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House of Assembly - Fifty-Fifth Parliament, First Session (55-1)
2023-11-29 Daily Xml
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South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute

Ms HOOD (Adelaide) (15:41): Happy 10th birthday to the cheese grater. You know you are from Adelaide when you know exactly what I am talking about when I mention the 'cheese grater', the iconic building in our West End, which is home to the renowned South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute, otherwise known as SAHMRI. I want to take this opportunity to commend former state and federal Labor governments for establishing SAHMRI in the CBD's West End, driving the creation of Adelaide's BioMed city, one of the largest health and medical research precincts in the Southern Hemisphere.

The creation of SAHMRI was a powerful investment in the health and quality of life of people throughout South Australia and beyond, focusing on the four major research themes of Aboriginal health equity, lifelong health, precision cancer medicine, and women's and kids. As it celebrates its 10th anniversary today, this vibrant world-class biomedical hub now hosts thousands of staff across multiple universities and agencies, making global health breakthroughs. I congratulate each and every one of the staff at SAHMRI on the important work they do.

Professor Maria Makrides, the 2022 SA Scientist of the Year, was appointed Executive Director of SAHMRI this August. Professor Makrides and SAHMRI Board Chair, the Hon. Hieu Van Le AC, recently hosted me at SAHMRI to update me on their work ahead of today's significant milestone. I would like to thank Professor Makrides and the Hon. Hieu Van Le AC for their commitment to this incredible institution and congratulate them on today's anniversary. Professor Makrides was happy to share the secret of SAHMRI's success in a recent addition of Cosmos, and I quote:

It's about connections and when you make the most of these connections, you end up with great outcomes.

People know people. And SAHMRI is built on a partnership model. We have exposure to people that you otherwise wouldn't have.

It was also connections that sowed the very first seeds of SAHMRI. In the early 2000s, a delegation of SA academics approached then Labor health minister John Hill to raise the fragmented nature of medical research in South Australia. Hill shared this with Adelaide stockbroker Alan Young, who had some great ideas. The CEO of Health, Dr Tony Sherbon, suggested that Professor John Shine from the Garvan institute in Sydney connect with Mr Young, and together they produced the Shine-Young report, laying out a plan to link universities and individual research groups together within a flagship research institute. From there, the cheese grater was born, but the project needed funding.

Enter the global financial crisis and the then Rudd Labor government looking for shovel-ready projects to keep the economy moving. The South Australian government knew exactly what project was shovel-ready and, thanks to the investment of the Rudd and Rann Labor governments, the cheese grater became a reality. I would also like to acknowledge the institute's inaugural executive director, Professor Steve Wesselingh, on his stewardship of SAHMRI over the last 10 years. Together with his team, Professor Wesselingh has seen SAHMRI become home to a nationally significant Registry Centre, the Health Policy Centre, the Clinical Research and Imaging Centre, the Molecular Imaging and Therapeutic Research Unit, and Preclinical, Imaging and Research Laboratories.

In just 10 years the institute has made significant discoveries and impact across the broad spectrum of its research agenda. In just one example, over the past 10 years a team within SAHMRI's Hopwood Centre for Neurobiology has reinvented how to study the human brain by bioengineering tiny brain replicas from patient's stem cells. The brain organoids enable the screening of drugs without putting people at risk, and today the technology is in use seeking treatments for people with Parkinson's, brain cancer and children with dementia, offering new hope to those affected by such terrible conditions. I am merely scratching the surface of what researchers within SAHMRI have been able to achieve, and they are not done yet.

I also want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the federal Labor government for its significant investment in the Southern Hemisphere's first proton therapy unit currently being built adjacent to the SAHMRI. The Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy and Research will deliver the most advanced cancer treatment available for children, young adults and people with tumours close to vulnerable organs.

To put it simply, the cheese grater is a life saver and will continue to save lives and improve the quality of life for so many South Australians and beyond for many years to come. Here's to 10 great years of the cheese grater. Congratulations again to Professor Makrides, Professor Wesselingh, SAHMRI researchers and staff and every single person who has played a role in the success of this iconic institution.

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