Medical Research in Australia - Part 2

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AUSTRALIA
Medical Research in Australia – Part 2
1981
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MEDICAL
RESEARCH
IN AUSTRALIA
A REPORT TO THE PRIME MINISTER
BY THE
AUSTRALIAN
SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY
COUNCIL
(ASTEC)
Part 2 (Appendices)
NOVEMBER
Australian
Government
Canberra
1981
Publishing
1981
Service
0 Commonwealth of
ISBN 0 642 07081
ISBN 0 642 07082
ISBN 0 642 07083
Australia
1981
(Part
1)
4
(Part
2)
2
(Set of two Parts)
0
Printed by C. J. THOMPSON,Commonwealth
Government Printer
MEMBERS OF ASTEC
Professor
Sir Geoffrey
Badger, AO, FTS, FAA (Chairman)
Professor J.H. Carver (Deputy Chairman)
Director, Research School of Physical
Australian National University
Mr D.S. Adam
General Manager Corporate
Limited
Professor B.D.O. Anderson,
Professor of Electrical
Sir Samuel Burston,
Grazier
Affairs,
FAA
Engineering,
Sciences,
The Broken Hill
The University
Proprietary
Company
of Newcastle
OBE
Mr J.N. Davenport, AO, DSO, DFC & Bar, GM,
Managing Director, Monier Limited
Dr L.W. Davies, AO, FTS, FAA
Chief Scientist, Amalgamated Wireless (Australasia)
and Professor of Electrical
Engineering,
The University of New South Wales
Professor B.E. Hobbs
Professor of Geology,
Monash University
Department
Ltd
of Earth Sciences,
Dr P.S. Lang, OBE
Grazier
Mr K.H. McLeod
Federal Secretary,
Australian
Insurance
Employees
Professor Sir Gustav Nossal, CBE, FTS, FAA
Director, The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute
Mr L.G. Peres
Reader in Political
Science, The University
Professor M.G. Porter, FASSA
Director, Centre of Policy
Monash University
Mr J.G. Wilson, CBE
Chairman, Australian
Studies, Faculty
Paper Manufacturers
...
111
Union
of Medical
Research
of Melbourne
of Economics
Limited
and Politics,
CONTENTS
Part 1
1.
SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Rationale for Medical Research and Development
in Australia
Co-ordination
of Effort and Efficient
Use of Funds
Concentration
of Research, Effort
The Need for Additional Funds
Arrangements for Review of Medical R&D in
Commonwealth Government Laboratories
1
1
2
4
5
6
8
8
2.
INTRODUCTION
Medical R&D in Australia
3.
MEDICAL SCHOOLS
The Medical Schools in State Universities
The John Curtin School of Medical Research
Expenditure on Research in the Medical Schools
14
14
18
20
4.
INDEPENDENT
INSTITUTES
23
5.
GOVERNMENT HEALTH LABORATORIES
Commonwealth Institute of Health
Institute of Child Health ’
National Acoustics Laboratories
Ultrasonics Institute
Australian Radiation Laboratory
National Biological Standards Laboratory
and Australian Dental Standards Laboratory
Health Services Research and Development
Commonwealth Serum Laboratories
Other Commonwealth Government Organisations
30
30
31
31
32
32
32
THE NATIONAL HEALTH AND MEDICAL
RESEARCH COUNCIL
NH&MRC Support for medical research
Level of NH&MRC funding
35
6.
7.
AND HOSPITAL
RESEARCH
DISCUSSION
The University Sector
Independent and Hospital Research Institutes
Government Health Laboratories
National Health and Medical Research Council
(NH~MRC)
iv
34
34
35
39
42
46
46
48
50
53
a.
CONCLUSIONS
Rationale for Medical R&D in Australia
Co-ordination
of Effort and Efficient
Use of Funds
A Medical Research Council
Concentration
of Research Effort
The Need for Additional Funds
Arrangements for Review of Medical R&D in
Commonwealth Government Laboratories
55
56
60
61
67
71
72
REFERENCES
76
WORKING
PARTY
78
ACTIVITIES
Part 2
APPENDIX
A
INSTITUTES AND LABORATORIES
COMMONWEALTH
DEPARTMENT
OF THE
OF HEALTH
80
Introduction
Institute of Child Health
National Acoustic Laboratories
National Biological Standards Laboratory and
Australian Dental Standards Laboratory
80
81
83
84
86
87
89
89
91
APPENDIX
B
COMMONWEALTH
SERUM LABORATORIES
APPENDIX
C
MEDICAL RESEARCH IN OTHER
COMMONWEALTH
GOVERNMENT
ORGANISATIONS
96
Introduction
Research Establishment,
Australian
Atomic Energy Commission
CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition
CSIRO Molecular and Cellular Biology Unit
CSIRO Division of Protein Chemistry
Department of Defence, Malaria Research Unit
Department of Science and Technology,
Antarctic
Division
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
96
97
97
98
99
100
101
101
APPENDIX
D
INDEPENDENT
INSTITUTES
AND HOSPITAL
RESEARCH
Introduction
The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of
Medical Research
The Howard Florey Institute of Experimental~
Physiology and Medicine
The Baker Medical Research Institute
Queensland Institute of Medical Research
The ,Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science
Kanematsu Memorial Institute, Sydney Hospital
Garvan Institute of Medical Research
Medical Research Centre, Prince Henry’s Hospital
Kolling Institute of Medical Research,
Royal North Shore Hospital Sydney
The Cancer Institute,
Peter MacCallum Hospital
Children’s Medical Research Foundation, Sydney
Royal Children’s Hospital Research Foundation
Melbourne
St Vincent’s School of Medical Research, Melbourne
Mount Royal National Research Institute of
Gerontology and Geriatric Medicine
The Queen Victoria Research Foundation, Adelaide
Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research : Sydney
Cancer Therapy Branch; and Melbourne Tumour
Biology Branch
National Vision Research Institute of Australia
Institute of Drug Technology
New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry
vi
103
103
103
107
110
113
117
120
123
126
128
130
131
133
137
139
141
142
145
147
148
APPENDIX
INSTITUTES
A
AND LABORATORIES
OF THE COMMON WEALTH
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH
INTRODUCTION
A.1
The Commonwealth
Department
of Health, established in 1921, implements government policies and administers Commonwealth legislation in health
In addition to its responsibility
for administering
funds
and related fields.
allocated on the advice of the National Health and Medical Research Council
(NH&MRC), the Department also makes a substantial, direct contribution to health
These organisations,
which are
R&D through its own research organisations.
discussed in greater detail below, are:
Institute of Child Health
National Acoustic Laboratories
National Biological Standards Laboratory
Australian Dental Standards Laboratory
Since the disbandment of the Hospitals and Health Services Commission
A.2
in 1978, the Department has taken over responsibility
for grants for health services
R&D. This research is concerned with the planning, implementation,
evaluation,
administration
and financing of health services. The program provides grants for
applied research rather than basic clinical research, and does not normally support
research into the causes and cures of illness; it is aimed at improving the
Health services may
effectiveness
and efficiency
of Australian health services.
include prevention of illness, health education, health promotion and rehabilitation,
as well as treatment.
Because the grants are concerned with applied health
research, it is usual for applications to be developed in close conjunction with
those agencies actually providing the services.
An indication is expected of how
the results of the research will benefit the delivery of health care in Australia.
There are two types of study funded under the program. The first is
A.3
Health Services Research where some aspect of existing health services delivery
is investigated.
Evaluation studies, cost-effectiveness
and cost-benefit
studies,
utilisation
studies and studies of needs for services all come under this general
heading. The second type of project is the Health Services Development Project.
These are usually small-scale demonstration projects where a new form of health
care delivery is being tested.
In some circumstances,
a research grant may pay
for a small number of clinical staff to enable the demonstration
to be mounted,
but the evaluation component of the project remains paramount.
A.4
In awarding grants, preference is given to studies which have general
Grants may be
applicability
beyond the specific services being investigated.
awarded to State health authorities,
health institutions,
educational institutions,
private companies, or individuals.
Projects may be approved in principle for one
80
or more years but funding is approved year by year. Grant applications are assessed
both within the Department and by outside referees.
Where possible, referees’
assessments are forwarded to the applicant for comment prior to a decision being
made. Applications are then considered by the Research and Development Grants
Advisory Committee, who make recommendations regarding the grant applications.
In 1980-81, 42 research studies of .the efficiency
and effectiveness
of
A.5
health care systems were supported through the Health Services Planning and
Research Program at a cost of $0.62million.
During the same period 28
development projects aimed at testing and implementing improved health services
were funded from the Health Program Grants at a cost of $0.86million.
A.6
The Department also provides grants in support of health R&D through
its Health Facilities
Branch, Public Health Division, Therapeutics
Division, and
Quarantine Branch.
Total expenditure
on health R&D undertaken within the
Department was $i’.6million in 1980-81; the amount provided for R&D, excluding
the funds allocated on the advice of the NH&MRC and including those provided for
health services R&D and to the Commonwealth
Serum Laboratories,
was
$11.9million.
COMMONWEALTH
INSTITUTE
OF HEALTH
The Commonwealth Institute of Health, officially
opened in 1980, was
A.7
formerly
the School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine which had been
established in 1930 by the Commonwealth
Department of Health, in association
with the University of Sydney, and incorporated the staff and facilities of the then
Australian Institute’ of Tropical Medicine which had been established in -1913 in
Townsville.
The original School arose from the need for education and training in
A.8
It was decided to provide courses not only
public health and preventive medicine.
for medical officers but also for Civil Service Officers appointed to Commonwealth dependencies, factory and health inspectors, and medical students.
The
School became the main centre in Australia for research on tropical medicine.
Much of the early research carried out by the School consisted of field
A.9
work associated with particular
diseases or conditions,
or entomological
or
parasitological
surveys for similar reasons. In the postwar period, all the original
departments of the School were expanded and an equal number of new ones
created, giving an increasingly
wide coverage of health-related
problems.
In
addition, the teaching load was extended and new courses in preventive and social
medicine were introduced.
Major R&D Programs
The Institute
is now divided into six sections which carry out both
A.10
training and research. The Epidemiology and Biostatistics Section, created in 1979,
has three major research programs. The National Perinatal Statistics Unit, which
is part of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Sydney, is located within
the Institute and works closely with the Section in analysing perinatal data, with
81
particular attention being given to high risk groups. The second program is a study
in conjunction with the World Health Organisation on steroidal contraceptives
and
their possible neoplastic effects.
More recently,
the Section is studying the
possible effects of exposure to herbicides by Australian Armed Forces who served
in Vietnam.
A.11
The Human Nutrition
Section is integrated with the Human Nutrition
Unit in the University’s
Biochemistry
Department.
Recent research activities
include:
a nutritional
survey of the people in the highlands in Papua New Guinea;
vitamin C and vitamin A studies; surveys on the incidence of thiamin deficiency;
and dietary studies, including nutrition
in Aborigines.
A.12
The Occupational
and Environmental
Health Section is divided into
In Occupational
Health, the major research efforts are
three sub-sections.
directed towards studies that identify and define occupational factors in hypertensions, and the health problems associated with the use of asbestos. Aspects of
adaptation to climates is the major concern of the Environmental
Health subsection.
It is preparing for the International
Biomedical
Expedition
to the
Antarctic
(IBEA) project in which it will collaborate
in a series of laboratory
experiments and field studies. Experiments, on behalf of the Australian Army, to
develop methods of rapid acclimatisation
of large numbers of people to heat are
also being undertaken.
A.13
The Preventive and Social Medicine Section has investigated the role
and functions
of voluntary
consumer organisations
in health care, and has
conducted trials
evaluating
the effectiveness
of the anti-smoking
education
program. Other research has involved an analysis of neural tube defects and their
possible linkage with herbicides.
This is part of a larger study on aspects of birth
deformities.
A.14
The Public Health Biology Section has three major areas of work. In
biochemistry,
studies on the effects of stress on dyslexoid and normal student
groups, using biochemical parameters, are being undertaken.
The Cell Biology Unit
is participating
in an international
study of short-term tests for carcinogenicity.
The major research activity
of the Microbiology
Unit is concerned with the
properties of Vibrio cholerae-like organisms isolated from river water, and drawing
comparisons withsimilar
organisms isolated from human outbreaks.
A.15
The Tropical Medicine Section carries out research in tropical medicine,
medical entomology and parasitology.
The major efforts are directed to the
epidemiology of malaria, the documentation of information on mosquitoes and their
pathogens, and investigations
on the relationship
between Australian
freshwater
molluscs and the hosts of human schistosomes.
The latter study is supported by
the NH&MRC.
Staff
A.16
The total staff of the Commonwealth Institute of Health,
123 of whom 49 percent are professionally-qualified
research staff,
technical staff, and 30 percent support staff.
82
in 1981, is
21 percent
Expenditure
of Funds
A.17
Expenditure for 1980-81 is shown in Table A.l. In addition, funds have
been allocated to the Institute for a special epidemiological
study into the effect
of herbicides and other chemicals on Vietnam veterans, and for the establishment
of a station in Torres Strait to monitor malaria and other insect-borne diseases.
Approximately
$l.lmillion
of the 1980-81 expenditure, equivalent to 35 percent,
was directed to R&D. A similar amount was expended on teaching activities.
TABLE
EXPENDITURE
A.1
BY THE COMMONWEALTH
Expenditure 1980-81
$million
Salaries
Plant & Equipment
Administrative
21441
0.186
0.500
TOTAL
3.127
INSTITUTE
OF CHILD
INSTITUTE
Percentage
total
OF HEALTH
of
78
6
16
HEALTH
A.18
In 1948 the Commonwealth Government approved arrangements for the
establishment of an Institute of Child Health at the School of Public Health and
Tropical Medicine of the University of Sydney, and for fhe creation of a Chair of
By arrangement with the Royal Alexandra
Child Health within the University.
Hospital ,for Children, a clinical unit was located within the Hospital consisting of
a laboratory and’facilities
for the treatment of child disorders for both in-patients
and out-patients.
The purpose was to promote the development of disciplines
related to child health by providing facilities
for the teaching of courses in
paediatrics and for clinical investigations and research into childhood diseases and
Later, the Institute
moved to a building situated in the
psychiatric
problems.
grounds of the Hospital.
Twenty years later, by which time all medical schools in Australia had
A.19
a department of child health, the Commonwealth
Government decided that the
objective of its initiative
at the University of Sydney had been achieved, and that
it should not continue to support the Institute as a branch of the Commonwealth
Department of Health. The present arrangements will cease on 31 December i981.
It is proposed that the teaching responsibilities
of the Institute will be taken over
by the University of Sydney, and that four members of the Research Unit of the
Institute will be supported in the’ interim by the NH&MRC pending absorption of
the Unit within the adjacent Children’s Medical Research Foundation.
83
Major R&D Programs
A.20
A major part of the Institute’s research activities has been a long-term
survey of rheumatic fever, chorea and rheumatic heart disease in children, with
the aim of determining
the effectiveness
of penicillin
in preventing rheumatic
recurrence and ultimate heart damage. The original patients in this program are
now adult, but their cardiac status is still being monitored.
The Institute has
begun a study of children with juvenile rheumatoid arthritis;
the rheumatoid clinic
continues to provide consultation
to paediatricians
and to general practitioners.
The other main area of research concerns purine and folate metabolism in
transformed human leucocytes.
It is hoped that this study, supported largely by
the NH&MRC, will lead to better understanding of the function and control of
these pathways and thus of the biochemistry
of the immune response.
Staff
and Expenditure
A.21
The Director of the Institute is also the Professor of Child Health at
the University of Sydney. The Institute is currently staffed at the senior levels
by two Associate Professors and several medical research officers, and the total
staff is 20. Operational expenditure for 1979-80 was estimated to be $0.63million
of which $0.55million was provided direct by the Commonwealth Government;
the
remainder was provided in the form of grants from the NHgiMRC and other bodies.
Research expenditure was estimated to be approximately
$0.25million excluding
general maintenance and administrative
expenditure.
NATIONAL
ACOUSTIC
LABORATORIES
A.22
The National Acoustic Laboratories
grew from the Acoustic Testing
Laboratory, which was established in 1943 by the National Health and Medical
Research Council to examine problems associated with the noise levels experienced
by servicemen on active duty. The organisation’s
name was changed to the
Acoustic Research Laboratory in 1944, and in 1947 it became a branch of the
Commonwealth
Department
of Health and was renamed the Commonwealth
Acoustic Laboratories.
The Laboratories’
main task was still to investigate the
effects of noise on people; but, in addition to services for ex-servicemen suffering
from the effects of noise experienced
during the war, it began to provide
audiological services and research in response to reports on the problems of deaf
children.
The Laboratories’
services gradually increased to include the provision
of hearing aids, and there was a considerable expansion in 1968 when pensioners
and their dependents became eligible for the service.
In 1973 the organisation
became the National Acoustic Laboratories (NAL).
A.23
The NAL operates from a central administration
and laboratory building
in Sydney and from 27 Hearing Centres; other country areas are visited by staff
at regular intervals.
The clinical side of the Laboratories! audiological services
program is carried out through the Hearing Centres and involves audiological
assessment to evaluate and define hearing capacity, and the improvement of that
capacity by fitting appropriate hearing aids and by other rehabilitation
measures.
This program is provided free of charge to those under 21, to persons referred by
the Department of Veterans Affairs, to aged and other pensioners, and to armed
forces personnel.
84
In 1949 the Commonwealth
Acoustic Laboratories designed and proA.24
duced its first hearing aid, destined to become the forerunner of the Calaid devices
upon which the Laboratories’ audiological services are based. This involvement in
manufacture
was initiated
because of the need to provide a standard range,
encourage local production, reduce import costs and overcome problems associated
with the supply of maintenance parts for commercial hearing aids then available.
