A new agreement between ACT Health, the Australian National University (ANU) and Victoria’s Peter McCallum Cancer Institute (Peter Mac) will create a new research centre in the ACT for the benefit of cancer patients and researchers all around the world.
Signed by the Minister for Medical and Health Research, Meegan Fitzharris, Acting Vice Chancellor of the ANU Professor Mike Calford and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre’s Maxine Morand (pictured), the new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) will establish a new laboratory at the ANU in conjunction with ACT Health’s Canberra Region Cancer Centre.
Ms Fitzharris said the new laboratory would be aimed at attracting the nation’s brightest minds to share their research.
“We are incredibly lucky here in the ACT to have some of the best health and medical researchers working in our world-class universities and our hospitals,” Ms Fitzharris said.
“It makes sense to bring them together to focus on cancer research.”
She said the MoU would create Clinical Cancer Fellowships; would help develop diagnostic cancer genomics; and establish clinical trials for the benefit of patients and generations of people to come.
“By creating this impressive opportunity in Canberra, the ACT is well-positioned to attract clinical researchers to our world-class research Centre and lead innovative clinical trials and research,” Ms Fitzharris said.
She said cancer was one of the major causes of illness in Australia.
“According to the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare, in 2017 it was anticipated that more than 47,000 people in Australia would die from cancer,” she said.
“That’s an average of 131 deaths each day.”
She said the new partnership would drive new outcomes in cancer research.
