Creating a healthy future for us all

Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)

I doubt anyone would dispute that support for health and medical research is absolutely fundamental to building and sustaining a healthier society.

When the Federal Minister for Mental Health and Ageing, Mark Butler, announced the 2012 National Health and Medical Research Council grants last month it was a timely reminder of the value and impact of university-based medical research.

The University of Adelaide received a record-breaking $44.8 million in funding for more than 60 projects, winning the most funding in Australia relative to size, and the sixth most in absolute terms. This wonderful result is a very significant increase on the amount awarded for 2011 and reflects the prestige of the researchers and the University's strong commitment to building capacity across health sciences and sciences.

The grants awarded will help advance the careers of many of the University's researchers and, more importantly, trigger new medical discoveries and deliver tremendous health benefits for our community.

Especially pleasing was the success of our key research partners, based in our neighbourhood - SA Pathology, the Royal Adelaide Hospital, the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, the Women's and Children's Hospital, the Lyell McEwin Hospital, and the Women's and Children's Health Research Institute. Collaborative research allows us to reach for new frontiers and harness expertise from an even greater pool of talent.

The University has a long and distinguished history in research with the likes of Florey and the Braggs having transformed our world through their remarkable discoveries.

But only recently did I become aware of another good story in the annals of the University's research.

Thorburn Brailsford Robertson gained a degree in physiology at the University in 1905 (and almost turned to physics on being taught here by William Bragg). After stints at University of California, Berkeley and Toronto as a professor, he returned to Adelaide to take up a Chair and worked in the areas of physiology, biochemistry, and pharmacology.

One of his many impressive achievements was that he established and improved a method for producing insulin in bulk very shortly after its discovery at Toronto. Remarkably, the Royal Adelaide Hospital was using his supply of insulin on diabetics in 1923 - just one year after the published discovery.

Tragically, Thorburn Brailsford Robertson died at 45, in 1930; he apparently succumbed to influenza. Overwork and asthma were thought to be contributors.

So affectionately was he regarded that a stained glass window tribute was created in his honour. I decided to track down this window, and it turns out that it is a mere six metres from my office next to the inner staircase in the Mitchell Building! Superb it is too.

This is only one of many stories that exemplify the collaboration, high-quality basic research and translation that we value so highly as a University and as a community.

PROFESSOR MIKE BROOKS
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research)