The first Calaids were designed for efficiency
in function, ‘ease of service and
maximum local involvement
in production.
Infrequent
model changes, and the
large numbers required, led to reduced prices. Today, the NAL continues to seek
improvements to the Calaids through research, and a range of aids is available to
suit individual requirements. ‘The aids are designed by the NAL and are assembled
by private contractors from Australian-made
and imported components.
The NAL
retains responsibility
for the testing, fitting and maintenance of these devices.
These arrangements are likely to change as a result of the 1981 Review of
Commonwealth Functions, which recommended a greater role for ,private industry
in the manufacture of the aids.
Major R&D Programs
A.25
The Laboratories’
audiological
services program provides the main
impetus for its research activities;
but research is also undertaken in relation to
NAL’s consultative
services in noise and acoustic problems which are used by
Commonwealth
departments, especially Defence.
As part of these consultative
services, NAL has carried out surveys of armed forces personne1 for hearing
capacity, and has developed equipment for measuring noise impulses produced
during the use of explosives and armaments.
It has been involved in monitoring
traffic noise, and has developed techniques to test devices designed to protect
hearing.
The NAL is organised into five main sections, four of which include
A.26
research in their functions.
The Audiology Research Section carries out research
into the mechanisms of hearing, the causes of hearing disorders and methods of
rehabilitation
of the deaf. The Audiology and Psychology Services Section, which
oversee the clinical
activities
of the Hearing Centres, has responsibility
for
training audiology and audiometry
staff and for the development,
testing and
standardisation of procedures, techniques and equipment used in the Centres. This
includes procedures for evaluating
hearing disorders and for monitoring
the
effectiveness
of post-aid-fitting
and special rehabilitation
programs.
The Engineering Services Section develops a range of hearing aids to suit the individual
needs of patients, as well as calibration techniques and standards, and designs and
tests hearing centres and equipment.
The Noise Section is involved in the
measurement, analysis and reduction of noise, and in the evaluation of equipment
used to protect hearing or for communication
in situations of high noise level. It
also develops and evaluates equipment used to generate noise for testing purposes,
Other groups in this
and carries out basic investigations
in sound propagation.
Section are studying the effects of noise on people, the detection and recognition
of sound, the measurement of its subjective qualities, and the effects of noise on
the community with special reference to airfields and firing ranges.
85
Staff
and Expenditure
In 1981 the NAL Central Laboratories had a total staff of 117, of whom
A.27
approximately
27 were engaged in research and its support.
Expenditure on R&D
in 1980-81 was $0.75million.
ULTRASONICS
INSTITUTE
A.28
In 1959 an Ultrasonics Research Section was established within the then
Commonwealth
Acoustic
Laboratories
to undertake
research in the use of
and to begin joint research programs with other
ultrasound
in medicine,
organisations for the clinical evaluation of the new techniques being developed.
Considerable progress had been made by 1974, and the value of the new ultrasound
techniques was such that the Section was reorganised in 1975 to form the
Ultrasonics Institute.
The functions of the Institute are to undertake research and
to provide advisory services in the use of ultrasonic irradiation
for the diagnosis
Close co-operation
is maintained with the National
and treatment
of disease.
Acoustic Laboratories, the two groups being housed in the same building.
Major R&D Programs
Research at the Institute is centred on the development of instrumentA.29
ation and techniques for the application of ultrasonic waves in medical diagnosis.
The Institute
maintains
an expertise
in electronics,
ultrasonics,
transducer
technology and signal processing and imaging theory, as well as in the clinical
applications of ultrasound.
The researchers from the Institute engage in clinical
research and instrumentation
development by close co-operation with a number of
clinicians.
A.30
The Institute
has active clinical evaluation projects with the Royal
Hospital for Women, the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital, the Royal North Shore
Hospital and the Prince Henry Hospital.
It also works in co-operation with the
Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children and the Prince of Wales Hospital.
Medical
specialists visit the Institute regularly on a consultant basis.
A.31
Members of the Institute have played an important part in developing
the medical use of ultrasound both in Australia and overseas. For example, in 1969
the Institute introduced the ‘grey-scale’ method of display of ultrasonic images
which is now accepted as the general clinical technique throughout the world.
Much of the Institute’s recent work has been concerned with development of the
U.I. Octoson, an automatic, general purpose, water-coupled
echoscope, and with
increasing its range of diagnostic abilities
by using additional
equipment, for
example, to allow quantitative
measurements of blood flow.
A.32
The Institute has patents on 17 inventions, and another four with patent
applications pending. The total number of patents at present held by the Institute
is 67. Developments which are commercially
viable are made the subject of
licensing agreements with Australian companies for manufacture
and marketing
throughout
the world.
At present there are three such licensing agreements
covering the U.I. Octoson, a pulsed Doppler blood-flow system, and linear array
technology.
The latter two agreements are relatively recent with no sales as yet,
86
but 100 Octoson units have been sold, most of which have been exported. The
agreement has produced $0.8million in royalty income to Consolidated Revenue
over the last three years, $7million
in export earnings, and employment for over
200 people in manufacturing
and selling the equipment.
Staff
and Expenditure
The Institute has 22 approved staff positions, including nine professional
A.33
and 12 technical positions;
there were 20 staff in 1981. Expenditure in 1980-81
was $0.73million provided from the Commonwealth, Department of Health budget
appropriations.
Although the! prime aim of the Institute
is R&D, there is a
significant science and technology component which varies from year to year. In
1980-81 about half of the Institute’s
expenditu,re was related to R&D.
AUSTRALIAN
RADIATION
LABO’RATORY
~
A.34
The Australian
Radiation
Laboratory
originated
in 1926 when the
Federal Health Council, later to become the National Health and Medical Research
Council, established a national ‘radium bank’ with an initial purchase of 10 grams
of radium at a cost of one hundred thousand pounds. To ensure that the radium
was properly stored, ‘maintained and distributed to hospitals for the treatment of
cancer patients, the Commonwealth Government entered into an agreement with
the University .of Melbourne to establish a’ small section to undertake these
functions within the University’s
Department
of Natural Philosophy.
A more
formal agreement with the University was made in 1929, and the Commonwealth
Radium Laboratory, ‘as it was then called, was given responsibility
for the safe and
equitable use of the radium. It also provided a radon service and gave advice on
radium and radon dosimetry and on precautions to be taken in their use of radium.
In 1935 the Commonwealth
Department
of Health extended the
A.35
Laboratory’s
functions
to include establishment
of a primary
standard for
measuring x rays and to provide advice on the dosimetry of x-ray therapy. As the
work and staff
of the Laboratory
increased,
new accommodation
became
necessary, and in 1938 a specially designed building was erected within the grounds
of the University.
The following year the Laboratory pioneered the development
in Australia of miniature radiography of the chest, and this led to programs for the
detection of tuberculosis.
A.36
In 1946 the Laboratory assumed responsibilities
for the procurement and
distribution
of all radioisotopes
used in Australia
in medicine, industry and
research, and the first radiopharmaceuticals
were imported in that year. Between
1961 and 1978 these responsibilities
were transferred
to the Australian
Atomic
but the Laboratory maintains a
Energy Commission and to commercial suppliers;
quality assessment program for the performance of radioactive
materials and for
the chemical and radiological purity of radiopharmaceuticals.
in the monitoring
of
In 1956, the Laboratory
became involved
A.37
radioactivity
in the Australian environment, including that arising as fallout from
the testing of nuclear devices in the atmosphere, and this activity continues. Since
1965 it has provided and maintained national standards for the precise measurement of x rays, gamma-rays and radioactive materials. These functions were later
radiations.
expanded to include microwave, laser and ultraviolet
87
I
In 1973 the Laboratory’s name was changed to the Australian Radiation
A.38
Laboratory.
Its functions, which had been consolidated in 1972, were modified to
their present form in 1976. As a health laboratory it is concerned with the public
and occupational health implications of radiation, and much of its work is directed
towards improving
the understanding
and practice
of radiation
protection
in
The various sections of the Laboratory,
previously scattered over
Australia.
several separate locations, were brought together in 1979 in a new building at
Yallambie, north-east of Melbourne.
Major R&D Programs
The Laboratory’s research programs are determined primarily on their
A.39
Some research is carried out by the Code
relevance to its public health functions.
and Monitoring Section, but the main programs are undertaken by the Health and
Safety and the Standards and Compliance Sections. Staff from each section may
be brought together to work on a particular
project, so that there is no clear
division of interests.
Several of the Laboratory’s
current research programs are concerned
A.40
They include field
with the mining and milling of uranium ores in Australia.
studies of radiation, radon and radon-daughter levels encountered at uranium mines
and the influence of ore grade, mine configuration
and climatic conditions;
the
development of a personal dosimetry badge able to withstand the severe conditions
and the theoretical
modelling of the lung to estimate
of the mining environment;
the hazard from inhalation
of radioactive
material.
The Laboratory
is also
developing
facilities
to simulate
typical
uranium-mine
atmospheres so that
monitoring and protective equipment can be evaluated in the laboratory before its
It recently adapted the code of practice on radiation
introduction
into the field.
production in the mining and milling of radioactive ores for regulatory use under
the Environment Protection (Nuclear Codes) Act of 1978, and is continuing field
studies and public health assessment of residual radiation levels at nuclear weapon
test sites.
A.41.
The other main branch of the Laboratory’s research is concerned with
the measurement and public health aspects of radiations.
There is a continuing
program for the improvement
of methods of measuring radiation
exposure,
absorbed dose and radioactivity,
and for the development of standards for laser,
ultraviolet
and microwave radiation.
The Laboratory is participating
in a national
survey of per capita radiation doses arising from the use of radiation in medicine
and dentistry,
and is undertaking theoretical
and experimental
studies of dose
distributions resulting from diagnostic and therapeutic use of x rays. Other work
is concerned with the attenuation
of x rays in special shielding materials, with
improved methods of forming diagnostic images in nuclear medicine, and with
development of a whole body monitor to measure total radioactivity
of individuals.
A.42
The Laboratory
also conducts research related to the purity and
effectiveness
of radiochemicals.
This includes the development of methods for
testing the purity and stability of radiopharmaceuticals,
studies of the preparation,
chemical properties,
structure and stability
of radiolabelled
materials used in
nuclear medicine, and evaluation
through field surveys of radioimmunoassay
services provided by pathology laboratories.
88
Staff and Expenditure
The total staff of the Australian Radiation Laboratory in 1980-81 was
A.43
111, comprising 42 percent professionally-qualified,
37 percent technical, and 21
percent administrative
staff.
The total expenditure for 1980-81 was $2.75million.
Approximately
two-thirds of the manpower and budget is devoted to research and
development, and R&D expenditure amounted to $2.02million.
NATIONAL
BIOLOGICAL
STANDARDS
LABORATORY
(NBSL)
A.44
The National Biological Standards Laboratory was established in 1958.
It has now become a major source of the scientific expertise needed to ensure that
the therapeutic goods available in Australia are safe and of good quality.
A.45
The Laboratory’s
main functions are to assist in the formulation
of
therapeutic goods regulatory policy and the evaluation of the chemistry, microbiology, quality control and labelling of therapeutic goods, and to carry out the
research necessary to develop new or improved standards and test goods for
compliance
with standards. Officers of the NBSL also inspect manufacturing
premises and provide scientific
advice to government bodies and industry.
Australian
Dental
Standards Laboratory
(ADSL)
A.46
The ADSL was incorporated within the Commonwealth Department of
Health in 1952 and for many years was under the control of the Medical Services
Division of the Department.
However, because of the similarity of functions with
the NBSL, control was transferred in January 1979 to the Director of NBSL.
A.47
The ADSL is responsible for standards in relation to dental materials
and implements.
It also undertakes research and development on surgical implants,
the wear of polymeric restorative
materials and the adhesion to teeth and creep
of impression materials.
Staff
The National Biological Standards Laboratory (incorporating
the Dental
A.48
Standards Laboratory) has a staff establishment
of 235 with 16 positions in the
ADSL. Staff numbers at the end of March 1981 were 195. It has been estimated
on the basis of man-years that 96 scientists and technicians carry out scientific
research and development activities.
Expenditure
Total expenditure of the National Biological Standards Laboratory in
A.49
1980-81 is estimated to be $4.29million of which an estimated $2.08million, or 48
percent, will be spent on research and development.
A more detailed exposition
of expenditure in 1979-80 and estimated expenditure
in 1980-81 is provided in
Table A.2.
89
TABLE
EXPENDITURE OF THE NATIONAL
(INCLUDING THE AUSTRALIAN
A.2
BIOLOGICAL STANDARDS LABORATORY
DENTAL STANDARDS LABORATORY)
Expenditure 1979-80
Total
Estimated R&D
Expenditure 1980-81
Total
Estimated R&D
$million
$million
$million
$ million
Wages and
Salaries
3.02
1.48
3.11
1.53
Vehicles, Plant,
Machines,
Equipment
0.17
0.06
0.23
0.06
0.17
0.11
Land,
Buildings
Other current
expenditure
TOTAL
0.67
0.33
0.78
0.39
3.87
1.87
4.29
2.08
90
APPENDIX
COMMONWEALTH
B
SERUM LABORATORIES
B.l
The Commonwealth Serum Laboratories (CSL) were established by the
Commonwealth Government in 1916 to provide essential sera, vaccines and other
biological material to meet the needs of the nation. Initially incorporated in the
Quarantine Section of the Trade and Customs Department, the Laboratories came
under the control of the newly formed Commonwealth Department of Health in
1921.
B.2
CSL first began production at the Melbourne Hospital in a part of the
Walter and Eliza Hall of Medical Research. Initial production included diptheria
and tetanus antitoxins
and vaccines against various human diseases. In the
succeeding fifty
years, there were strong pressures on CSL to expand its
production and range of products.
In 1918, the Laboratories began preparing
products for veterinary use. In the period between the wars, influenza vaccine,
insulin, human blood products and snake anti-venom were developed and produced
on a large scale.
During the Second World War, emphasis was placed on the
production of vaccines (particularly
against tetanus), pencillin, and the preparation
of human serum as a blood transfusion substitute.
In the post-war period, CSL
was heavily involved in the preparation of vaccines for the mass immunisation of
children, an activity which led to the virtual elimination of diseases such as polio,
tuberculosis and diptheria.
B.3
In 1961, the Commonwealth
Serum Laboratories
Act established, the
CSL as a statutory authority responsible to the Minister for Health.
The first
major licensing agreement also came into effect thus granting the right of CSL
to manufacture and market the newly developed semi-synthetic
antibiotics.
Two
years later, branches for sales and distribution
of CSL products were established
Since this time, CSL has expanded its export market, and has
in all States.
considerably improved its infrastructure
with the completion of quality control,
virus production, maximum security and veterinary vaccine laboratories.
B.4
During the 197Os, the CSL, in common with many pharmaceutical
manufacturers
throughout the world, experienced the declining profitability
of
biological products as costs increased rapidly.
The public service-type conditions
of employment of staff in the CSL pose particular
problems. Trading profit was
increased to $2million or more in the years 1975-76 to 1977-78, but by 1979-80
The purpose of the Commonwealth Serum
it had fallen to just over $0.5million.
Laboratories Amendment Act, passed by the Parliament in 1980, was to remove
the requirement that the CSL produce and sell only biological products used for
Under the terms of the new Act the Laboratories may
therapeutic
purposes.
explore and develop mar.kets for ‘prescribed pharmaceutical
products’.
These are
defined by the Regulations associated with the Act as:
.
agents derived
agents;
from blood and tissue and synthetic
analogues of such
I
91
.
agents derived
agents;
from
.
agents for parenteral
.
antitoxic
.
immunological
.
laboratory
micro-organisms
and synthetic
analogues of such
therapy;
agents;
agents; and
agents and devices.
These Regulations came into force in April 1981, and it is anticipated that the
changes will enable the CSL to achieve its goal of post-tax net profit sufficient
to allow for re-investment
in the organisation and for a return on capital to the
Commonwealth Government.
B.5
The Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Commission has six members,
five of whom, including the Chairman and Vice-Chairman,
serve part-time.
The
Commission functions as a Board of Directors,
and has the responsibility
of
accounting to the Minister for Health for the activities of the Laboratories.
The
Commission’s decisions are put into operation through its full-time
member, the
Chief Executive Officer, who is the Director of the laboratories.
B.6
The Laboratories are organised into three main groups. The Administration
Group has responsibility
for finance and supply, personnel, sales,
marketing, distribution
and export.
The Operations Group, which is the largest,
undertakes production and production planning, engineering, and packaging and
dispensing activities.
The Science Group has responsibility
for veterinary services,
quality control, and research and development.
Major R&D programs
B.7
The Laboratories carry out research and development (R&D) under two
parts of Section 19 of the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories Act 1961. Under
Section 19(i)(a), CSL conducts research which is directly related to its manufacturing and sales activities.
This research is funded from the trading profit, and in
recent years some difficulties
have been experienced because the Laboratories’
gross profit has been both marginal and uncertain.
Research conducted under this
heading is almost all either strategic or applied research, directed towards new or
improved products or manufacturing
processes.
A Research and Development
Advisory Committee
has been established with membership from the senior
management of the main operational areas of the Laboratories.
It is chaired by
the Director
of Research and Development.
Potential research projects are
generally proposed by ‘customers’ in the production and marketing areas, and are
forward-budgeted
and assessed in order of priority.
Once the likely total R&D
budget for the coming year is known, decisions are made on the projects to be
continued or initiated.
