports Concussion Clinic.

Following this Dr Gardner completed his PhD at Newcastle University, studying the potential long-term consequences of participation in collision sports. He has published 16 peer review articles, two book chapters, presented at numerous national and international conferences, and has contributed to the policy papers of Brain Injury Australia and Alzheimer’s Australia (NSW). In 2013 he was invited as a leading early career researcher to contribute to the Australian Academy of Science Theo Murphy High Flyer’s Think Tank on ‘inspiring smarter brain research in Australia’. He was also awarded an Australian Endeavour Research Fellowship to visit Harvard Medical School for four months in 2014. He is the Co-Director of the Hunter New England Sports Concussion Clinic.

Dr Gardner is now focusing on the potential long-term consequences of participation in collision sports. He is attempting to delineate the effect of head trauma as a risk factor for later life neurodegenerative disease by undertaking neuropsychological testing and neuroimaging investigation in active and retired athletes. His current research includes working on assessing retired rugby league players to determine their cognitive, neurological, psychiatric and psychological profiles. He is also currently also working on the video analysis of concussion in the National Rugby League, the first time this has ever been conducted. Dr Gardner created a tool, the Observational Research Analysis of Concussion in League Evaluation (ORACLE), that he is validating to assist club medical staff with recognising/detecting players who may have sustained a concussion (and should be removed from play for further assessment).

The results of the video analysis and the use of the ORACLE will hopefully help prevent concussions by identifying at-risk behaviour, in addition to detecting concussion, which will significantly improve player welfare. He is currently involved with a consortium of researchers from Cardiff University Brain Imaging Research Centre (CUBRIC) in research discussion with the Welsh Government and Welsh Rugby Union to monitor and examine concussed active and retired players.
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2015 Advocacy Award Winners: Connie and Sam Johnson

Research Australia
Health & Medical Research Awards

2015 Advocacy Award

The Advocacy Award recognises a prominent Australian who has raised community awareness about the benefits of Health & Medical Research, and the need for increased funding.

Award Winners

Connie Johnson & Samuel Johnson
Co-Founders, Love Your Sister

Connie is vibrant, loving, compassionate, tough and inspiring. She’s a mother of two beautiful boys. She’s 35 years old. And she’s dying of Breast Cancer.
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This is her third battle with cancer. At the age 11 Connie, with the help of early detection and chemotherapy, fought off a very rare and aggressive bone tumour in her leg. At 22, she overcame a tumour in her womb, again with the help of early detection and treatment.
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This time Connie has Breast Cancer. It has spread to her lungs, liver, pelvis, spine and knee. This time it’s terminal and she has a life expectancy of 6 – 12 months.
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Nothing can prepare you for to say goodbye to your kids at such a young age. That’s why Connie is hard at work to raise Breast Cancer awareness. Early detection is the key to survival and Connie wants everyone to know it.
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Samuel is one of Australia’s most recognisable personalities in the Australian entertainment industry.
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He’s best known for his roles on The Secret Life of Us, Crackerjack, Underbelly II and Network Ten’s Rush. He’s made a number of TV guest appearances… and he’s the voice of Vodafone, Suzuki and Pedigree.
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Plenty of career accolades have come his way. He’s enjoyed multiple Logie nominations, an AFI Award and an Australian Centenary Medal in the 2000 Queens Honours list. He’s very  proud of all of this, but none of it is as important to him as his sister.
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Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science 2016

The Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science are Australia’s most prestigious and highly regarded awards for outstanding achievements in scientific research, research-based innovation and excellence in science teaching.

These awards are presented by the Prime Minister and the Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science at a black-tie dinner in the Great Hall.

Continue reading “Prime Minister’s Prizes for Science 2016”

Cure Brain Cancer opens applications for their 2016 Fellowship and Scholarship awards

Cure Brain Cancer invites applications for their 2016 Fellowship and Scholarship awards as part of the Brilliant Minds program

Cure Brain Cancer Foundation is committed to encouraging brilliant minds into brain cancer research and want to attract the best and brightest to work in this challenging and rewarding field.

Continue reading “Cure Brain Cancer opens applications for their 2016 Fellowship and Scholarship awards”

Michael J Fox Foundation explains the pharmaceutical development process

The Michael J. Fox Foundation‘s Co-Founder Debi Brooks breaks down the pharmaceutical development landscape in an easy to understand analogy and explains how the Foundation plays a critical role in bringing better and improved Parkinson’s disease therapies to patients.

Continue reading “Michael J Fox Foundation explains the pharmaceutical development process”

grassROOTS Magazine

Autumn 2016 Issue Out Now!

Welcome to the Autumn issue of Research Australia’s grassROOTS magazine.  Activity in our sector has been at fever pitch for a while now and there have been some good outcomes. The National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) was announced by the Prime Minister in early December. Research Australia welcomes this clear focus by our Government on science and innovation as essential to Australia’s future and there is no doubt that health and medical research has an important role to play.

This agenda reconfirmed the importance of the Medical Research Future Fund, it has enabled the set up of a biomedical translation fund to quickly address the funding gap for mid to later stage clinical research and development, and it is also focused on developing a new plan for research infrastructure and championing the importance of STEM subjects such as maths and science, in our education system.

Continue reading “grassROOTS Magazine”

R&D Tax Incentive Review

As part of the National Innovation & Science Agenda, the Government has commissioned Innovation and Science Australia to undertake a review of the R&D Tax Incentive.

While Research Australia proposed some possible minor amendments to the R&D Tax Incentive, we argued that on the whole the R&D Tax Incentive is already performing well against the Review’s criteria of effectiveness, integrity and encouraging additional R&D. Any changes to the R&D Tax Incentive at this point in time should be limited to improving the way it is administered.

R&D Tax Incentive Review

Tax Incentives for early stage investors

As part of the National Innovation and Science Agenda (NISA) Treasury has undertaken a consultation on an initiative to provide tax incentives for early stage investors in innovative companies. Research Australia’s submission supports the proposal and suggests some amendments to improve its operation and reduce red tape. These include making registration for the R&D Tax incentive a qualifying condition for treating a company as an ‘innovation company’ in respect of which the tax incentive can apply, and allowing the tax incentive to be available to ‘retail’ investors. The tax incentive has the potential to increase the capital available to early stage innovative companies, including those seeking to commercialise new medicines, devices and therapies.

Tax Incentives for early stage investors