The Translational Research Institute (TRI) is

Australia's Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

first translational

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as health research, refers to the process of using scientific methods with the aim to produce knowledge about human diseases, the prevention and treatment of illness, and the promotion of ...

institute An institute is an organizational body created for a certain purpose. They are often research organisations (research institutes) created to do research on specific topics, or can also be a professional body. In some countries, institutes ca ...

dedicated to translating scientific discoveries into applications for medical practice. Located in , in inner-city

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

, TRI is supported by a grant from the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government or simply as the federal government, is the national executive government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. The executive consists of the pr ...

($140 million); and funding from the

Queensland Government The Queensland Government is the state government of Queensland, Australia, a Parliament, parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Government is formed by the party or coalition that has gained a majority in the Queensland Legislative Assembly, ...

($107 million);

Queensland University of Technology The Queensland University of Technology (QUT) is a public university, public research university located in the city of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. It has two major campuses, a modern city campus in Gardens Point, Brisbane, Gardens Point ...

($25 million); and

The University of Queensland The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an i ...

($10 million) to combine clinical and translational research to advance progress from laboratory discovery to application in patient care. TRI is a Pty Ltd. company with four shareholders: Queensland Health, the Queensland University of Technology, The University of Queensland and Mater Medical Research.

History

In 2004 a proposal was submitted to the Queensland Government for the development and construction of TRI. In 2007 this progressed to project design. Five years on and 354 million in funding from the Australian and Queensland Governments, UQ and QUT, TRI became operational and four institutes came together. TRI was established in January 2013 and officially opened in October of the same year by the

Governor-General Governor-general (plural governors-general), or governor general (plural governors general), is the title of an official, most prominently associated with the British Empire. In the context of the governors-general and former British colonies, ...

Dame Quentin Bryce Dame Quentin Alice Louise Bryce, (née Strachan; born 23 December 1942) is an Australian academic who served as the 25th Governor-General of Australia from 2008 to 2014. She is the first woman to have held the position, and was previously th ...

Research

Over 800 researchers and clinicians from TRI’s four shareholders undertake medical research and clinical studies into

cancer Cancer is a group of diseases involving Cell growth#Disorders, abnormal cell growth with the potential to Invasion (cancer), invade or Metastasis, spread to other parts of the body. These contrast with benign tumors, which do not spread. Po ...

; inflammation and

infection An infection is the invasion of tissue (biology), tissues by pathogens, their multiplication, and the reaction of host (biology), host tissues to the infectious agent and the toxins they produce. An infectious disease, also known as a transmis ...

;

obesity Obesity is a medical condition, considered by multiple organizations to be a disease, in which excess Adipose tissue, body fat has accumulated to such an extent that it can potentially have negative effects on health. People are classifi ...

and

diabetes Diabetes mellitus, commonly known as diabetes, is a group of common endocrine diseases characterized by sustained high blood sugar levels. Diabetes is due to either the pancreas not producing enough of the hormone insulin, or the cells of th ...

;

kidney disease Kidney disease, or renal disease, technically referred to as nephropathy, is damage to or disease of a kidney. Nephritis is an Inflammation, inflammatory kidney disease and has several types according to the location of the inflammation. Infla ...

and

liver disease Liver disease, or hepatic disease, is any of many diseases of the liver. If long-lasting it is termed chronic liver disease. Although the diseases differ in detail, liver diseases often have features in common. Liver diseases File:Ground gla ...

; and bone and joint disorders. TRI research aims to: * prevent

disease A disease is a particular abnormal condition that adversely affects the structure or function (biology), function of all or part of an organism and is not immediately due to any external injury. Diseases are often known to be medical condi ...

and provide protection against

, * understand diseases to improve early detection,

diagnosis Diagnosis (: diagnoses) is the identification of the nature and cause of a certain phenomenon. Diagnosis is used in a lot of different academic discipline, disciplines, with variations in the use of logic, analytics, and experience, to determine " ...

, treatment and recovery, * reduce the risk of disease spreading, * relieve

symptoms Signs and symptoms are diagnostic indications of an illness, injury, or condition. Signs are objective and externally observable; symptoms are a person's reported subjective experiences. A sign for example may be a higher or lower temperature ...

and better manage chronic diseases and trauma.

Researchers

Some of TRI's researchers include: * Professor

Ian Frazer Ian Hector Frazer (born 6 January 1953) is a Scottish-born Australian immunologist, the founding Chief Executive Officer, CEO and Executive Director, Director of Research of the Translational Research Institute (Australia). Frazer and Jian Zh ...

- known for the development of the

HPV vaccine Human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccines are vaccines intended to provide acquired immunity against infection by certain types of human papillomavirus. The first HPV vaccine became available in 2006. Currently there are six licensed HPV vaccines: ...

against

cervical cancer Cervical cancer is a cancer arising from the cervix or in any layer of the wall of the cervix. It is due to the abnormal growth of cells that can invade or spread to other parts of the body. Early on, typically no symptoms are seen. Later sympt ...

. * Associate Professor

Glenda Gobe Glenda Gobe is a molecular biologist specialising in the molecular controls of apoptosis in kidney disease. She is Co-Director of the Centre for Kidney Disease Research (CKDR), School of Medicine, Translational Research Institute and The Univer ...

- Co-director, renal atrophy and regeneration, fibrosis, immunity and inflammation, and kidney cancer. * Professor Judith Clements - known for Kallikrein proteases in prostate and ovarian cancers. * Professor Josephine Forbes - specialises in the study of glycation and diabetes. * Professor David Johnson – known for kidney treatments and transplants. * Professor Scott Bell - Current TRI CEO, renowned respiratory specialist.

Facilities

Located on the Princess Alexandra (PA) Hospital campus, the seven-story TRI building incorporates four floors of laboratories; and facilities for research support, administration and teaching. TRI’s core facilities include: * Clinical Research Facilities * Flow Cytometry Core Facility * Histology Core Facility * Microscopy Core Facility * Proteomics Core Facility * Preclinical Imaging Core Facility Co-located with TRI are the following facilities: * Patheon Biologics, the first major biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility in Australia. * UQ Dutton Park Campus (formerly the Pharmacy Australia Centre of Excellence), consisting of the PACE building *

Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners Health Translation Queensland, formerly Brisbane Diamantina Health Partners, is the first Advanced Health Research Translation Centre in Queensland, Australia. History Health Translation Queensland's history dates back to 2011, with the establ ...

, an academic health science system

The TRI building

The TRI building was designed by

Wilson Architects Wilson Architects is one of Australia's the oldest architectural practices in Australia. The firm specialises in the design of educational and laboratory spaces and facilities. History Wilson Architects was founded in 1884 by Alexander Brown Wil ...

Donovan Hill Donovan Hill was a Brisbane, Australia, based architecture firm that was founded by Brian Donovan, Timothy Hill in 1992. The firm worked extensively in Brisbane, growing from a workforce of four to 50 within their 17–year existence. Donovan Hill ...

and was built by Watpac, completed in 2012 at the total cost of $354 million. The facility features eight levels: four levels of laboratories, administration and teaching facilities, an auditorium and conference rooms, staff amenities and an "outdoor room" atrium area. TRI is a building. It stands on the grounds of the Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane on the former site of the

Vision Australia Vision Australia is a not-for-profit organization that acts as Australia's largest provider of services for blind or low vision people. Background Vision Australia was created in 2004 through the merger of the Royal Blind Society (RBS), the ...

building, of which the red clay bricks were salvaged and reused as the base of TRI. The building received several architectural and design awards.

References