92
Under Section 19(i)(b) of the Act, the CSL is empowered to undertake
B.8
research into pharmaceutical
products at the determination
of the Minister for
Health, and to operate as a reference
centre for a government
or other
organisation, whether Australian, foreign or international.
The products research
is generally long-term,
fundamental or strategic research, the results of which
may have commercial
potential.
The research is funded partly
by the
Commonwealth
Government through the Department of Health, and the monies
provided are subject to repayment to the Government from profits earned when
commercially
viable results ensue. The reference centre work, which is largely
of a service nature, includes such activities as maintaining influenza and serology
centres in collaboration
with the World Health Organisation, operating a primate
centre for use in preparing diagnostic cell lines and in research, collaborating
in
several areas with the Australian
Red Cross blood transfusion
services, and
maintaining a serum collection
reference bank and a national rabies diagnostic
centre. All projects in both categories are treated similarly by the internal review
processes.
B.9
In 1979-80, research work was carried
under the following headings:
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
out by Ministerial
determination
development of new and improved health and viral vaccines for human
and veterinary use;
development of new and improved biological products (other than
vaccines) for human and veterinary use;
the establishment and maintenance of new cell lines;
development of “in vitro” testing of products;
studie? of human plasma proteins;
studies of venoms and improvement in the treatment of envenomation;
the operation of a ‘specialised pharmacological
unit;
research into new technologies
for the production
of biological
products;
rabies research;
and
research associated with blue-tongue-like
viruses.
CSL has engaged in active co-operation with other scientific organisations and this
has resulted in the establishment
of two new areas of biotechnology
research,
namely recombinant DNA and’ hybridoma research.
External consultants are also
involved in areas of b’acteriology, virology and immunology.
B.10
Research is now in progress on the production of interferon
using
recombinant DNA technology (with Monash University) and on the production of
monoclonal antibodies for use in research tind diagnostic work.
This latter
research is closely associated, with other activities
directed
towards the
development of immunodiagnostic
and immunoassay procedures.
Staff
B.ll
The total ‘staff of the Laboratories
is approximately
1,050 of whom
about 200 are in the Administration
Group and 600 in the Operations Group. Of
the 230 in the Science Group, 60 are concerned with veterinary services and 70
About 100 staff are directly concerned with research and
with quality control.
development, of whom approximately
40 percent are professionally
qualified.
93
Sources and Expenditure
of Funds
B.12
Research and development
undertaken to improve CSL products or
manufacturing processes is supported entirely from trading operations.
Research
projects undertaken by Ministerial
determination,
and the operation of reference
centres, have also, in the past, been funded as far as possible from trading profit,
with the Commonwealth
Government
contribution
making up any short-fall.
However, in 1979-80 the Laboratories’ trading profit was such that, for the first
time in five years, CSL was unable to make any contribution
to the costs of
research and other activities
carried out under Section 19(i)(b) of the Act. A
summary of CSL’s revenue, profit and R&D expenditure over recent years is
presented in Table B.l, and details of the source of funds for research and
development in Table B.2.
94
TABLE
B.3
ANNUAL REVENUE, PROFIT AND R&D EXPENDITURES FOR THE
COMMONWEALTH
SERUM LABORATORIES,
1975-76 TO 198.0-81
Year
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80
1980-81
(“1
Revenue
Trading
Profit
R&D Expenditure
19(i)(a)
19(i)(b)
$million
$million
$million
20.167
22.871
24.961
27.189
29.496
34.324
2.253
2.470
2.133
1.807
0.573
3.869
19(i)(a)
19(i)(b)
-
R&D related
R&D carried
0.623
0.984
1.115
1.056
1.284.
2.319
(*)
1.422
1.623
1.965
2.177
2.305
1.595
to CSL products and manufacturing
out at Ministerial
determination.
processes
TABLE B.2
SOURCE OF FUNDS FOR R&D EXPENDITURE BY THE
COMMONWEALTH
SERUM LABORATORIES
1975-76 TO 1980-81
Year
19(i)(a) Expenditure
Amount
Percentage
provided
$million
by CSL(*)
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
1979-80
1980-81
0.623
0.984
1.115
1.051
1.284
2.319
(“)
(““1
100
100
100
100
100
100
Funded solely from CSL’s Trading Profit
Remainder provided by the Commonwealth
the Department of Health
95
19(i)(b) Expenditure
Amount
Percentage
provided
$million
by CSL(**)
1.422
1.623
1.965
2.177
2.305
1.595
64
71
45
14
0
0
Government
through
APPENDIX
MEDICAL
C
RESEARCH IN OTHER COMMONWEALTH
GOVERNMENT ORGANISATIONS
INTRODUCTION
c.1
In addition to the Department of Health and the Commonwealth Serum
Laboratories,
several other Commonwealth
organisations
undertake or support
The chief organisations involved,
research in the medically-related
sciences.
which are discussed in more detail below, are:
Australian Atomic Energy Commission
CSIRO Division of Human Nutrition
CSIRO Molecular and Cellular Biology Unit
CSIRO Division of Protein Chemistry
Department of Defence, Malaria Research Unit
Department of Science and Technology, Antarctic
Department of Veterans’ Affairs
Division
The involvement of CSIRO in medical research was considered by the
c.2
Independent Inquiry into CSIRO which reported its findings in 1977. Following the
Inquiry’s recommendations
and the consequent Government decisions, the CSIRO
policy on medical research is:
.
except in the field of human nutrition, the Organization will not initiate
programs of biomedical research which have the prime objective of
solving problems in human health;
.
where it becomes evident that results of CSIRO research in the
biological and physical sciences could have relevance to human health,
they should be drawn to the attention of the CSIRO Medical Research
Liaison Committee, which should consider the possible development of
the discoveries, including collaboration
between CSIRO and a recognised medical research organisation.
In addition to the Division of Human Nutrition,
there are several programs of
research within CSIRO which are directly related to medicine or to the medical
sciences.
These are usually collaborative
programs with medical research
organisations, often initiated by medical scientists who wish to utilise particular
expertise available within CSIRO Divisions or Units.
c.3
Commonwealth
Government organisations which have a small expenditure on research in the medical sciences, or on research of direct significance
to medicine, include:
Capital Territory
Health Commission
CSIRO Division of Applied Organic Chemistry
CSIRO Division of Food Research
96
RESEARCH
ESTABLISHMENT,
AUSTRALIAN
ATOMIC
ENERGY
COMMISSION
The Research Establishment of the Australian Atomic Energy Commc.4
ission, established in 1953, has always been concerned with the biological effects
of radiation on people. These activities
were extended in the 1960s to include
studies of occupational health, and safety problems associated with the nuclear
industry and with nuclear research.
The Commission is undertaking
several
projects aimed at developing and improving techniques for monitoring the working
environment
in the nuclear industry.
This work is likely to expand further
following
the establishment
of a Health and Safety Division as a result of
recommendations
made in the Ferguson Report for improving occupational health
and safety within the Research Establishment.
c.5
The rapid expansion in the use of radioisotopes in medicine, which also
took place in the 1960s led to a government decision that the Commission would
produce radiopharmaceuticals.
This required the development of facilities for test
animals and a research capability
to investigate
the production
and uses of
labelled compounds.
The Commission’s current radiopharmaceutical
research
concerns the development
of improved processes for the production
of the
radionuclide technetium 99m and the search for compounds of technetium whose
biological properties would make them suitable for use in diagnostic medicine.
Staff
and Expenditure
The staff engaged in medical research amounted to the equivalent of
C.6
about 12 man-years in 1978-79, of which 38 percent was contributed by research
scientists and 44 percent by technicians.
Expenditure on medical research in the
same period w-as $370,000.
CSIRO DIVISION OF HUMAN
NUTRITION
c.7
The Division of Human Nutrition came into existence ‘at the beginning
of 1975 as the result of recommendations
made to the CSIRO Advisory Council
on the organisation’s
involvement
in fields related to medicine.
The Division
occupies the buildings and research facilities of the former Division of Nutritional
Biochemistry
in Adelaide, and many staff also transferred to the new Division.
The Division is part of the Institute of Animal and Food Sciences.
Major R&D Programs
The Division’s research interests concern the basic biological principles
C.8
of human nutrition and the biochemical and physiological mechanisms relevant to
good health. There are three main research programs. The Nutrition and Human
Ecology Program seeks a better understanding
of the influence of diet upon
disease aetiology and of the psychological
and social determinants
of dietary
patterns in the Australian population.
The objective of the Developmental Biology
97
Program is to study ‘the effects of deficiencies and imbalances of micro-nutrients
in developmental and metabolic processes in humans, with emphasis on the supply
of iodine, zinc, copper and folate which are considered crucial for proper
development of the central nervous system. Investigations in the Lipid Metabolism
and the Metabolism of Carbohydrate and Proteins Programs are concerned with
the metabolism of carbohydrates, proteins and lipids in normal and in abnormal
nutritional
status, so that the processes involved in human disorders can be
understood and alleviated.
Staff
and Expenditure
c.9
The Division has a total staff of 94, of which 18 percent are research
scientists
and a further
21 percent professionally-qualified.
The Division’s
expenditure in 1979-80 was $2.16million.
CSIRO MOLECULAR
AND CELLULAR
BIOLOGY
UNIT
c.10
In 1975 there was a reorganisation
within the CSIRO Animal Research
Laboratories.
The major part of the Division
of Animal
Genetics
was
amalgamated with the Division of Animal Physiology to form the new Division of
Animal Production, and the remainder became an independent unit within the
Laboratories, called the Molecular and Cellular Biology Unit. The Unit continues
to share common administrative,
library and laboratory
service facilities
with
members of the Division of Animal Production who were formerly part of Animal
Genetics at the North Ryde site.
Major R&D Programs
c.11
The Unit’s research is concerned with the. control and development of
animal cell growth, and with DNA replication,
and mutation.
The work has
applications in the development of techniques for diagnosis and therapy in humans
as well as in animals.
The aim of the Molecular Genetics Program is to study
chromosome structure and functions, mechanisms of DNA breakage, repair and
mutation, and the evolution of micro-organisms at the molecular level. It is hoped
that this will lead to improved efficiency
in techniques for pasteurisation
and in
radiotherapeutics.
Compounds are being tested for use in the chemotherapy of
cancer and of pathogenic organisms: Work in the Cellular Differentiation
Program
is divided between sub-programs on control of lymphocyte
differentiation
and
function,
isolation
and characterisation
of growth factors, the -influence of
interaction
between cells on differentiation,
and on compounds which modulate
cell behaviour or function.
These will result in greater understanding of a range
of cell-specific
factors which may have potential
for treating
degenerative
conditions associated with ageing, congenital .abnormalities
or acquired pathological conditions.
98
Staff and Expenditure
c.12
The Unit has a total staff of 63, of whom 20 percent are research
scientists and a further 19 percent are professionally-qualified.
Total expenditure
in 1979-80 was $1.63million.
CSIRO DIVISION OF PROTEIN
CHEMISTRY
The Division of Protein Chemistry is one of three Divisions which
c.13
together constitute
the CSIRO Wool Research Laboratories,
located within the
Institute of Industrial Technology.
The Laboratories were established in 1949 in
recognition of the need for Australia, as a major wool-growing
country, to be
concerned with the end-use of the product.
The role of the Division of Protein
Chemistry was to accumulate basic knowledge on the structure
and chemical
reactivity
of wool and their relationship
to its processing as a textile.
The
majority of the Division’s research is still related to wool and its properties;
but
in recent years other collaborative
programs have been established to make full
use of the Division’s expertise and facilities in protein chemistry.
This is true of
the Division’s medicine-related
research, which comprises collaborative
projects
undertaken at the request of other researchers who wish to make use of the
Division’s particular skills.
Major R&D Programs
Within the program of research on biological applications of protein
c.14
chemistry, there are three projects in the field of medical research. In the first,
studies are aimed at elucidating the nature and mechanism of antigenie variation
in influenza
viruses in order to provide a basis on which new methods of
controlling
influenza may be designed.
The purpose of the second project is to
assist other research laboratories in the isolation, purification
and characterisation
of factors controlling
the development of non-specific
cells into forms characteristic of particular tissues, for example, the differentiation
of stem cells of
the bone marrow to ,form granulocytes. In the third project, techniques of protein
chemistry are being used to provide pure antigens of helminth parasites of humans
and of animals with a view to developing methods of rapid serodiagnosis and,
eventually,
control through immunisation.
Staff
and Expenditure
c.15
The staff involved in medical research projects- within the Division
amounted to the equivalent of 4.5 man-years in 1979-80, with expenditure of
$150,000.
99
DEPARTMENT
C.16
evaluate
treatment
research
formally
Medicine
OF DEFENCE,
MALARIA
RESEARCH
UNIT
The Army Malaria ~Research Unit was established in Cairns in 1943 to
the effectiveness
of all known anti-malarial
drug regimes. The drug
later introduced for service personnel was a direct result of that
effort.
The Unit was disbanded in 1946, partly reconstituted
in 1962 and
established in 1966 in Sydney at the School of Public Health and Tropical
(now the Commonwealth Institute of Health).
c.17
The Unit conducted further research during the Vietnam conflict and
developed a regime of prophylaxis that gave better results than those followed by
other allied forces. In June 1970, it was renamed the 1st Malaria Research Unit
(lMRU), its staff was increased and its research program was placed under the
supervision of the Army Malaria Research Advisory Board. During 1974, the Unit
moved to its permanent work location at Ingleburn, NSW.
The Unit is affiliated
with the World Health Organisation (WHO), is
C.18
recognised by WHO as a training centre in malariology
for technicians and is
designated a WHO Collaborating
Centre for Malaria Research.
Major R&D Programs
In continuation
of its earlier work, the Unit uses an established mouse
c.19
model of infection
to study the curative
effects
of alternative
drugs and
combinations of drugs with a potentiating
effect on malaria parasites susceptible
Studies of human biochemistry
or resistant to chloroquine and to pyrimethamine.
are also made as a preliminary
to the subsequent evaluation of the toxic effect
Short-term
cultivation
of malaria parasites and prepof anti-malarial
drugs.
aratory studies for long-term
cultivation
are being carried out for further
pharmacological
enzymatic and biochemical studies.
Chromosomal and genetic
studies on the main malaria vector in the South West Pacific area are undertaken,
and the Unit is engaged in the cultivation,
study, laboratory and field testing of
the fungus Culicinomyces which has shown promise in the control of malaria and
viral encephalitis vectors.
c.20
Development plans for the Unit in the immediate future include the
continuation and perfection of current research activities and the establishment of
an Aotus monkey/human
malaria parasite model to further the parasitological,
chemotherapeutic
and biochemical studies related to human malaria.
Staff
and Expenditure
c.21
The Unit consists of four researchers including the Director,
nine
research assistants and technicians and two administrative
staff. It does not have
its own budget; all financial costs incurred are borne under various votes of the
Defence budget.
100
DEPARTMENT
c.22
Antarctic
summer
carrying
the polar
OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY,
ANTARCTIC
DIVISION
I
The Medical Branch of the Department of Science and Technology’s
Division provides medical services for Australian stations in Antarctica,
for
field operations and expedition
ships, and has the responsibility
out a multidisciplinary
program of research on human interaction
with
environment.
Major R&D Programs
C.23
Joint projects in health research between the Antarctic
Division and
hospitals and universities in Australia have occurred in the past. The Division is
currently involved in work associated with the International
Biomedical Expedition
This expedition,
to the Antarctic.
which involved scientists
from Australia,
Argentina,
New Zealand, France and the United Kingdom took place in the
summer of 1980-81. Data on the expedition is being processed and ,will shortly
be published.
Areas of research during the expedition
included behavioural
adaptation, environmental physiology, immunology and microbiology, biochemistry,
metabolism and nutrition,
epidemiology and sleep.
Staff
and Expenditure
C.24
The staff involved in medical research include two medical officers
based at the Division’s headquarters, and between four and 12 expedition medical
staff annually who carry out research projects as a secondary function as well as
providing health care. Specific financial allocations for medical research in 1980Hotiever,
this does. not include salaries, allowances or
81 totalled
$35,000.
incidental costs for the provision of health care, the primary responsibility
of the
medical officers.
DEPARTMENT
OF VETERANS’
AFFAIRS
The prime function of the Department of Veterans’ Affairs in the
C.25
medical field is the diagnosis and assessment of incapacity and the treatment of
Medical research is an essential
eligible
veterans and their dependants.
component of the Department’s treatment functions, and includes, the evaluation
of methods for diagnosis and assessment of patients’
conditions
and the
Research funded through the
development of external aids for the disabled.
Department
is restricted
to projects conducted within its own facilities,
the
General Repatriation
hospitals in all States, and to the Central Development
Departmental
support. for medical
(Prosthetic and Orthotic) Unit in Melbourne.
research is assessed and co-ordinated
through the Central Medical Research
Advisory Committee.
The number of projects and expenditure on a State by State
basis for 1978-79 is provided in Table C.l.
C.26
Expenditure
on research
projects
101
since 1973 is shown in Table G.2.
I
TABLE
C.l
RESEARCH PROJECTS AND EXPENDITURE BY THE
DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 1978-79
State
Expenditure
$million
Number of
Projects
Central Office
New South Wales
Victoria
Queensland
South Australia
Western Australia
Tasmania
2
19
19
9
5
6
3
TOTAL
63
TABLE
ANNUAL
DEPARTMENT
less than
% of Total
0.041
0.058
0.094
0.038
0.001
0.011
0.001
17
24
39
16
0.243
100
4
C.2
EXPENDITURE ON RESEARCH BY THE
OF VETERANS’ AFFAIRS 1973-74 TO 1978-79
Year
Salaries
$million
Equipment
$million
Other
$million
Total
$million
1973-74
1974-75
1975-76
1976-77
1977-78
1978-79
0.063
0.089
0.114
0.194
0.214
0.192
0.016
0.001
0.017
0.020
0.014
0.038
0.001
0.002
0.001
0.012
0.015
0.013
0.080
0.091
0.133
0.226
0.243
0.243
C.27
Separate from research recommended by the Central Medical Research
Advisory Committee,
the Central Development
(Prosthetic
and Orthotic)
Unit
follows a continuous program of research into methods of improving artificial
limbs and surgical appliances.
