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GARVAN INSTITUTE OF MEDICAL RESEARCH - May 2025
The tour of this Institute by 15 Members on the 26th May could not have proceeded without the obligatory morning tea stop. We were met by our guide Abbey who proved to be a most interesting and informative leader.
Garvan Institute of Medical Research began its existence as a small research department of St Vincent's Hospital in Darlinghurst, Sydney. The Sisters of Charity of Australia, who founded the hospital in 1857, used funds raised from their Centenary Appeal to establish the Institute which was opened alongside St Vincent’s Hospital in 1963.
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Garvan researchers have made significant breakthroughs for diseases including rare cancers and cancers of the breast, prostate and pancreas, immune deficiency and autoimmunity, COVID-19, diabetes and skeletal disease.
Included in the Institute is The Kinghorn Cancer Centre is a joint facility between St Vincent’s Hospital Sydney and The Garvan Institute of Medical Research and combines scientific and medical expertise to treat cancer patients. It provides medical oncology, haematology, psycho-social, pharmacy, allied health and outpatients clinics as well as a Cancer Genetics Service and Clinical Trials.
Employing around 700 people the Institute undertakes research in many and varied fields and often collaborates with similar organisations the world over.
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Looking down into the atrium
Going “behind the scenes” as it were, we were shown freezers where around 16,000 prostate samples are kept for research purposes. And another highlight was a brief presentation on genome research – the figures were just amazing – the typical adult human body contains something like 54 trillion cells!
After a most interesting morning most of the group adjourned for a light lunch before heading home.
Special thanks to Ron Matthews for organising this most memorable day.
