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Prime Minister Special Guest at SVI Dinner
August 14th, 2009
The Hon Kevin Rudd MP, Prime Minister of Australia, was the special guest speaker at a dinner on the 14th of August in support of SVI. The Prime Minister addressed members of Australia's business, scientific and philanthropic communities on the essential role that medical research plays in meeting Australia's health challenges. The dinner at Melbourne's Park Hyatt was hosted by Dr Susan Alberti, who is Chair of the SVI Foundation and President of the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation, Australia.
The Prime Minister's dinner followed the award last month of $500,000 from The Ian Potter Foundation towards a new Stem Cell Regulation Centre at St Vincent's Institute. Research in the Centre is being led by Dr. Louise Purton and Dr. Carl Walkley, who will use the Centre's world-class facilities to focus on the prevention and treatment of diseases of the blood and bone, including cancers such as leukaemia and osteosarcoma.
Drs Purton and Walkley have made important contributions to our understanding of stem cells in the bone marrow. They were the first in the world to show that some blood diseases can arise because of defects in the bone marrow environment where blood cells mature. Such defects can predispose cells towards cancer.
St Vincent's Institute Director, Professor Tom Kay, said that St Vincent's Institute hosts a unique combination of researchers with expertise in bone and what occurs inside the bone marrow, positioning them for future success.
"Funding these promising young researchers to perform their cutting edge research in the Stem Cell Regulation Centre will lead to advances in the understanding of human disease. The Centre will also be a valuable resource for other researchers, both on and off the campus," he said.
The new Stem Cell Regulation Centre will host a range of cutting-edge equipment, and will give researchers access to equipment not currently available in Victoria.