The Unit was established in 1961 with a charter
to carry out research and development,
as well as evaluation,
education and
treatment, mainly concerned with prostheses, and with other external aids. The
staff consists of five professionals and one clerical assistant, and expenditure on
research and development in 1980-81 was $O.l4million.
102
APPENDIX
INDEPENDENT
AND HOSPITAL
D
RESEARCH
INSTITUTES
INTRODUCTION
D.l
The development of medical research in Australia in the early decades
of this century relied heavily on public benefaction.
The independent research
institutes
founded by this means were not superseded by the formation of the
National Health and Medical Research Council (NH&MRC) in 1936, but rather the
Council sought to promote research already initiated
in the institutes
and
universities.
The rapid development of medical research in the past twenty years
or so has seen the establishment
of many new institutes,
and these have
contributed to the high international
standing which Australian medical research
enjoys. The independent institutes continue to provide the base for a significant
proportion of the country’s biomedical research.
D.2
The institutes vary greatly in their size and degree of independence,
and in the type of work undertaken.
Each of the three largest institutes has an
annual budget in excess of $2.Omillion, whereas the smallest ones have a yearly
expenditure of less than $0.25million.
Some, such as the Walter and Eliza Hall
Institute
of Medical Research, are largely independent;
others are not fully
independent and may be regarded as akin to a special department of a hospital.
Some institutes
are concerned primarily
with basic biomedical research, some
undertake programs of clinically-oriented
research, and others have a major
diagnostic service function.
The patterns of funding of the institutes are similarly
diverse.
D.3
The remainder of this Appendix is concerned with descriptions
of
several independent research institutes, their organisation, research programs and
sources of funds. The coverage is not intended to be complete, but the institutes
described give a good appreciation of the range of size and function.
THE WALTER AND ELIZA
HALL
INSTITUTE
OF MEDICAL
RESEARCH
D.4
Walter Hall died in 1911 and his estate was left to his wife Eliza who
established the charitable Walter and Eliza Hall Trust.- The trustees decided that
a portion of the available income would be used to establish an independent
medical research institute, in close proximity to the Melbourne Hospital (now the
Royal Melbourne Hospital).
The first Director took office in 1919.
D.5
The Hall Institute is incorporated in Victoria as a Company Limited by
guarantee.
It is governed by a Board of Directors, two members being appointed
by the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust, two by the Royal Melbourne Hospital, two
appointed by the University of Melbourne, two nominated by the National Health
and Medical Research Council, and one appointed by the Board itself.
The Board
also has two Honorary Governors who attend Board meetings but do not vote.
103
The Institute is affiliated
with the Royal Melbourne Hospital and the
D-6
A Clinical Research Unit is jointly serviced by the
University of Melbourne.
Institute and the Hospital.
The Institute serves as the Department of Medical
Biology of the University, and the Director is a Professor and Chairman of that
Department.
All the senior scientists at the Institute hold Professorial or Senior
Associate positions within the University.
Major R&D Programs
In the period prior to World War II, the Institute achieved recognition
D.7
for its work on snake-venoms and bacterial and viral diseases. Under the direction
of Dr (later Sir Macfarlane)
Burnet over the period 1944-1965, the Institute
became known as one of the leading research groups in the world, primarily for
its work on viruses, including
Murray Valley encephalitis,
myxomatosis,
and
In addition, a new theoretical
framework for the understanding of
influenza.
nature’s immunological
defences was built up, and it was for this achievement
that Burnet was awarded the Nobel Prize in 1960. The development of a Clinical
Research Unit for diseases of the stomach, the liver, and the immune system, and
a Cancer Research Unit for leukaemia research, were also fostered.
The scope of the Institute’s
work has since been expanded to include
D.8
major groups active in the search for vaccines against parasitic diseases such as
malaria, and on the use of ‘genetic engineering’ to increase knowledge of how the
Immunological research has been strengthened
body forms protective antibodies.
by the establishment of a unit to study the function of the thymus gland in health
and disease, by a group active in devising new biophysical methods to study white
blood cells, and by a group investigating
the feasibility
of pancreatic transplants
in diabetes. The Cancer Research and Clinical Research Units have been enlarged
and have been more fully integrated into the mainstream of the Institute.
As a
result of these changes, the Institute’s
work is relevant to many important
diseases including cancer, multiple sclerosis, arthritis, hepatitis, malaria and other
parasitic diseases, kidney and bone marrow transplantation,
and other disorders of
the blood and immune system.
Staff
D.9
The total staff of the Hall Institute in 1979-80 was 175, of whom
approximately
one-third
were research scientists.
About 60 percent were
technical staff and the remainder administrative
staff.
There were 17 Research
Fellows and Visiting Scientists, and 25 postgraduate students.
of Funds
D.10
The Institute has invested capital funds amounting to about $4million,
and receives $6,400 per annum from the Walter and Eliza Hall Trust.
The bulk
of its annual running expenses are met from grants and private fund-raising.
Of
the 1979-80 .income of $3.9million,
51 percent came from the Commonwealth
104
Government via NH&MRC, nine percent from the Victorian Government, ten per
cent from overseas sources, and 30 per cent from Australian
non-government
sources, of which the largest components were income from investments
(12
percent),
the Anti-Cancer
Council of Victoria
(three percent) and private
philanthropy
of companies, voluntary groups and individuals.
D.ll
D.l,
The annual budget of the Institute over recent years is shown in Table
and details of the sources and expenditure of funds in Tables D.2 and D.3.
TABLE
Amum
EXPENDITURE
D.l
(OPERATING COSTS) 0~ THE HALL
1971-1980
Year
$million
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
0.948
1.055
1.328
1.584
2.368
2.272
3.140
3.092
3.669
4.010
TABLE
INCOME
FOR THE HALL
D.2
INSTITUTE
FOR 19’79-80
$million
Source
NH&MRC
INSTITUTE
-
grants
fellowships
Income from investments
Overseas grants and contracts
Victorian Government grants
Australian grants and contracts
Bequests and Donations
General non-government
income
(Less, income carried forward)
TOTAL
105
Percentage
Total
1.969
0.065
0.472
0.419
0.360
0.311
0.268
0.130
(0.055)
51
12
10
9
8
7
3
3.939
100
of
TABLE
EXPENDITURE
FOR THE HALL
Item
D.3
INSTITUTE
Amount
FOR 1979-80
Percentage
total
of
$million
Scientific Laboratory Expenditure
Salaries
Equipment
Consumable supplies
Other
Sub-total
Provision of Essential Services
Salaries
Equipment
Consumable supplies
Other
Sub-total
Administration
Salaries
Office Equipment
Fund-raising Expenditure
Other
Sub-total
TOTAL
(a)
(a)
1.627
0.073
0.861
0.214
41
2
21
5
2.775
69
0.643
0.064
0.048
0.178
16
2
1
4
0.933
23
0.163
0.005
0.024
0.110
4
0.302
8
4.010
100
1
3
This figure differs from the income for the year shown in Table D.2
because of funds brought forward from the previous year.
106
THE HOWARD
MEDICINE
FLOREY
INSTITUTE,
OF EXPERIMENTAL
PHYSIOLOGY
AND
D.12
Following on from a successful program of research initiated in 1947,
at the beginning of 1960 proposals were drawn up by a group of leading Australian
citizens, in consultation
with the University of Melbourne, for the establishment
of a first-class
laboratory
building to provide facilities
for experiments
in
physiology and medicine involving large animals.
Lord Florey consented to the
donor’s wish to name the laboratories
‘The Howard Florey Laboratories
of
Experimental
Physiology’ and they were eventually
built with Commonwealth
Government and private support, and American grants.
Subsequently, in 1971,
‘The Howard Florey Institute
of Experimental
Physiology and Medicine’ was
established by an Act of Parliament.
D.13
The Institute is governed by a Board which comprises eight originating
members including
the present Director,
two members nominated
by the
University of Melbourne, two representatives
of the National Health and Medical
Research Council and one representative
of the Government of Victoria.
D.14
In its twenty
years of operation,
the Institute
has gained an
international
reputation
for its use of sheep as an experimental
animal for
research into the regulation of body fluids with emphasis on the role of hormones
and the brain mechanisms which influence salt and water uptake. The discoveries
made have relevance for problems of high blood pressure and of mental disease
in modern man. More recently, work on protein hormone analysis and synthesis has
gained acclaim.
Major R&D Programs
D.15
including
important
The Institute carries out research into many aspects of endocrinology,
the production
and action of hormones, the centres in the brain
in hormone-mediated
functions, and the effects on target organs.
D.16
One of the major projects of the Institute is to study peptide hormones
such as relaxin and human chorionic gonadotrophin, with the aim of synthesising
them for use in medicine.
Relaxin, an ovarian hormone, has been isolated and
In addition to an
analysed and the mechanism of its action is being studied.
existing program on the biochemical synthesis of the hormone, funds have been
provided to establish a recombinant DNA laboratory to produce the hormone from
a bacterial
culture medium.
Synthesis of the side chain of human chorionic
gonadotrophin is also being carried out with the aim of producing a, contraceptive
vaccine.
The work with sheep and cattle as experimental
animals has involved
D.17
delicate and unique surgical techniques which have been developed by the Institute
over the last two decades. These techniques have also been used to study foetal
A further program concerns clinical and reprophysiology and endocrinology.
ductive endocrinology and its possible use in countering infertility.
107
Staff
D.18
The total staff of the Institute in 1979 was 86 of whom approximately
45 percent were research scientists, 40 percent technical staff and the remainder
There were two Visiting Scientists, six postgraduate students and
administrative.
four vacation scholars.
Sources of Expenditure
of Funds
D.19
The Institute’s
major source of income is a grant from the National
Health and Medical Research Council, with lesser amounts coming from the
Victorian State Government and from private donors and foundations.
Of the 1979
income of $1.9million, 63% was provided by the NH&MRC;
9% by the Victorian
5% each by the University of Melbourne and the National Institute
Government;
of Child Health and Human Development (USA) and 9% by private donors and
foundations.
The annual expenditure of the Institute since 1973 is shown in Table
D.4, and sources and expenditure of funds in Tables D.5 and D.6.
TABLE
ANNUAL
EXPENDITURE
OF THE FLOREY
INSTITUTE
Year
$m illion
1973
1973
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
0.553
0.553
1.039
1.203
1.373
1.720
1.910
2.249
TABLE
INCOME
D.4
1973-1980
D.5
FOR THE HOWARD FLOREY
INSTITUTE
$million
Source
FOR 1980
Percentage
total
59
7
5
1
3
NH&MRC
Victorian Government Grant
University of Melbourne
National Heart Foundation
World Health Organisation
National Institute of Child Health
& Human Development
Muscular Dystrophy Association
Private Donors and Foundations
Interest and Investments
1.350
0.165
0.119
0.023
0.061
0.152
0.015
0.356
0.045
7
1
16
2
TOTAL
2.287
100
108
of
TABLE
EXPENDITURE
D,.6
FOR THE HOWARD FLOREY
INSTITUTE
$million
Item
Scientific
Salaries
Scholarships
Major Equipment
Operational expenses
FOR 1980
Percentage
Total
0.738
0.021
0.112
0.494
33
1
5
22
1.365
61
Technical
Salaries
0.299
13
Administrative
Salaries
Overhead expenses
0.110
0.211
5
9
Sub-total
0.321
14
0.213
52
9
2
Sub-total
Other
Salary charges and part-time
Non-operating expenditure
staff
2.250
TOTAL
109
of
THE BAKER
MEDICAL
RESEARCH
INSTITUTE
D.20
The Baker Institute
was founded in 1926 as a result of a bequest by
Thomas Baker, his wife Alice, and his sister-in-law
Eleanor Shaw. An agreement
was entered into with the Board of the Alfred Hospital to assume financial
responsibility
for establishing a biochemical laboratory which was to be used for
research. The Baker Institute later became an autonomous institution
but its close
Thomas Baker’s will established a
affiliation
with Alfred Hospital has continued.
charitable trust, the Baker Benefactions, which until recently was the Institute’s
The original Deed of Settlement provided a
major source of financial support.
statutory
minimum annual grant, but the sums provided between 1928 and 1979
This
have been much larger than the minimum, and exceed $5.5million in total.
support has been provided through annual grants from the Baker Benefactions on
the advice of the Trustees, who also have other regular commitments to different
charities and public bodies and are not legally obliged to support the work of the
Baker Institute except at the statutory minimum level.
In 1965 the Institute
became affiliated
with Monash University for the
D.21
purposes of promoting teaching and encouraging research amongst undergraduate
This development allowed the Institute
to
and postgraduate medical students.
participate
in the University’s
postgraduate research training program for higher
More recently, the Institute was incorporated under the Baker Medical
degrees.
Under this Act the
Research Institute Act, 1980, of the Victorian Parliament.
Institute is governed by an autonomous Board of not more than 12 or less than
seven members, with a President and Vice-President
and official representatives
The Director of the
from the Alfred Hospital and from JIonash University.
Institute is an -~
ex officio member of the Board.
Major R&D Programs
D.22
Under its first two directors a high proportion of the Institute’s
work
involved the provision of clinical pathology services for Alfred Hospital; but there
was always some research.
After World War II the Hospital established separate
service departments for clinical pathology.
The Baker Institute then became fully
engaged in medical research.
This phase of the Institute’s work coincided with the
appointment of Dr Thomas E. Lowe as Director of both the Baker Institute and the
newly established Clinical Research Unit at Alfred Hospital. This ensured close coordination of basic and clinical research which has continued ever since. During Dr
Lowe’s tenure fr’om 1948-1974, research was undertaken in many different fields of
medicine, encompassing cardiovascular
research, haematology,
gastro-enterology,
diabetes and other metabolic disorders, and cancer research.
D.23
In 1975 it was decided to concentrate on one important broad field of
medical research:
cardiovascular
research.
The Institute is active in basic and
clinical research, mainly in the fields of hypertension and abnormalities
of fat
metabolism and other nutritional
disorders that lead to coronary disease, and also
has a group working on problems related to cardiovascular
surgery. The overall
objectives of the Institute’s research are to discover the causes of hypertension and
atherosclerosis, and to provide insights to the better management of these disorders
through knowledge of the operation of the complex homeostatic system in the body
which controls blood pressure and the nutrition of the arterial wall.
110
The scientific
work is at present performed by three main research
D.24
Control and Hypertension Research Unit is concerned with
groups. The Circulatory
the role of the kidney and of the brain and autonomic nervous system in the control
of blood pressure, and includes a basic cardiovascular pharmacology laboratory.
The
research actitivities
of the Cardiovascular Metabolism and Nutrition Research Unit
encompass lipoprotein
physiology and biochemistry
and human nutrition.
The
Cardiac Surgery Laboratory
works on basic
recently-established
Experimental
problems of cardiovascular control related to both cardiac and vascular surgery and
on some applied problems of cardiac surgery. In addition, there is a Morphology and
Cell Biology Laboratory
which studies the structure
of -the arterial
wall in
hypertension
and the determinants
of arterial
wall nutrition,
and a Clinical
Pharmacology
Laboratory
which is concerned with particular
problems of drug
handling in disease, pharmacokinetics,
and of drug metabolism in humans.
D.25
The Institute has developed a ‘wide range of basic disciplines, including
physiology, biochemistry, pharmacology and cell biology, which are essential for the
analysis of complex biological control systems. Some of the applied studies have
arisen from problems related to service commitments in the Hypertension Clinic and
the Lipid Clinic of the Clinical Research Unit, Alfred Hospital and more recently
in the Vascular Service of the Hospital.
Staff
The total staff of the
D.26
1979-80 was approximately
100,
(including postgraduate students),
There were seven
support staff.
Baker Institute and the Clinical Research Unit in
of whom 44 percent were research scientists
42 percent were technical staff and the remainder
Visiting Scientists.
of Funds
D.27
The annual expenditure
Table D.7.
of the Institute
TABLE
ANNUAL
EXPENDITURE
over the past decade is shown in
D.7
OF THE BAKER INSTITUTE
Year
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
$million
0.217
0.236
0.296
0.312
0.363
0.526
0.732
1.082
1.227
1.519
1.678
111
1970-1980
D.28
The sources of income for the Institute in 1981 are shown in Table D.8.
Approximately
30 percent of income was derived from program’ and project grants
awarded by the NH&MRC, and 23 percent from the Baker Benefactions.
The
Institute
Endowment Fund, the Victorian
Government
and the Alfred Hospital
Research Fund provided six to nine percent each, and private donations are
expected to provide 14 percent.
TABLE
ESTIMATED
INCOME
D.8
FOR THE BAKER INSTITUTE
Source
$million
Baker Benefactions - Annual Grant
National Health & Medical Research Council
Victorian Government
Institute Endowment Fund
Alfred Hospital Research Fund
National Heart Foundation
Life Insurance Medical Research Fund
Alfred Hospital Share/Costs
Foundations
0.454
0.535
0.160
0.170
0.119
0.073
0.030
0.039
0.031
Sub-total
1.611
FOR 1981
Percentage
24
29
9
9
6
4
2
2
2
Anticipated
Donations
0.260
14
ESTIMATED
TOTAL
1.871
100
TABLE
ESTIMATED
EXPENDITURE
$million
Scientific
Salaries
Consumables
Equipment
Sub-total
Administrative
Salaries (support staff)
Fund raising/Public
Relations
General expenditure (power,
stdine;~~s~~~yhcme,
etc.)
