Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to take this opportunity to express my admiration for the work that is being done in one of Sydney’s best kept secrets, the Westmead Millennium Institute. Like many residents of Sydney I have often been to Westmead Hospital to visit friends receiving treatment from the dedicated staff of the hospital. On my visits to the hospital I have always been focused on the car park to the right of the main entrance and I have never noticed that to the left of the main entrance is the headquarters of the millennium institute. I do not think many people would give it a second glance, and yet within that building hugely talented and committed researchers and staff are working to improve the health of not only Western Sydney but also the nation.

In many areas of medical research, the institute is a world leader. The breadth and depth of medical research being conducted by the institute is amazing. We hear much about the need to improve the productivity of the nation. One of the key drivers of productivity is to ensure that we build the skills of the nation and, if we build the skills of the nation, then we need to make sure that the population is healthy, fit and well to carry out their work. Without the type of research work being done at the millennium institute many Australians who are making significant contributions to the productive performance of this nation would be unable to participate in the workforce due to ill-health.

The Westmead Millennium Institute is firmly ranked in Australia’s top 10 medical research institutes. It is performing world leading research by world leading researchers. The director of the institute, Professor Tony Cunningham, received an Order of Australia in this year’s Australia Day honours. He received his honour for his contribution to medical research in Australia and his groundbreaking work on viruses. I would like to congratulate Professor Cunningham on his award and I know that he believes the award is not simply recognition for himself but recognition of his highly-skilled team at the institute.

Professor Cunningham is rightly proud of the Millennium Institute and of his colleagues. Much of the work of the institute is directly linked to the critical health areas of diabetes, cancer, leukaemia and mental health. It was a privilege for me to meet Professor Cunningham and his researchers. My tour of the institute’s facilities began with an introduction to the researchers who lead the world in melanoma research and who discovered the first melanoma gene. Their work now includes genetic counselling for families who may have a predisposition to carry the gene that puts them at higher risk of melanoma. The researchers, Graham Mann and Helen Rizos, talked to me about their goals and ambitions, including their pursuit of a cure for melanoma.

The Millennium Institute has also led the world in its search for a cure for diabetes. The institute is home to a number of national centres, including the national pancreas transplant centre. Pancreatic islet cell transplantation is the only known cure for type 1 diabetes. Institute researchers have been focused on developing and improving islet cell transplantation techniques to enable type 1 diabetes patients to produce insulin for themselves.

Their research into different viruses, like SARS and other flues, chickenpox virus, shingles and HIV, has led to the development of vaccines, diagnostics and new approaches to therapies. The institute has until recently been home to five National Health and Medical Research Council centres for clinical research excellence. Work was undertaken in conditions like anxiety, renal medicine and chronic liver disease. The institute has invested heavily in technology needed to keep it at the top.

I spoke to a young doctor, Eddie Kinzana, a cardiologist who had just come from seeing his patients. He explained the high-tech equipment he was using and the molecular and gene therapy research work he is doing to find a solution to cardiac conditions that can result in sudden death. I was able to see a cell known as a dendritic cell, which was infected with the virus. The technology allows you to track this cell as it moves around searching for a cell to attack.

The Millennium Institute is also working in the area of mental health. Their brain researchers are currently working on several vital projects including depression and ADHD. That is the first time that Senator Bernardi has not interjected on me when people were talking about brains! They are the managers on a groundbreaking trial called ‘I spot’. The aim is to identify brain markers for depression so that treatment can be tailored to individual patients.

What is impressive and perhaps unique about the institute is that all of its scientific leaders conduct clinical research. Their research has always been entrenched in the motto ‘Bench to bedside’. This approach has allowed greater translation of research findings and discovery into the development of new prevention strategies, diagnostics and treatments that are more effective.

Part of my tour included a short time in the Cancer Day Care Centre, which is located in the body of Westmead Hospital. A clinical trials research unit is based in the centre. I met a pathologist, Ms Rosemary Balleine, who is a specialist in translational oncology. She is one of the leaders in this field in Australia. She works in a small, windowless room where she can see the patients receiving their chemotherapy. She said she wanted to be kept grounded and in touch with what she was actually trying to achieve—that is, finding a cure for breast and ovarian cancer.

The researchers are immensely talented and committed people. They are making contributions to the future health of this nation. They are also an integral part of Western Sydney and make a huge contribution to the economic development and health of Western Sydney. The institute is also part of the Westmead Research Hub. This is a hub which consists of 850 researchers coming from the Westmead adult and children’s hospitals, with others coming from the Nepean and Blacktown hospitals. Many of the researchers at the Millennium Institute are also professors and senior lecturers who are linked to the Westmead Clinical School of the University of Sydney. They also provide educational expertise to medical, dental science, nursing and postgraduate students. When we put these two elements together, we have a huge resource for teaching and research for Western Sydney.

The scale of the work and the growth and success of the institute has meant that they have quite literally run out of space for research and teaching. There is a need to build a new facility that will bring together 450 scientists and allow greater collaboration and sharing of expensive equipment among its researchers and nearby hub partners. The lack of space is an issue that I will raise with Minister Roxon and my fellow Western Sydney parliamentarians. The researchers deserve appropriate facilities and, given the government’s commitment to health, we should ensure that the research facilities that drive the effectiveness of health delivery throughout the nation can operate efficiently and effectively.

While I was in the Cancer Day Care Centre one of the patients recognized me and gave me a wave. I went over to see him and asked him how he was going. He indicated to me that his prognosis was not good as he had lung cancer but that he was in the best possible place. He said he was receiving great care and everything possible was being done to assist him. He said there was no cure for him but he was sure that one day the researchers of the Millennium Institute would find a cure for others. This demonstrates the importance of the work of the Westmead Millennium Institute and the comfort, care and hope that it brings to individuals and families facing life-threatening disease.