Health and medical research in South Australia

Health and medical research encompasses all of the types of research relevant to the understanding or betterment of human health. Everyday the public benefits from innovations derived through research whether it be discovering new ways to prevent disease such as a new vaccine, discovering new drugs to treat illness, or to tell us about patterns of disease and illness to improve the health of populations.

South Australia has a long history of excellence in health and medical research and has fostered world class scientists. The most famous of these being Sir Howard Walter Florey who received a Nobel Prize for his work on penicillin. His ethos continues in South Australia through close relationships between the universities, the teaching hospitals, practitioners and research scientists. Outstanding breakthroughs and achievements have also included the following:

• Honourable Dr Basil Hetzel, AC, pioneering work leading to the prevention of thyroid disease and mental retardation that is associated with iodine deficiency in developing countries.
• Professor John Hopwood and his team at the Women’s and Children’s Hospital who worked on the diagnosis and treatment of lysosomal storage disorders which are the cause of profound mental retardation.
• The National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) named South Australian projects among the top 10 health and medical research projects nation-wide in 2008 and 2009.
• The presence of high profile researchers of international standing on the social determinants of health and the long term partnerships they have adopted to inform South Australian government policy.

This website provides useful information for researchers, such as research ethics, research evidence into policy and details on current research achievements. Members of the general public can also access information about research including details of research projects and how to be involved in research.