Miscellaneous
Sub-total
TOTAL
(a)
D.9
FOR THE BAKER INSTITUTE
Item
of total
FOR 1981
Percentage
1.115
0.175
0.130
58
9
7
1.420
73
0.225
0.043
12
2
0.009
0.215
11
0.020
1
0.512
27
1.932
100
of total
This amount is relatively
low because Alfred Hospital accepts about 80%
of the running costs although the Baker Institute is by far the largest user.
112
QUEENSLAND
INSTITUTE
OF MEDICAL
RESEARCH
The Queensland Institute of Medical Research was founded in 1946 as
D.29
a result of a proposal by Dr E.H. Derrick.
His pioneering research from 1935
onwards in Q fever, and his experience with other ‘tropical diseases, made him
aware of the need for a laboratory devoted to full-time research into problems of
special importance
to northern
Australia.
,His proposal to the Queensland
Government led to the establishment
of the Institute as a statutory institution
under the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Act.
D.30
The Institute, which is funded mainly by the Queensland’ Government,
has for more than 30 years had a close working relationship with the University
of Queensland, with teaching hospitals and with the State Department of Health.
Formal agreements have been concluded for affiliation
with the University
of
Queensland and with the North Brisbane Hospitals Board to enhance links with the
academic community and with clinical researchers.
D.31
The Institute
is governed by a Council consisting of the DirectorGeneral of Health and Medical Services for Queensland (Chairman) together with
one representative
each of the State Department
of ‘Health, the Queensland
Government, the University of Queensland, the Australian
Medical ,Association,
the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons, ‘the North Brisbane Hospitals Board,
the South Brisbane Hospitals Board and the Mater Misericordiae Hospitals Board.
D.32
In mid 1980, the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Trust was
established by amendment of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Act:
The purpose of the Trust is to raise and-manage private funds and investments-for
the Institute.
Major R&D Programs
D.33
Early research in the Institute concentrated on zoonoses (scrub typhus,
tick typhus, Q fever, leptospirosis),
parasitology
(hookworm), entomology (mosquitoes and their role as vectors of disease), acarology,
bacteriology
and
mycology.
Research in virology
commenced in 1950 with studies on: the
epidemiology of Murray Valley encephalitis.
Isolation of the virus in 1960 resulted
in a fifteen year period of intensive investigation
leading to the ‘discovery of a
number of arboviruses, including many of medical and veterinary importance.
D.34
Also during the 1950s research into some infectious
diseases ‘was
phased out with the introduction
of widespread use of antibiotics;
but studies on
parasitology and acarology continued.
Cancer research began in the early 1950s
as an offshoot of zoonoses studies with the isolation of mouse leukemia viruses.
It is now a major part of the Institute’s research.
D.35
At the present time, laboratories of ‘the Institute are grouped into five
sections (Cell Biology, Molecular
Biology, Oncology, Tropical
Medicine and
Virology) which undertake independent research but also participate
in collabThe three major areas of collaborative
orative research between sections.
research within the Institute cover cancer, hits causes and control; viruses, vectors
and control;
and parasitology.,
113
D.36
In cancer research, the Cell Biology Section is carrying out pure basic
research and strategic mission-oriented
research on cultured populations of cancer
cells.
Basic mechanisms responsible for unregulated
cell division are being
elucidated and the identification
and exploitation
of tumour cell sub-populations
are being studied.
Sensitivity
assays for determining the most effective
anticancer drugs are also being used as a guide to therapeutic protocols.
D.37
Work specifically
on human cancer is also undertaken by the Oncology
Section with the research being divided between the biology of Epstein-Barr Virus
and its relation to cancer and a study of malignant melanoma and skin cancer
The latter library is also used by the
using an extensive library of cell lines.
Molecular Biology Section in its studies on the genetic predisposition to cancer of
some humans.
Various aspects of virus research are undertaken by all sectors except
D.38
the Cell Biology Section. The study of arthropod-borne
viruses (arboviruses) has
been a major research activity of the Institute for over two decades. Early work
resulted in the isolation and the characterisation
of more than 30 serologically
distinct
arboviruses some of which were important
pathogens of humans and
domestic animals. Although the viruses were ecologically and biologically similar,
they constituted
a heterogeneous group in respect of antigenic structure and
Current research is attempting to relate this diversity to
particle morphology.
Particular
patterns of pathogenesis and virulence
in humans and animals.
emphasis is placed on the study of the biology of arboviruses and of dengue
viruses, and on the immunobiology of Ross River virus in relation to epidemiology
and pathogenesis of epidemic polyarthritis.
D.39
The Molecular Biology Section is studying the molecular genetics of
papova viruses with particular regard to viral persistence, the roles of host cells
in virus modification
and the relation of both phenomena to host cell genetics to
clinical disease. The viral persistence studies will interact with related work to
be initiated during 1981 in the Virology Section and with viral persistence studies
in disease vectors undertaken by the Tropical Medicine Section. The work on the
linkage between viral infection and cancer undertaken by the Oncology Section has
already been mentioned.
D.40
Parasitology studies are undertaken by the Tropical Medicine Section
with some fundamental research occurring in the Molecular Biology Section. The
Experimental
Parasitology Unit is currently changing its research direction and is
expected to concentrate in future on understanding the ecology and epidemiology
of parasites in urban communities in Australia.
Another group in the same unit
will concentrate on the filarial parasites of man which have been neglected until
recently
because of their relatively
low importance
in many under-developed
countries.
The Molecular Biology Section’s research concerns co-operation with
groups in Melbourne, Papua New Guinea and Thailand on means of blocking the
invasion of erythrocytes
by malarial merozoites.
This’ will have the ultimate
objective of paving the way to effective
malarial vaccines.
D.41
To complement the studies on parasites and viruses, work is being
carried out in the Tropical ,Medicine Section on the taxonomy and biology of
mosquitoes and ticks which are major vectors of pathogens.
114
Staff
In 1981, the staff was nearly 100 of which 22 percent were PhDs or
D.42
Technical staff,
MDs, and a total of 60 percent had graduate qualifications.
including both service and laboratory personnel, accounted for 30 percent of the
In addition, there were five Visiting Scientists and several postgraduate
total.
students.
Source and Expenditure
of Funds
D.43
The Institute
was initially
funded entirely
by a grant from the
Queensland Government and this has remained, on an annual budgetary basis, the
major source of income.
Grants from other sources, particularly
the National
Health and Medical Research Council, have contributed to the Institute’s income
for over twenty years and in the past three years have increased substantially.
Some sizeable bequests have come to the Institute in the last few years, so that
more than a third of the total budget is now derived from grants and private
funds. The changing pattern of financial support is shown in Table D.lO.
TABLE
ESTIMATED
D.10
ANNUAL EXPENDITURE OF THE QUEENSLAND
OF MEDICAL RESEARCH 1970-1981
Year
Queensland Government
$million
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
1981
0.257
0.288
0.309
0.334
0.382
0.492
0.638
0.771
0.895
1.082
1.295
1.611
The sources and expenditure
D.44
Tables D.ll and D.12.
Grants
$million
0.012
0.010
0.020
0.011
0.036
0.038
0.058
0.071
0.092
0.270
0.424
0.679
Other
$millliion
Total
$million
0.027
0.001
0.186
0.136
0.078
0.088
0.155
0.269
0.298
0.329
0.345
0.418
0.557
0.686
1.029
1.124
1.430
1.807
2.445
of the Institute’s
115
INSTITUTE
funds are described in
I
TABLE
ESTIMATED
D.ll
INCOME FOR THE QUEENSLAND INSTITUTE
MEDICAL RESEARCH FOR 1981
Source
$million
Queensland Government Grant
NH&MRC grants
scholarships
Queensland Cancer Fund
Other Australian grants and
contracts
Donations and Investment Funds
TOTAL
OF
Percentage
of total
66
1.610
0.411
0.023
0.097
0.020
18
4
1
0.129
0.155
5
6
2.445
100
TABLE D.12
ESTIMATED
EXPENDITURE
MEDICAL
FOR THE QUEENSLAND
RESEARCH FOR 1981
Item
$million
Salaries
Salary Related Costs
Laboratory Related Costs (Consumable
Equipment
Library
Visiting Scientists Program
Printing/Stationery,
Postage/Telephones
Domestic Operations
Repairs/Equipment
Maintenance
Animal House
Travel
Miscellaneous
1.543
0.251
0.296
0.145*
0.033
0.005
0.035
0.050
0.030
0.023
0.033
0.003
Items)
TOTAL
*
INSTITUTE
OF
Percentage
of total
63
10
12
6
1
2.447
This figure includes $80,000 for a computer
with funds derived from donations.
116
being purchased
in 1981
THE INSTITUTE
OF MEDICAL
AND VETERINARY
SCIENCE
The Institute of Medical and Ve’terinary Science (IMVS) was created by
D.45
an Act of the South Australian Parliament in 1937 and its first building, adjacent
both to the Royal Adelaide Hospital and to the Medical School of the University
of a development
of Adelaide, was occupied in 1939. This was the culmination
of pathology services begun in 1902 with the establishment of a laboratory at the
Adelaide Hospital (now the Royal Adelaide Hospital) to carry out bacteriological
examinations.
The Act made the Institute independent of the Hospital and placed
its control in the hands of a seven-man council responsible to the Minister of
Health.
The main function of the Institute was to provide diagnostic laboratory
D.46
services and related training, and several regional laboratories were subsequently
established in country centres in South Australia.
In addition the Institute’s Act
made it clear that it was also to undertake research, specifically,
research into
the diseases of human beings and animals.
Nevertheless the Institute is now
predominantly
a service laboratory,
providing diagnostic
facilities
in clinical
pathology for the Royal Adelaide Hospital and other metropolitan
and country
hospitals, for public health authorities; for government departments, for industry,
and for private medical practitioners.
It also undertakes work in veterinary
pathology on behalf of the Department of Agriculture,
for veterinary practitioners
and for stock-owners in South Australia.
D.47
The Institute operates as a Statutory Authority,
but maintains a close
association with both the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the University of Adelaide.
A number ‘of the Institute’s
specialist staff hold honorary appointments at the
Royal Adelaide Hospital. The Head of the Institute’s Division of Tissue Pa’thology
is the Professor of Pathology at the University of Adelaide, and the Head of the
Medical Virology Division has honorary professorial status in the University.
D.48
The South
repeal the Institute
introduce a new. Bill
It is anticipated that
Australian Government has
of Medical and Veterinary
for an Act to continue the
the Bill will be introduced
announced that it proposes to
Science Act (1937-78), and to
Institute with redefined powers.
in October or November 1981.
Major R&D Programs
D.49
Research is a relatively’minor
component of the work of the ‘Institute.
The main activities,
showing the percentage of 1978-79 gross payments attributable to each, are given in Table D.15; medical research accounts for only three
percent of ,the expenditure.
Research at the Institute can be divided into two broad areas: the
D.50
development of new and improved diagnostic tests, and the conduct of basic
scientific
research.
The former, funded mainly from Institute funds, has often
been initiated by members of the Hospital staff or other medical practitioners
seeking new or improved methods to diagnose and manage their patients or, in the
case of veterinarians,
to obtain surveillance
information
on diseases. Developments have also been initiated within the Institute, the usual objective being to
improve the’ quality of service offered.
117
D.51’
Basic research has been initiated within the Institute, usually as a result
of observations made during routine work. Following the observation in 1969-70
of adverse effects in patients who were being fed intravenously
with a variety
of sugar substitutes,
research was initiated
at the Institute
which eventually
demonstrated
the importance
of minor metabolic
pathways in critically
ill
patients.
D.52
The existence of a significant
number of cases of bone disease in the
South Australian community, contrary to the predictions in medical literature,
has
led to studies of calcium balance and the general nutritional
status of older people
and those with certain diseases. These studies are carried out in the Division of
Clinical Chemistry and in the Division of Tissue Pathology where a laboratory
specialising in the study of diseases affecting bones and joints is being developed.
Current research is concerned with elucidating the reasons for the mechanical
failure of artificial
joints.
Basic research projects at the Institute are funded by outside grants.
D.53
The NH&MRC is supporting five projects in 1981 at a total cost of $93,000.
Grants are also obtained from a variety of other bodies including the South
Australian
Anti-Cancer
Foundation and The Channel 10 Children’s
Medical
Research Foundation, and several have been obtained from drug companies and
from instrument manufacturers.
Staff
The total staff of the Institute of Medical and Veterinary Science in
D.54
1980 was 882 of whom approximately
26 percent were professional staff, 38
percent technical staff and the remainder support staff.
of Funds
D.55
The basis of funding of the Institute has changed many times over the
of different
years due to variations
in government
policy, the introduction
pathology fee structures and changes in the administration
of health services at
service laboratory
both the Commonwealth and State levels. As a predominantly
most of the income (other than the fees-for-service
paid by private patients) of
the Institute for its medical work has been provided on a cost-sharing basis by the
In the veterinary
area most of the
State and Commonwealth
Governments.
income (other than the fees-for-service
paid by private veterinary practitioners)
has been provided by the State.
D.56
The annual expenditure of the Institute has increased markedly over the
past decade, as shown in Table D-13. The sources of income for the Institute in
1979-80 are shown in Table D.14.
118
TABLE
ANNUAL
D.13
EXPENDITURE OF THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL
VETERINARY SCIENCE, 19’71-1980
Year
Expenditure
$ million
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
2.633
3.042
3.528
4.967
7.178
9.066
11.460
13.492
14.713
16.844
TABLE
D.14
SOURCES OF INCOME FOR THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL
VETERINARY SCIENCE 1979-80
$ million
Source
Grants
AND
- from State Government
- for specific purposes
AND
Percentage
total
3.213
0.289
19
2
Fees and Reimbursement Pathology for Government ‘hospitals
Non-schedule services for Government
hospitals
Pathology for Private Sector
6.726
39
1.533
4.366
9
25
Private Practice Consultations
Interest
Sundry Sales, Recoups, Rents, etc.
0.028
0.176
0.888
1
5
17.219
100
TOTAL
119
of
The percentage expenditure
D.57
1978-79 is shown in Table D.15.
on each of the Institute’s
TABLE
main activities
in
D-15
PERCENTAGE EXPENDITURE ATTRIBUTABLE
TO EACH ACTIVITY
IN THE INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL AND VETERINARY SCIENCE, 1978-79
Percentage
64
Pathology Tests for Individuals
Non-Schedule Services (including Patient Management
and Teaching)
Public Health Services
Veterinary Services
Production of Media and Animals, etc. for Sale
and Sundry Recharge
Medical Research
Forensic Services
Veterinary Research
11
9
6
4
3
2
1
100
Source:
Submission
Australia;
KANEMATSU
to Committee of Enquiry into Pathology
Part 1, p.21, January, 1980.
MEMORIAL
INSTITUTE,
SYDNEY
Services
in South
HOSPITAL
In 1929-30 the shareholders of F. Kanematsu (Australia) Limited provided
D.58
funds for the establishment of an institute as a memorial to Fusajiro Kanematsu,
“The institute,
called the Kanematsu
the founder of the company, and his wife.
Memorial Institute of Pathology of Sydney Hospital, was officially
opened in 1933.
Initially,
its main function was to supply the routine pathology services of Sydney
Hospital, but it was felt that facilities
should also be provided for medical
research.
D.59
In 1935 the Board of Directors of Sydney Hospital decided that the
Institute should have a research function, and the Kanematsu Advisory Committee,
The
appointed by the Board, took steps to establish a research department.
following year representations
were made to the New South Wales Minister for
Health and the Health Commission, but although the benefit of a research
department to the Hospital’s progress was recognised, no permanent endowment
fund could be established.
120
D.60
Dr J.C. (later Sir John) Eccles was appointed Director of the Institute
in 1937 and held the position until 1943. By 1958 several programs of clinical
was reorganised into separate
research had been developed, and the Institute
departments of clinical pathology and medical research, and its present name
adopted.
The Institute
remains an integral part of Sydney Hospital, and is
D.61
responsible to the Hospital’s Board. The Clinical Pathology Department of the
Institute
continues to provide pathology services to the Hospital, and is funded
almost entirely by the Health Commission of New South Wales.
The Medical
Research Department is concerned with both applied and basic research, and is
administered by an advisory committee of the Hospital Board. Its laboratories are
located adjacent to wards which accommodate patients under the care of the
Clinical Haematology, Renal and Cardio-Renal Units of the Department.
Because
Sydney Hospital is a teaching hospital of the University of Sydney, the Institute has
strong links with the Faculty of Medicine at the University.
In addition to the
teaching programs within the Institute, many senior members of staff also lecture
at the University.
Major R&D Programs
D.62
The Medical Research Department of the Institute contains seven units,
each of which undertakes basic and applied research and provides clinical services
The Department’s research wards have a total
in its particular area of expertise.
of 37 beds, and include facilities
for haemodialysis and a self-contained
lowpathogen unit.
The Clinical Haematology Unit includes a group studying bone marrow
D.63
and the control mechanisms which influence the production of white cells under
normal conditions and in patients suffering
from leukaemia and other blood
changes which occur in various
disorders. A flow cytometry group is investigating
parameters of the cell cycle of leukaemia cells in bone and marrow, and a solid
tumour group is examining the behaviour of cancer cells grown in culture.
