The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI) is an independent health and medical research institute in

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

. The institute is housed in a purpose-built

eponym An eponym is a person, a place, or a thing after whom or which someone or something is, or is believed to be, named. The adjectives which are derived from the word eponym include ''eponymous'' and ''eponymic''. Usage of the word The term ''epon ...

ous building with its iconic " cheese-grater" design created by architects

Woods Bagot Woods Bagot is a global architectural and consulting practice founded in Adelaide, South Australia. It specialises in the design and planning of buildings across a wide variety of sectors and disciplines. Former names of the practice include Woo ...

, located in South Australia's health and biomedical precinct on North Terrace, just east of the

Royal Adelaide Hospital The Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), colloquially known by its initials or pronounced as "the Rah", is South Australia's largest hospital, owned by the state government as part of Australia's public health care system. The RAH provides tertiary h ...

. The institute is composed of approximately 700 researchers, many of whom have links to, and work collaboratively with, other research institutes in Australia and overseas. SAHMRI

The institute was officially incorporated in December 2009, and opened in its current location on 29 November 2013. A second building (SAHMRI 2) is under construction as of August 2022, and will house the Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy & Research after its completion, scheduled in late 2023.

Establishment

In 2007 the South Australian Government commissioned the ''Review of Health and Medical Research in South Australia.'' The review was conducted by Professor

John Shine John Shine (born 3 July 1946) is an Australian biochemist and molecular biologist. Shine and Lynn Dalgarno discovered the nucleotide sequence, called the Shine-Dalgarno sequence, necessary for the initiation and termination of protein synth ...

and Alan Young. In May 2008 the review recommended that the South Australian Government establish a new health and medical research institute, and a fund to finance the institute. The South Australian Government committed to establish the institute, and the Australian Government provided A$200 million to help build the institute's building. The institute was incorporated in December 2009.

Governance

SAHMRI is governed by a nine-person board which includes representatives of South Australia's three universities:

Flinders University Flinders University is a public research university based in Adelaide, South Australia, with a footprint extending across 11 locations in South Australia and the Northern Territory. Founded in 1966, it was named in honour of British navigator ...

, the

University of Adelaide The University of Adelaide (informally Adelaide University) is a public research university located in Adelaide, South Australia. Established in 1874, it is the third-oldest university in Australia. The university's main campus is located on ...

and the

University of South Australia The University of South Australia (UniSA) is a public research university in the Australian state of South Australia. It is a founding member of the Australian Technology Network of universities, and is the largest university in South Austral ...

. SAHMRI's inaugural executive director since 2011 is Professor Steve Wesselingh. The institute was officially incorporated in December 2009.

Researchers

The institute is composed of approximately 700 researchers, many of whom have links to, and work collaboratively with, other research institutes in Australia and overseas.

Buildings

SAHMRI 1

After nearly four years of construction, the institute opened in its new building on 29 November 2013. Woods Bagot, architects of the first SAHMRI building, with its iconic "cheese-grater" style, won several awards in the 2014 South Australian Architecture Awards, awarded by the

Australian Institute of Architects (United we advance architecture) , predecessor = , merged = , successor = , formation = , extinction = , status = Professional body; members association , headquarters = L1/41 Exhibition St, Melbourne , leader_title = CEO , leader_ ...

. The firm received the Keith Neighbour Award for Commercial Architecture, the Robert Dickson Award for Interior Architecture, the Jack McConnell Award for Public Architecture, the Derrick Kendrick Award for Sustainable Architecture, and the

COLORBOND BlueScope Steel Limited is an Australian flat product steel producer that was spun-off from BHP Billiton in 2002. History BlueScope was formed when BHP Billiton spun-off its steel assets on 15 July 2002 as BHP Steel. It was renamed BlueSco ...

Award for Steel Architecture. The building was mainly funded by the federal government (), with the state government putting in into the project, which would also go towards running costs.

SAHMRI 2

Construction of the SAHMRI 2 building, which will house the Australian Bragg Centre for Proton Therapy & Research, starts in July 2020. This will be the first

proton therapy In medicine, proton therapy, or proton radiotherapy, is a type of particle therapy that uses a beam of protons to irradiate diseased tissue, most often to treat cancer. The chief advantage of proton therapy over other types of external beam r ...

unit in Australia, treating cancer patients with the advanced precision radiation treatment. The building is scheduled to be completed in 2023, with the first patients seen in 2025. Like the first building, SAHMRI 2 has also been designed by Woods Bagot. The federal government is providing and the state government towards the project, part of which will be spent on relocating the Train Control Centre to Dry Creek. The new building will be adjacent to the

’s Health & Medical Science Building, opened in 2017, on its eastern side.

Funding

The operational costs of running the institute have been funded by a combination of various government grants, mainly through the

National Health and Medical Research Council The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) is the main statutory authority of the Australian Government responsible for medical research. It was the eighth largest research funding body in the world in 2016, and NHMRC-funded rese ...

(for example, a total of in 2017) and various other sources. The South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute Trust was registered as a charitable trust on 23 November 2015, and the Institute is supported by a variety of corporate sponsors, private

philanthropist Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives, for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private goo ...

s and philanthropic foundations. In December 2018, in grant funding was announced by the government to support research in

Aboriginal health Aborigine, aborigine or aboriginal may refer to: *Aborigines (mythology), in Roman mythology * Indigenous peoples, general term for ethnic groups who are the earliest known inhabitants of an area *One of several groups of indigenous peoples, see ...

, infection and immunity, and

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving abnormal cell growth with the potential to invade or spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Possible signs and symptoms include a lump, abnormal bl ...

. In August 2019, additional funding of more than over five years was announced by the NHMRC.

References

External links

* * {{Authority control Buildings and structures in Adelaide Organisations based in Adelaide Medical research institutes in South Australia 2009 establishments in Australia Research institutes established in 2009 Flinders University University of Adelaide University of South Australia Science and technology in South Australia