Other
members of the Unit are studying lymphocyte populations and chromosome analyses
of patients with leukaemia or lymphoma, and purifying nucleic acids from normal
and leukaemic cells and examining their composition and characteristics.
The unit
provides diagnostic services in cytogenetic analysis, measurement of immunoglobin
concentration
in plasma, and analysis of T and B lymphocytes;
all these are related
to, and may assist, its research interests.
The Renal Unit provides a wide range of clinical services including renal
D.64
transplantation,
dialysis, general nephrology, and other studies of patients with
renal failure.
The Unit’s research interests are closely related to these services,
and include studies aimed at improving the long-term success of renal transplants
and the optimisation
of dialysis procedures, and the establishment of experimental
models of renal failure.
121
D.65
The Cardio-Renal Unit undertakes ,basic research on the control of renin
secretion, and on the role of disorders of cation transport and blood viscosity in
hypertension.
Applied research has focussed on the evaluation of anti-hypertension
drugs and their mechanisms of action, and on the development of a system of
computer analysis of data from health screening services and drug trials. The Unit
also provides a complete diagnostic service for hypertensive, fluid and electrolyte
disorders.
D.66
Members of the Microcirculation
and Histopathology
Unit are examining
the mechanisms which influence cell distribution
in the blood microcirculation
and
the relationships
between blood rheology and hypertension and vascular diseases.
About half the Unit’s work is service-oriented,
primarily histopathology
consultations and development of new histopathological
techniques for renal biopsy and the
study of lymphomas.
The research of the Haemorheology and Biorheology Unit centres on the
D.67
development of methods to identify viscosity factors which influence blood flow
and thrombosis formation in ischaemic and occlusive disorders. Particular attention
is being paid to the kinetics and morphology of aggregation of red cells. Certain
viscosity factors may, on occasion, be used to predict cardiovascular incidents, and
it is intended that a viscosity profile will be developed for different disorders for
use as a diagnostic tool.
Cancer patients, diabetics and retinopathy patients are
referred to the Unit for tests on blood and plasma viscosity and rigidity
and
aggregation of red cells.
D.68
Research in the Immunology Unit is directed to improved management of
patients with malignant tumours.
It includes basic research on factors released
from tumour cells and their effects on the immune system, and more applied
studies to assess host responses to tumours and to develop immunotherapy
techniques and immunodiagnostic
assays to monitor tumour growth and detect
recurrences.
The effects of cigarette
smoking on the immune response, and
particular
states of immunodeficiency,
are also being investigated.
-4 routine
clinical immunology service, including assays of immune function, is provided to the
Hospital.
D.69
The main research project of the Dietary Research Unit is a comparison
of the efficacy of different techniques of haemodialysis of patients whose dietary
protein intake is assessed directly and by mathematical
modelling.
Staff
D.70
The total staff of the Medical Research Department of the Institute in
1980-81 was 68, comprising approximately 60 percent specialists and research staff,
32 percent technical and nursing staff and 8 percent administrative
staff. Taking
into account the time spent on clinical and diagnostic services and on teaching, it
is estimated that the research component is equivalent to approximately
30 fulltime research staff.
122
of Funds
Nearly two thirds of the specialist and research staff are supported by
D.71
the Health Commission of New South Wales through Sydney Hospital, and about a
quarter by research grants; the salaries of the remainder are derived from private
donations. Technical and nursing staff are supported by the Health Commission and
The Hospital and the University
of Sydney provide the
from private donations.
Department’s infrastructural
support including the salaries of administrative
staff,
accommodation,
heating, lighting, cleaning, etc.
The total expenditure
by the Medical Research Department
of the
D.72
Kanematsu Institute
in 1980-81 was $1.318million,
of ,which $0.752million’ was
expended on research and activities
related directly
to it.
The Department
received research grants from the NSW State Cancer Council and the (USA)
National Cancer Institute as well as from the NH&MRC.
The major sources o,f
income for 1980-81 are shown in Table D.16.
TABLE
D.16
SOURCES OF INCOME FOR RESEARCH IN THE MEDICAL RESEARCH
DEPARTMENT’ OF THE KANEMATSU MEMORIAL INSTITUTE 1980-81
Source
Support provided through
Grants NH&MRC
Others
Miscellaneous
TOTAL
GARVAN ‘INSTITUTE.
$million
Sydney Hospital
OF MEDICAL
Percentage
of total
0.491
65
0.112
0.102
0.047
0.752
15
14
6
100
RESEARCH
D.73
The Garvan Institute of Medical Research was established with funds
raised during the centenary appeal of St Vincent’s Hospital in 1957, and was
officially
opened in. 1963.. Its name derives from the benefactor of a trust
established in 1962 to provide for the salary of a Director.
The Institute
functions
as a self-contained
and largely autonomous
D.74,
division of St Vincent’s Hospital, and until 1980 was managed by, a sub-committee
The Garvan ,Research Foundation came into being
of the Board of the Hospital.
in 1981, its aims being to acquire funds and to promote scientific
and medical
The Foundation is operated through its management
research at the Institute.
committee whose members are drawn from the Sydney business community, the
The committee
now has
Hospital
Administration
and the Hospital
Board.
responsibility
for the affairs of the Institute.
123
D.75
In addition to its research activities,
the Institute provides diagnostic
assays and services, many of which are performed for patients at St Vincent’s. As
well, since its inception the Institute has adopted a policy of making its expertise
This started as a
and assays available to the New South Wales health service.
grace and favour exercise, but it grew into an important diagnostic service and in
1978 was approved by the Health Commission as a Clinical Laboratory
of St
Vincent’s Hospital.
This service now supplies hormone assays to seventy-four
referring hospitals in NSW and is a State Referral Laboratory for Hormone Assays;
the Health Commission has also approved funding for staff of the Clinical Room
of the Institute which is used for the collection of blood samples from outpatients
and inpatients.
Under the terms of the agreement with the Health Commission the
clinical
laboratory
is accommodated
within the Institute,
has access to its
equipment,
and is under the control of the Institute’s
Director.
The Health
Commission provides funds for the staff and operating expenditure and for rent to
the Institute for use of space and facilities.
Major R&D Programs
The Institute’s research programs are concerned primarily with various
D.76
aspects of endocrinology, and there is a strong emphasis on the study of diabetes
Current programs of basic research include: the measurement
and its treatment.
of brain transmitter
substances, and elucidation
of their formation and function
with particular reference to psychiatric illness and human drug therapy; a study of
the cellular receptors specific for insulin and their significance
in the onset of
mature age diabetes; an investigation
of growth-promoting
substances and the
and computer modelling of theoretical
glucose-insulin
control of human growth;
interrelationships
to allow identification
of the most effective procedures for using
insulin in diabetic treatment.
D.77
The Institute also has a substantial program of applied clinical research.
Work on the treatment of diabetes mellitus includes the development of techniques
for computer-programmed
insulin infusion, studies of autonomic neuropathy and of
susceptibility
to hypoglycaemia, and an examination of immune factors which may
cause difficulties
for diabetic patients being treated with insulin derived from
animal pancreas. Other clinical research is concerned with the growth of children
and factors which may prevent normal growth, with pituitary
tumours and the
influence of contraceptives
on their formation,
with the role of adrenalin and
similar substances in hypertension, and with the relationship of chest infections to
asthma attacks.
There is also a project whose aim is the development of assays
to allow measurement and functional studies of gut hormones, and another in which
assays are being developed for hormones associated with cancers. In collaboration
with the CSIRO Molecular and Cellular Biology Unit the Institute is undertaking a
project to develop monoclonal antibodies to human hormones for use in diagnostic
immunoassays.
124
Staff
The total staff of the Garvan Institute is 54, of whom approximately
54
D.78
percent are engaged in research or clinical investigation,
26 percent are technical
and nursing staff, and 20 percent are administrative
and maintenance staff.
Approximately
20 staff members are involved primarily
in providing diagnostic
services.
of Funds
The main sources of funds for the Institute are the assay service, project
D.79
grants, fellowships and scholarships from granting bodies and research contracts.
The assay service provides income via patients’ fees and rent paid for use of the
Institute’s facilities.
As an autonomous organisation the Institute has to obtain its
own maintenance funds, and these are derived primarily
from fees for assays
undertaken for non-hospital,
private patients.
by the
Institute
in 1980 was $l.llGmillion,
of which expenditure
on research was
$0.674million.
A summary of the sources of income for research in 1980 is shown
in Table D.17.
TABLE
D.17
SOURCES OF INCOME FOR RESEARCH AT THE GARVAN INSTITUTE
OF MEDICAL RESEARCH 1980
Sources
Amount
$millon
Percentage
total
Assay Service (assay fees, rent for
facilities)
0.253
38
Grants
NH&MRC Project Grants
Fellowships, Scholarships, contracts
0.194
0.087
29
13
Interest on Investments
Bequests and Donations
Miscellaneous
0.033
0.032
0.075
5
5
11
TOTAL
0.674
125
of
MEDICAL
RESEARCH
CENTRE,
PRINCE HENRY’S
HOSPITAL
D.80
The Medical Research Centre was established~ in the late 1950s as a
result of initiatives
taken by members of the medical staff of Prince Henry’s
Hospital.
Financial support was obtained from the Melbourne business community
and, together with a grant of $54,000 from the Hospital’s Board of Management,
this enabled the first suite of laboratories and offices to be built and equipped in
the main Hospital block during 1963-64. The Victorian State Government provided
a capital grant of $100,000 to the Centre in 1972, enabling further offices,
laboratories and a conference room to be added. During the period 1975-79 the
Centre’s staff and equipment were progressively
moved to a larger laboratory
building adjacent to the Hospital.
D.81
The Medical Research Centre is administered by an Executive Committee which is an advisory sub-committee
of the Prince Henry’s Hospital Board of
The Committee consists of 16 members : three representatives
of
Management.
the Board of Management,
two representatives
of Monash University,
two
representatives
of the Hospital’s senior medical staff, the Director and up to eight
other members from the spheres of business and industry;
the Chairman is elected
The Executive
Committee
meets monthly, and
by the Committee
members.
of
considers matters of policy, particularly
funding. The day-to-day administration
the Centre is the responsibility
of the Director
and Business Manager, with
assistance being provided by the relevant Hospital departments for payment of
salaries, purchasing etc.
D.82
The Medical Research Centre, being a part
is automatically
affiliated
with Monash University,
purposes of postgraduate study. The Centre’s Director
Medicine at the University, and senior staff participate
postgraduate teaching.
of Prince Henry’s Hospital,
and is recognised for the
is an Honorary Professor of
in undergraduate as well as
D.83
The main function of the Centre is to conduct research. In addition, as
well as its teaching responsibilities,
it provides certain diagnostic services including
specialised hormone and steroid receptor assays, and conducts, in collaboration with
the Hospital, an infertility
clinic which includes facilities
for ovulation induction,
semen analysis and artificial
insemination.
Major R&D Programs
D.84
The Centre has three major programs of basic research.
One is
concerned with the mechanisms of action of steroid hormones, with particular
attention to their specificity;
this group is also studying the molecular biology and
physiology of the opiate peptides.
The second program is in the field of
reproductive
endocrinology,
with emphasis on the regulation of gonadal function
and feedback mechanisms from both ovary and testis, and the third is concerned
with the mechanism of action of pituitary
growth hormone, especially
the
characterisation
of growth hormone receptors and the purification
and characterisation of somatomedins.
126
The Centre also undertakes several programs of applied or clinical
D.85
research, many of them directly related to its interests in basic research. For
example, the study of steroid hormones is allied to an investigation of the clinical
significance of steroid hormone receptor assays in cancers of the breast, uterus and
prostate, and the Centre has developed a service in such assays to assist prognosis
Clinical studies in the area of infertility
include a search for
and therapy.
improved diagnostic and therapeutic techniques, ‘assessment of new, orally-active
‘androgens, and the characterisation
of the testicular
response to an injection of
gonadotrophin.
There is also research into the causes of short stature and the
mechanism of growth retardation
in thalassaemia, and a study of dietary aspects
of diabetic control, including the effects of dietary fibre on insulin receptors.
Staff
D.86
The total staff of the Medical Research Centre in 1981 is 71, of whom
16 are part-time.
Of the full-time staff, approximately
60 percent are engaged in
research or clinical services, 30 percent are technical staff and 10 percent are
administrative
staff. It is estimated that the research component of the Centre’s
activities
is equivalent
to approximately
29 full-time
researchers,
including
postgraduate and undergraduate scholars.
of Funds
D.87
The Prince Henry’s Hospital provides the Centre’s accommodation and
also maintenance items such as power, lighting, telephones, and minor repairs;
in
addition it provides assistance with accounting and purchases and pays the salaries
of five staff members, including
four who are members of the Hospital’s
Department of Endocrinology.
Staff engaged in the Centre’s clinical services are
supported through the fees-for-service
collected,
as are a proportion
of the
technical and most administrative
staff.
The remaining staff are supported from
a variety of research grants, including one NH&MRC Program Grant and four
Project Grants.
These sources are shown in Table D.18.
TABLE
SOURCES OF INCOME
D.18
FOR THE MEDICAL
1981 (ESTIMATED)
Source
Research grants NH&MRC (including one program grant)
Primary industry funds
Victorian Anti-Cancer
Council
Other grants
Fees for clinical and assay services
Victorian State Government (grant requested)
Investments and other income
Donations
TOTAL
RESEARCH
Amount
$million
CENTRE,
Percentage
of total
0.466
0.040
0.020
0.011
0.048
0.200
0.100
0.095
0.070
44
4
2
1
5
19
9
9
7
1.050
100
THE ROYAL
NORTH SHORE HOSPITAL,
SYDNEY
D.88
At the Royal North Shore Hospital, medical research is carried out by
the Kolling Institute
of Medical Research and in some 14 other departments.
The
co-ordination
of this research effort is the responsibility
of the Medical Research
Council of the Hospital.
The Council is appointed annually by the Board ,of the
Hospital,
and comprises eight members associated with the Hospital,
two
executive officers to act as treasurer and secretary,
and up to six further
members who need not be closely associated with the Hospital.
The functions of
the Council are to review all research within the Hospital and make recommendations to the Board on expenditures
for research and equipment, to approve
appointment of research staff and allocation of laboratory space, and to explore
avenues for raising funds for medical research.
Research within the departments and professorial and special units of
D.89
the Hospital covers a wide range of fields including general medicine, surgery, and
obstetrics and gynaecology, details of which can be obtained from the biennial
reports of research within the Hospital.
Much of the work of these departments and units is applied clinical
D.90
It is funded primarily through grants from the NHdtMRC, foundations
research.
and non-government
research funds, and from donations by industry and individuals. Total expenditure on research and development within the Hospital during
1980, excluding university
departments and the Kolling Institute,
was $0.684million.
KOLLING INSTITUTE
PITAL, SYDNEY
OF MEDICAL
RESEARCH,
ROYAL
NORTH SHORE HOS-
D.91
The Kolling Institute has no formal constitution
as a medical research
institute, but functions as a department of the Royal North Shore Hospital.
The
Institute’s Director is responsible to the Hospital Board in administrative
matters,
and to the Hospital’s Medical Research Council in research and scientific matters.
The appointment of the first full-time
Director in 1974 was accompanied by a
reorganisation
of the Institute
so that instead of being multidisciplinary,
its
research and service activities
had a central theme of immunology and related
branches of medical science. The Institute
has established
close links and
collaborative
research projects with several other departments of the Hospital,
including Rheumatology, Oncology, Renal Medicine, the Respiratory Investigation
Unit and the University
Departments
of Medicine
and of Obstetrics
and
Gynaecology.
D.92
The Kolling Institute provides a service in clinical immunology to the
Royal North Shore Hospital and to the Northern Health Region of Sydney; this
involves consultations,
patient care and laboratory services. It also undertakes
several programs of applied and clinical research, for example, on the immunotherapy of cancers in humans.
D.93
Basic research at the Institute
is centred on cellular and cancer
immunology and immunochemistry.
The topics investigated include cell-mediated
immunity
involving
macrophages, the interactions
of macrophages and cancer
cells, the pathogenesis of autoimmunity,
and the potential
for immunological
control of the tropical disease filariasis.
128
Staff
The total staff of the Kolling
D.94
research staff and 16 research assistants
primary involvement is with the clinical
Institute in 1981 ‘was 26, comprising 10
and support staff (including five whose
immunology service).
of Funds
D-95
The Institute receives an annual grant from the Health Commission of
New South Wales, together with general funds for the clinical immunology service
and for positions from the Hospital’s pool of laboratory posts. The’ Institute’s
Director is the holder’ of ‘an NH&MRC Program Grant, and other grants are
obtained from Australian ,‘&nd overseas sources.
A record of the Institute’s
expenditure for the years 1975-1980 is provided in Table D.19, and a summary of
the sources of @ome for 1981 in Table D.20.
TABLE
D.19
EXPENDITURE BY THE KOLLING INSTITUTE
MEDICAL RESEARCH, 1975-1980
OF
Expenditure
$million
.’
0.127
,0.176
Year
1975
1976
1977
1978,
‘1979
1980
,0.244
0.240
6.279
0.312
TABLE
D.20
SOURCES OF ,INC~ME FOR THE KILLING (INSTITUTE
MEDICAL RESEARCH,, 1981ta’
Amount
$million
Source
Fees for assay services’
NH&MRC Program Grant
US National Cancer Institute
NSW State Cancer Council
Other Grants
TOTAL
Percent
total
0.13O
0.153
O.O62
rO.032
0.007
34
40
16
8
2
0.384
100
OF
of
(a) This Table does not include funds for the Institute’s clinical immunology
. service nor for positions drawn from the Royal North Shore Hospital.
129
THE CANCER
INSTITUTE,
PETER MacCALLUM
HOSPITAL
D.96
The establishment of the Cancer Institute by an Act of the Victorian
Parliament in 1948 followed on from the formation of the Anti-Cancer
Council of
Victoria as a statutory body in 1936. From its inception, the Anti-Cancer Council,
under the guidance of the Chairman of its Executive Committee, Professor Sir
Peter MacCallum, pressed for a specialist centre devoted to cancer treatment and
research.
D.97
The charter of the Cancer Institute Board, as set out in the Act, was
for the establishment and management of a Cancer Institute for the purposes of
research into and treatment
of cancer and allied conditions,
and for other
purposes. The Board accepted three major responsibilities:
treatment of patients;
education of medical, paramedical
and scientific
personnel; and clinical
and
laboratory research. The treatment section of the Institute was named the Peter
MacCallum Hospital, and there are peripheral clinics in Victoria and Tasmania.
D.98
The membership of the Cancer Institute Board is limited to 14, one of
whom is selected by the University of Melbourne and two by the Government of
Tasmania;
no more than three of the Victorian
members may be medical
practitioners.
The Board’s Research Committee advises on research planning and
The Chairman of the Laboratory
Research Division
the allocation
of funds.
(currently the Head of the Biological Research Unit) is responsible for the dayto-day operation of the laboratory
research activities,
while the Director of
In addition, all research
Medical Services is responsible for clinical research.
involving patients requires the approval of the Board’s Ethics Review Committee.
D.99
The Cancer Institute
is now a comprehensive
centre for oncology
comprising four divisions:
medical; nursing; laboratory research; and administrative. It has established formal links with the University of Melbourne and with
Monash University,
and the Peter MacCallum Hospital is a teaching hospital
affiliated
with both. In addition to providing training for M.Sc and Ph.D degrees,
the Institute also offers postgraduate training for nurses and clinical training for
therapy radiographers.
Major R&D Programs
D.lOO
The Cancer Institute
is participating
in several Australia-wide
and
international
clinical
trials
related
to chemotherapy
of different
cancers.
However, its major research effort is undertaken in the Laboratory
Research
Division, which has four units:
Biological
Research;
Haematology
Research;
The Physical
Experimental
Chemotherapy;
and Immunogenetics
Research.
Sciences Unit of the Medical Division, and the Computer and Bio-statistical
Unit
of the Administrative
Division, are also actively engaged in research.
D.lO1
The Biological
Research Unit is investigating
the mechanisms controlling growth and differentiation
of normal and malignant stem cells, the effects
of x rays on mammalian cell chromosomes, and the effect of electron emitters on
nucleic acids.
The Haematology
Research Unit is examining disturbances of
nucleic acid metabolism and of membrance structure
in lymphoma cells, the
action of drugs used in treatment
of leukaemia,
and improved methods of
In the Experimental
preserving human blood cells and testing their function.
Chemotherapy Unit the research is concerned with the action of chemical agents
130
on human tumour cells and nucleic acid, and work in the Immunogenetics Research
Unit includes the study of retroviral-like
particles in human tumours, examination
of culture
requirements
and specific
markers of breast cancer cells, and
development of serological markers using monoClona1 antibodies for the classification of human leukaemias and lymphomas.
In the Physical Sciences Unit the main areas of research and
D.102
development
are in improving techniques for radiotherapy
dosimetry,
and in
Staff of the Computer and Bioexamining the tumour affinity
of Gallium-67.
Statistics Unit are developing a computer-based Patient Information
Management
System.
Staff
The total staff of the Cancer Institute
D.103
344 scientific
and technical staff, 64 medical
nursing staff, and 491 administrative
and support
to estimate the number of staff engaged wholly
in 1979-80 was 1,147, comprising
staff (effective
full-time),
248
staff.
It has not been possible
or partly on research.
of Funds
of the Cancer Institute
for 1979-80 was
D.104
$19.6million, of which approximately
$l.Omillion, equivalent to five per cent, was
It has not been ,possible to identify separately the
directed to research activities.
sources of the research component.
CHILDREN’S
M,EDICAL
RESEARCH
FOUNDATION,
SYDNEY
D.105
The Children’s Medical Research Foundation was established in 1958 at
the initiative
of the late Sir Lorimer Dods. A committee including prominent
Sydney men and women was organised with a brief to establish a research
foundation to support and conduct research into the disorders of infancy and
An initial public appeal raised the equivalent of $420,000, and a small
childhood.
research facility
was built in the grounds of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for
Children.
The facility
was extended in 1972.
The Foundation is a private organisation,
whose operations are the
D.106
responsibility
of a Management Committee which is a sub-committee of the Board
The work of the Foundation is
of the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children.
supported by income from its capital funds and from grants and donations.
For many years there has been a close relationship
between the
D.107.
Children’s
Medical Research Foundation and the Commonwealth
Government
the, latter functioned as the Department of Child
Institute
of Child Health;
Health of the University of Sydney, and is also situated in the grounds of the
Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children (see paragraph A.18). The links between
the Foundation and the University were strengthened in 1979 with the creation of
the position of Lorimer Dods Professor for the Foundation’s Director.
The present
Director of the Foundation is also Director of .the research facilities
of the
Institute of Child Health and it is likely that the two research groups will merge
into an integrated unit in one building.
131
Major R&D Programs
D.108
The research activities
of the Foundation in earlier years covered a
wide range of subjects including rubella, microsurgical
techniques, cardiovascular
surgery, neonatal physiology, cystic fibrosis, congenital haemolytic anaemia, and
several others. However, in view of the likely amalgamation with the research
laboratories of the Institute of Child Health, the Foundation’s research program
has been reviewed and it is planned that future studies will be consolidated into
three main areas.
One such area will be lymphocyte biology, a continuation of the current
D.109
program at the Institute
of Child Health which is concerned with the use of
lymphocytes to establish parameters of normal cell metabolism, and to develop
assays for a variety of enzymatic activities
which will enable rapid diagnosis of
inherited metabolic diseases. The second program, in developmental biology and
teratology, will be based on current research within the Foundation on the effects
of alcohol and other drugs on the developing mammalian foetus. A new research
program in neurobiology will be initiated. Some promising research projects within
the Foundation, for example, gene marker studies for cystic fibrosis, may also be
In the past, the Foundation has provided grants for research projects
continued.
at the Royal Alexandra Hospital for Children.
Staff
D.l10
The total staff of the Children’s Medical Research Foundation in 1981
was 25, of whom approximately
45 percent were full-time
research staff, 20
percent part-time
research staff, and 35 percent technical and administrative
staff.
Some vacant staff positions are not being filled until a coordinated
research plan is effected.
of Funds
D.lll
Public donations to the Foundation have been used to establish a capital
fund now amounting to approximately
S6million, the interest from which is the
major source of income.
The Foundation also receives grants and donations for
specific purposes. A summary of the Foundation’s income and expenditure for
1980-81 is presented in Table D.21.
132
.
TABLE
INCOME
D.21
AND EXPENDITURE OF THE CHILDREN’S
RESEARCH FOUNDATION 1980-81
Amount
$million
INCOME
- Interest and dividends
Donations and contributions
for specific purposes
NH&MRC grant
Other
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE
- Salaries and
Consumables,
Maintenance
items
Grants made
projects
wages
travel
and capital
The surplus of income over expenditure
positions.
ROYAL
CHILDREN’S
Percentage
of total
0.639
73
0.224
0.015
0.003
25
2
0.881
100
0.441
0.055
67
8
0.057
9
0.104
16
0.657
100
for specific
TOTAL(a)
(a)
MEDICAL
HOSPITAL, RESEARCH
is the result
FOUNDATION,
of unfilled
staff
MELBOURNE
D.112
The Royal Children’s Hospital Research Foundation was established in
1960 under the Companies A&(1958)
to administer and finance research within
It is administered
by a Board of
the Royal Children’s Hospital, Melbourne.
Research comprising four members nominated by the Committee of Management
of the Royal Children’s Hospital, two nominated by the University of Melbourne,
two nominated by the medical staff of the Hospital, two members appointed by
the Board, and the Medical Director of the Hospital.
In 1967, a formal affiliation
between
the Foundation
and the
D.113
University of Melbourne, through the Department of Paediatrics, was finalised,
and
allowing
postgraduate
research students to study in the Foundation,
Foundation staff to be offered formal University titles.
The agreement included
arrangements for the appointment of a Director of the Foundation, who would
hold the‘ title of Royal Children’s Hospital Research Foundation Professor of
Paediatrics.
There have been substantial changes to
D.114
From 1960
of the Foundation since its inception.
directed by a chairman elected from heads of its
worked in the clinical
disciplines
of thoracic
133
the administrative
operation
to 1972, the Foundation was
research units.
These units
medicine,
gastroenterology,
urogenital surgery and haematology.
During 1972 and 1973, the clinical research
units became clinical specialty departments of the Hospital, which continued to
do research, but were no longer administered by the Foundation.
For the period
until 1979, the Foundation comprised only the Growth and Development Unit and
the Genetics Research Unit. In 1980, all research was again brought under the
administration
of the Foundation.
Currently there is one large unit committed
to research, the Genetics Research Unit, and there are research activities
of
varying size attached to a number of specialist clinical Departments and Units
of the Hospital.
Major R&D Programs
D.115
Genetic research, begun on a small scale in the 1960s has built up
to become the major research activity of the Foundation over the last decade.
Inborn errors of metabolism constitute
the central interest, with particular
emphasis upon phenylketonuria
and upon genetic disorders of copper metabolism.
The work aims to identify
the basic biochemical
causes of various genetic
diseases, information
necessary for the development
of precise diagnostic
techniques and for a logical approach to treatment.
It is also valuable in
extending knowledge of normal biochemical and physiological
processes.
D.116
Research into respiratory disorders was the first field developed in
the Hospital before 1960.
Subjects studied included bronchiectasis,
cystic
fibrosis, asthma and acute bronchiolitis.
In recent years, the emphasis has been
upon measurement of lung function and development of measurements applicable
to children.
In gastroenterology,
important discoveries were made in coeliac
disease, in cystic fibrosis and especially in disorders of sugar digestion and
absorption.
In 1973, the most important single cause of infantile gastroenteritis
in the world, the rota virus, was discovered.
Work on this and other intestinal
infections is continuing.
D.117
The Department of Clinical Haematology .and Oncology is contributing to methods of drug therapy of leukaemia and other tumours and is also
working on disorders of coagulation, especially haemophilia.
The Immunology
Department
has studied both patients with very severe defects of immune
mechanisms and children whose susceptibility
to recurrent infections suggest a
less extreme disturbance of immune functions.
This research, and that in
endocrinology, related especially to androgen functions, have developed mainly in
the last five or six years. Research on heritable disorders of connective tissue
has also been a recent development.
Other areas of research have included
diabetes and obesity.
D.118
The work of the Growth and Nutrition
Unit, which commenced in
1973 and terminated in 1980, related to hormonal factors influencing growth at
a cellular and biochemical level, with a particular
interest in differentiating
increase in cell number from increase in cell size and separating increased
synthesis of proteins or nucleic acid from decreased breakdown of these
components. Trace-element nutrition in Aboriginals of the Kimberley region was
also studied.
134
Staff
D.119
The staff of the Research Foundation in 1981
including 20 research scientists, 15 postgraduate students,
research assistants, and three administrative
and technical
do not include the time devoted to research by full-time
and by staff of the Department
of Paediatrics
and
secretarial staff in these departments.
was approximately
50,
13 technical staff and
staff. These numbers
heads of clinical units
the contributions
of
of Funds
The total identifiable
expenditure on research ,by direct payments via
D.120
the Foundation for the past decade is shown in Table D.22. Those payments made
directly from the Hospital in the period 1973-1979 are shown as though paid
through the Foundation.
TABLE
ANNUAL
D.22
EXPENDITURE OF THE ROYAL CHILDREN’S
RESEARCH FOUNDATION,
19’71-1981
Expenditure
$million
Year
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
,, 1980
1981
HOSPITAL
0.306
0.330
0.468
0.537
0.563
0.563
0.736
0.862
0.980
1.019
1.192
”
D.121
The sources of income for the Foundation in 1981 are shown in Table
The principal source is an annual transfer of funds from the. Royal
D.23.
Children’s Hospital amounting to 40 per cent of the net receipts of the Good
Friday Appeal of the Hospital.
Grants for specific research projects
from the
NH&MRC and other research granting organisations constitute
the bulk of the
The ,Foundation’s anticipated
expenditure
for 1981 is
remaining
income.
summarised in Table D.24.
135
TABLE
D.23
SOURCES OF INCOME FOR THE ROYAL CHILDREN’S
MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION,
1981
Source
Royal Children’s Hospital,
Good Friday Appeal
Amount
$million
HOSPITAL
Percentage
of total
from
0.640
54
0.100
8
0.189
16
0.078
7
0.021
2
0.020
2
Other Foundations
0.054
4
Interest
0.090
7
1.192
100
Royal Children’s Hospital
Grant for Equipment
- special
NH&MRC
Leukaemia
and Haemophilia
Anti-Cancer
Felton
Council
Auxiliaries
of Victoria
Bequest
and Donations
TOTAL
TABLE
ESTIMATED
D.24
EXPENDITURE BY THE ROYAL CHILDREN’S
MEDICAL RESEARCH FOUNDATION,
1981
Item
Amount
$million
HOSPITAL
Percentage
of total
Genetics
Research Unit
0.432
36
Hospital
Departments
0.526
44
0.100
8
0.038
3
0.070
6
0.026
2
1.192
100
and Units
Equipment
Animal
laboratories
Administrative
Trainee
and workshop staff
and overhead
costs
fellowships
TOTAL
136
ST VINCENT’S
SCHOOL OF MEDICAL
RESEARCH,
MELBOURNE
St Vincent’s School of Medical Research was founded in 1952 ‘as a
D.122
result of a bequest from the late J. Holt, the income from whose estate was to
be largely devoted to the establishment of a medical research institution
at St
The School began research activities
in 1957,
Vincent’s Hospital in Melbourne.
and has continued as a biomedical
research institute
since that time.
St
Vincent’s Hospital provides space for the School, which at present occupies one
floor of the hospital Pathology Building.
St Vincent’s School of Medical Research was incorporated
as a
D.123
company limited by guarantee under the Victorian Companies Act in 1967, and
has been approved as a recipient of tax deductible donations since March 1968.
The School is governed by a Council of 13 members who include representatives
from the administration
and the senior medical staff of St Vincent’s Hospital and
The Director of Research of the School is
from the University of Melbourne.
a member of the Council.
The School is administratively
and financially
independent of the hospital, although there is close co-operation on a day-to-day
basis. The School is not affiliated
with any university.
Major R&D Programs
Initially,
the major aim of the School’s research was the development
D.124
and application of methods for the determination
of protein structure, and this
led to the development of the ‘protein sequenator’ instrument which enables the
determination
of protein structure to be performed automatically
and with a
high degree of efficiency.
This equipment is now manufactured
by Beckman
Instruments and is used in laboratories around the world.
Since 1974 the work of the School has been concentrated in the field
D.125
of protein chemistry,
and has resulted in a broad range of competence in
with special expertise in determination
of protein
biochemical
disciplines,
structure, x-ray crystallography,
and high-performance
liquid chromatography.
D.126
The two major research programs of the School are an examination
of the role of blood platelets, especially platelet release proteins, in the early
stages of vascular disease, and a study of the structural
and functional
relationships
of polypeptide
hormones.
The latter
program includes an
investigation
of autoimmune processes which impinge on endocrinology, and also
production of supplies of purified human hormones to be used for experimental
purposes. The School also maintains its interest in instrument development, and
is studying automated techniques in protein chemistry which can be applied at
the micro level in tandem with recombinant
nucleic
acid methods for
determination
of macromolecular
structure.
137
Staff
D.127
The staff at St Vincent’s School of Medical Research numbers
between 15 and 20 people, approximately
one-third research scientists,
onethird technical staff, and one-third support staff. There are normally one or two
visiting scientists.
of Funds
D.128
At the outset the School was funded entirely by the Holt bequest.
However this endowment, which averages approximately
$55,000 per annum, is
With an
now sufficient
to fund only the basic administration
of the School.
increase in the size of the School since 1957 and with increasing costs since that
time, the School relies for a major portion of its working income on research
project grants and other bequests. At present it receives income for specific
projects from grants via the NH&MRC and the National Heart Foundation, which
provides salaries for all scientific staff and items of equipment related directly
to the projects. The annual expenditure by the School over the period 1970-1980
is shown in Table D.25, and its sources of income and areas of expenditure in
1980 are summarised in Table D.26.
TABLE
D.25
ANNUAL EXPENDITURE OF ST VINCENT’S SCHOOL OF
MEDICAL RESEARCH RESEARCH. 1970-1980
Year
Amount
$million
1970
1971
1972
1973
1974
1975
1976
1977
1978
1979
1980
0.068
0.084
0.074
0.057
0.061
0.081
0.081
0.156
0.236
0.219
0.307
138
TABLE
INCOME
D.26
AND EXPENDITURE OF ST VINCENT’S
OF MEDICAL ,RESEARCH, 1980
Amount
$million
INCOME
Legacies and bequests
Grants, including NH&MRC
State Government
Interest, dividends
Other
TOTAL
EXPENDITURE
Salaries and wages
Equipment
Consumables
Maintenance
Sundries
TOTAL
MOUNT ROYAL NATIONAL
AND GERIATRIC MEDICINE
RESEARCH
SCHOOL
Percentage
of total
0.123
0.087
0.042
0.028
0.003’
43
31
15
10
1
0.283
100
0.135
0.079
0.037
0.027
0.028
44
26
12
9
9
0.306
100
INSTITUTE
OF GERONTOLOGY
In April 1975., an agreement was signed between the University of
D.129
Melbourne and Mount Royal Hospital to establish a national research institute in
the Hospital for the purpose of gerontological
research and geriatric medicine.
The Hospital agreed to provide facilities
and support to the Institute, and the
University recognised the Institute and the Hospital for the purposes of graduate
research and teaching.
As part of the agreement, the Director of the Institute
has the status of a Professor within the University.
Research operations at the
Institute commenced in June 1977.
139
Major R&D Programs
D.130
One of the Institute’s objectives is to conduct gerontological research
covering social aspects of ageing, physiological
and biological
aspects and
psychological
changes, the aim being improved medical and social care of the
aged. In its four years of existence, the Institute has undertaken a series of
projects relating to this objective.
These can be divided into three distinct
fields of interest:
clinical geriatric
medicine, including some epidemiological
studies;
nutrition;
and social gerontology.
D.131
In clinical
geriatric
medicine, studies have been made on the
prevalence of Paget’s disease, Huntingdon’s
disease and disturbed behaviour
among elderly patients.
Clinical investigations
into the unwanted effects of
drugs, and degenerative
arthritis,
are also currently
underway.
Nutrition
projects recently
completed
have included the effect of admission to an
institution
on the nutritional
status of new patients, and a study on the effect
of zinc supplementation
on serum albumen concentrations
in a group of
hypoalbumenaemic
and hypozincaemic
elderly subjects.
Studies are now
underway into the effect of vitamin C supplementation of diet, and into the food
intake of patients who feed themselves poorly or require feeding, with the goal
of developing a balanced diet which can be fed easily.
In social gerontology,
projects have been completed on retirement
migration and its impact on the
local community, on waiting lists for and patterns of entry to nursing homes, and
on the need for a street visitor scheme for isolated aged people.
Current
projects are concerned with investigations
of social and economic aspects of
retirement,
of the provision and utilisation
of day care in Melbourne, and of
patterns of care in the last year of life starting with an analysis of place of
death.
Staff
D.132
nutritionist
In 1980, there were four professional staff at the Institute,
from Deakin University on sessional appointment.
and a
of Funds
D.133
The Institute is very largely dependent on an annual grant provided
by the Health Commission of Victoria,
with lesser amounts obtained from
teaching activities and from the Mount Royal Hospital.
The sources of income
for 1979-80 are summarised in Table D.27.
140
TABLE
D.27
SOURCES OF INCOME FOR THE MOUNT ROYAL NATIONAL RESEARCH
INSTITUTE OF GERONTOLOGY AND GERIATRIC MEDICINE
1979-80
Amount
$million
Source
Percentage
of total
0.100
71
0.014
10
0.012
9
Research grants
0.008
6
Donations
and dividends
0.006
4
TOTAL
0.140
100
Health
Commission
of Victoria
Mount Royal Hospital
towards salaries
Teaching
- contribution
income
THE QUEEN VICTORIA
RESEARCH
FOUNDATION,
ADELAIDE
D.134
The Queen Victoria Research Foundation was established in March
1972 in Adelaide as an autonomous body with the object of supporting research
into problems of obstetrics, gynaecology and neonatology.
The Foundation is
governed by a Council, members of which are nominated by the State Minister
for Health, the State Treasurer, the University of Adelaide, groups in the Queen
Victoria Hospital and by the relevant medical colleges. There is also a Research
The Foundation is closely associated with the Queen Victoria
Committee.
Hospital which carries out much of the research of the Foundation.
Major R&D Programs
During the first few years of its existence, the Foundation funded a
D.135
limited series of small programs. Some of these consisted of trials carried out
by hospital staff and supported by commercial companies which focussed on
However, in recent years a
various aspects of obstetrics and gynaecology.
Pregnancy Environment Program, originally commenced as a pilot study in 1974,
The aim of the Program is to build up a data
has become the major project.
bank of case histories of pregnancies with the eventual aim of determining the
risks of specific drugs, stimulants and non-therapeutic
chemicals in pregnancy.
Due to financial
restrictions,
data collection
was recently discontinued
and
emphasis is being placed on analysis and publication of the results.
141
Staff
The staff currently working on the Pregnancy Environment Program
D.136
consist of three professionals paid by the South Australian Government and one
Other staff are engaged
part-time
secretary
paid by the Foundation.
temporarily
depending on demand and availability
of funds.
of Funds
The sources of income for the Foundation since it commenced
D.137
60% of income was
operations in I972 are shown in Table D.28. Approximately
derived from private donations with much of the remainder coming from the
South Australian Government and the Queen Victoria Women’s Auxiliary.
In
addition to the direct expenditures
by the Foundation, the Queen Victoria
Hospital has provided, as part of its research program, the salaries of at least
two research workers engaged on Foundation programs.
TABLE
INCOME
D.28
OF THE QUEEN VICTORIA RESEARCH
SINCE 1972
Source
Amount
$million
South Australian State Government
Queen Victoria Hospital Women’s Auxiliary
Lions International
Pharmaceutical
Companies and Industry
Annual Subscriptions and Donations
TOTAL
LUDWIG INSTITUTE
FOR CANCER
FOUNDATION
Percentage
of total
0.025
0.034
0.004
0.005
15
21
2
3
0.096
59
0.164
100
RESEARCH
The Ludwig Institute
for Cancer Research is an international
D.138
organisation
whose purpose is to originate
and conduct long-range research
programs, to be carried out on a continuing basis in conjunction with hospitals
in established medical centres, directed to the ultimate
goal of eradicating
cancer.
It is neither the province nor the intention of the Institute to award
grants for the conduct of research by others, in fact its charter excludes this,
but rather that all research financed by the Institute should be carried out
exclusively by the Institute itself through its own appointed research staff.
142
To achieve its purpose, the Institute has adopted an organisational
D.139
structure that will accommodate its present and future investigations
within four
human cancer biology, which is concerned with how and why a
main fields:
normal cell becomes malignant and grows to form a destructive tumour; human
cancer immunology,
which involves study of the mechanisms by which the
human cancer
emergence and growth of malignant tumours is restrained;
therapy, in which the special properties which make malignant cells vulnerable
to attack are uncovered and used to devise new treatments;
and human cancer
prevention, which will involve examination of factors which pre-dispose the body
to tumours and application of this knowledge to prevent cancer.
The organisation
was founded by Daniel K. Ludwig.
Its basic
D.140
Eight already are in operation, two in
components are the Ludwig Branches.
England, two in Switzerland,
two in Australia,
one in Canada, and one in
Each will constitute
Belgium; others are to be established in the near future.
a strategically
placed research centre functioning
as an arm of the Institute’s
comprehensive strategy against cancer and conducting its research program
within
the framework
of the four fields.
In terms of financing
and
administration,
each Branch operates as an integral part of the Institute.
As
such, the full expense of each Branch’s research work, including the salaries and
other remunerations of the Director and his staff, and the running costs of the
program, are met in full by the Institute.
D.141
In terms of scientific
organisation
and development, each Branch
forms a working partnership between hospital staff and the research team, and
is housed within an established medical centre.
Each is developed within the
academic and societal framework of the country where it is to be established.
Furthermore,
each Branch will have a standing commmittee,
drawn from both
professional and lay sectors of the community,
to assist the Director in the
Branch’s scientific
development and ,in matters of policy.
D.142
The primary planning task of ‘the Institute
is to decide what the
programs of the Branches should be, where each Branch should be situated in
order to carry out its program most effectively,
and who should be chosen to
lead each program. It is the responsibility
of the Scientific Advisory Committee
to search for new opportunities for investigating
human cancer, wherever in the
world these occur, and to find the leading scientists
who, as members of the
Institute’s research staff, will exploit these opportunities to the full by directing
Ludwig Branches.
It is planned that the links that bind the Branches together will
D.143
include every means of communication
that serves to foster the interchange of
these will range from the effective
dissemination of
information
and ideas;
data, to the organisation of staff consultations
and meetings to design joint
The international
character of the Ludwig
research with distant Branches.
Institute for Cancer Research will become increasingly manifest as the number
of Branches grows, and its co-ordinating
functions will become an increasing
responsibility.
143
Sydney Cancer Therapy
Branch
D.144
The Sydney Cancer Therapy Branch of the Ludwig Institute
for
Cancer Research was established in Sydney University
and at Royal Prince
Alfred Hospital and in association with the University of Sydney in 1977. The
University has made available laboratory space for .an initial period of five years
and the Hospital provides 30 beds and Outpatient facilities for the management
of cancer patients referred to the clinical staff of the Branch. The Director and
Associate Director were granted the honorary University titles of Professor and
A.ssociate Professor in a newly formed Department of Cancer Medicine, which
is a component of the Faculty of Medicine, and as such they are responsible for
co-ordinating undergraduate medical education in oncology for medical students
of the University of Sydney.
D.145
From its formation, the clinical staff of the Sydney Branch, together
with staff of the Hospital, have constituted
the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
Department
of Medical Oncology. The Sydney Branch was reviewed by an
independent external Scientific
Review Committee in January 1981.
D.146
The research program of the Sydney Cancer Therapy Branch was
approved by the Sydney Branch Committee of the Ludwig Institute in 1976. The
objectives of the research program may be summarised as:
l
.
to evaluate
cancer chemotherapy
in a variety
of tumour
types;
to establish a laboratory research program investigating
the basis of
selectivity
and mechanisms of action of two classes of anticancer
drugs, the nucleic acid antimetabolites
and antifolates and the nonsteroidal anti-oestrogens.
D.147
The total staff of the Sydney Branch in 1979-1980 was approximately
45, 17 research scientists
(including
clinical
investigators
and postgraduate
students), 20 technical staff and eight support staff.
No financial details are
available from the Institute.
Melbourne
Tumour Biology
Branch
D.148
The Melbourne Tumour Biology Branch of the Ludwig Institute for
‘Cancer Research was established in 1980.
It is affiliated
with the Royal
Melbourne Hospital, the Melbourne University
and the Walter and Eliza Hall
Institute.
The Branch is able to participate
both in the Hospital’s training
programs for medical graduates and the University’s
postgraduate research
program for higher degrees. It has laboratory facilities
in the Clinical Sciences
Building of the University
and at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute.
The
Branch’s research program for the first five years will centre around the
molecular and cellular biology of epithelial
cell growth.
The total staff is
expected to be 30, one half of which will be professional scientists and medical
research personnel, one third technical staff, and one sixth administrative
and
support staff.
All expenditure will be supported by the Ludwig Institute.
144
NATIONAL
VISION RESEARCH
INSTITUTE
OF, AUSTRALIA
The National Vision Research Instit’ute of Australia was established in
D.149
1972 on the initiative
of the Victorian College of Optometry,
an affiliated
It was established because the College
College of the University of Melbourne.
perceived the need for a new resource for research in the visuallsciences
that
could undertake coherent and intensive programs of research on the disorders of
vision.
An appeal to optometrists
throughout Australia and to industry raised
nearly $0.2million which enabled the purchase of. land and the construction
of
the Institute
buildings adjoining the premises of the Victorian
College of
This building came into use in December 1974. Additional space
Optometry.
adjoining the Institute
was leased in 1978 to provide animal housing and an
additional laboratory.
In 1980 this property was purchased to provide security
of tenure and open the possibility of further building development.
D.150
The Institute forms part of the Victorian College of Optometry ,but
is a separate division administered by a Board responsible to the Council of the
College but with broad delegated powers. The Victorian College of Optometry
is registered under the Victorian Companies Act 1961 and is affiliated
to the
University of Melbourne.
It was founded in 1940 originally for the purpose of
providing a four year post-secondary course in optometry, a responsibility
since
assumed by the University
of Melbourne.
The present day functions of the
College are to provide programs of continuing education in optometry, to foster
research and to operate a public clinic.
Under an agreement with the
University,
the College accommodates the department of optometry
of the
University within its premises and provides access to the clinic for teaching and
research purposes.
The National Vision Research Institute has access to the
clinic for research purposes and in addition makes use of the College library,
dark room, electron microscope, lecture and conference rooms, and the technical
facilities
of the College and the Department of Optometry.
D.151
Anyone with an interest in the work of the Institute may become a
member on payment of an annual subscription which is currently
$32.
The
Institute has 454 members, most of whom are optometrists,
and membership is
national in extent.
In addition, corporations may become sustaining members.
Both individual and corporate members are also invited to make donations. The
Board of the Institute comprises seven members elected by the members of the
Institute, one member appointed by the Australian Optometrical
Association, a
member appointed by the Council of the University of Melbourne, a member
appointed by the Optical Distributors’
and Manufacturers’
Association, and two
members appointed by the Governors of certain districts of Lions International.
The President, Director .and Secretary of the College and the Director of the
Institute are ex-officio members of the Board, which usually meets twice yearly.
Being part of the College, the Institute is automatically
affiliated
to
D.152
the University and is an approved laboratory for candidates proceeding to the
degrees of Master of Science, Master of Science in Optometry and Doctor of
Philosophy.
The research staff of the Institute are associates of the University.
The College and Institute are negotiating with the University to provide a more
formal liaison between ,the Institute and the University.
An agreement has been
drafted which provides inter alia for the Director of the Institute to be eligible
for appointment as a professorial associate in the University with the right to
use the title of professor.
145
Major R&D Programs
D.153
The initial research of the Institute concerned the visual capabilities
of patients with reduced vision due to senile macular degeneration.
This project
was supported by the NH&MRC and developed useful new strategies for the
assessment of the visual capability of people with low-vision which have been
widely adopted in low-vision clinics throughout the world. The second program
of work, also supported by the NH&MRC, was an investigation
of spatial
processing mechanisms of the human visual system. This work was extended to
make some far reaching studies of amblyopia, one of the common developmental
disorders of vision. More recently an integrated program of neurophysiological
and psychological investigations of the post-natal development of vision has been
initiated.
D.154
The current
major focus of the Institute
is in the area of
developmental disorders of vision. The Institute has established a program which
integrates
basic research on developing animals with clinical
research on
children suffering from amblyopia, a common and troublesome disorder of visual
A number of animal
development resulting in partial blindness of one eye.
models of this disorder have been established to allow fundamental investigation
with the microelectrode
and microscope.
In addition to research on cornea1
plasticity, projects are being carried out on the dioptrics of the eye, the correal
endothelium, and the retinal ganglion cell in one form of amblyopia in cats.
Staff
The Institute had 18 staff positions in 1981, including three visiting
D.155
There were the equivalent
of 7.5 permanent,
full-time
research fellows.
research positions, five technical or research staff and two administrative
and
support staff.
of Funds
D.156
The main sources of income for the Institute
are membership
subscriptions and donations, NH&MRC project grants, and State Government
grants. The Institute’s
income in 1978 was $O.lmillion,
and in 1980 was
$0.298million.
The sources of income and estimated amounts for 1981 are
summarised in Table D.29.
146
TABLE
SOURCES OF INCOME
D.29
FOR THE N,ATIONAL VISION RESEARCH
OF AUSTRALIA,
1981
Amount
$million
Source
NH&MRC grants
Membership subscriptions
Endowment income
State Government grant
Other
and donations
TGTAL
INSTITUTE
-,
Percentage
of total
0.164
0.041
0.054
.0.025
0,009
56,
14
18
9
3
0.293
100
,.
OF DRUG TECHNOLOGY
INSTITUTE
,’
D.157
The Institute of Drug Technology was originally proposed in 1965 and
eventually established as a company limited by guarantee under the Companies
Act in October 1975. The Institute was established as a contract research
company in order to assist the pharmaceutical
and related industries and to
While the Institute
is an autonomous
provide a service to the community.
company employing its own full-time
staff, it .is located on the campus of the
Victorian College of Pharmacy and utilises the expertise of the staff of the
college.
Major R&D programs
D.158
As it is a contract research company, most of the Institute’s research
Research includes the development
and development is undertaken for clients.
and testing of both new pharmaceutical
products and reformulations,
together
with programs involving the synthesis and preliminary screening of new chemical
entities.
In addition, the Institute undertakes drug testing of both humans and
animals. This work involves continual development of techniques for extraction,
detection and identification
of drugs in biological fluids.
The Institute is also
committed
to long-term research and development
in the areas of product
mixing and homogeneity.
Staff
D.159
The total staff of the Institute is eight, but is supplemented by a
College of Pharmacy and
large number of consultants
from the Victorian
elsewhere.
147
of Funds
D-160
The Institute
has no shareholders and no capital.
All funds are
obtained through contracting
of research.
Any surplus made is reinvested in
research or donated to the Victorian College of Pharmacy to fund research at
that institution.
NEW SOUTH WALES INSTITUTE
OF PSYCHIATRY
D.161
The New South Wales Institute of Psychiatry was established in 1964
by an Act of the State Parliament.
It is situated adjacent to Rozelle Hospital
and has no formal university affiliations.
It does not undertake research itself,
but in fulfilling
its role of training postgraduates, medical practitioners
and
others in psychiatry,
it provides Fellowships for research and training.
The
Research Fellowships are awarded for one, two or three years and the grante,es
generally undertake studies for the MD or PhD degree; the Institute does not
determine the type of research undertaken, nor does it provide supervision.
D.162
The annual income of the Institute is approximately
$0,46Omillion, of
which nearly 70 percent is provided by the NSW State Government.
This is used
to provide for the five staff of the Institute, its Fellowships, and the training
courses which it organises from time to time.
148

Medical Research in Australia - Part 2

Transcription

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