The John Curtin School of Medical Research (JCSMR) is an Australian multidisciplinary

translational Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. The English language draws a terminological distinction (which does not exist in every language) between ''transla ...

medical research Medical research (or biomedical research), also known as experimental medicine, encompasses a wide array of research, extending from "basic research" (also called ''bench science'' or ''bench research''), – involving fundamental scientif ...

institute and

postgraduate education Postgraduate or graduate education refers to Academic degree, academic or professional degrees, certificates, diplomas, or other qualifications pursued by higher education, post-secondary students who have earned an Undergraduate education, un ...

centre that forms part of the Australian National University (ANU) in

Canberra Canberra ( ) is the capital city of Australia. Founded following the federation of the colonies of Australia as the seat of government for the new nation, it is Australia's largest inland city and the eighth-largest city overall. The ci ...

. The school was founded in 1948 as a result of the vision of

Nobel Laureate The Nobel Prizes ( sv, Nobelpriset, no, Nobelprisen) are awarded annually by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, the Swedish Academy, the Karolinska Institutet, and the Norwegian Nobel Committee to individuals and organizations who make out ...

Sir

Howard Florey Howard Walter Florey, Baron Florey (24 September 189821 February 1968) was an Australian pharmacologist and pathologist who shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1945 with Sir Ernst Chain and Sir Alexander Fleming for his role in ...

and was named in honour of Australia's World War II Prime Minister John Curtin, who had died in office a few years earlier. In addition to Florey, Sir John Eccles (1963), Peter Doherty and

Rolf M. Zinkernagel Rolf Martin Zinkernagel (born 6 January 1944) is Professor of Experimental Immunology at the University of Zurich. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1996 for the discovery of how the immune system recognizes virus-infe ...

(1996), were Nobel Laureates as a result of research conducted at the JCSMR. Other notable researchers include

Gordon Ada Gordon Leslie Ada AO, FAA (6 December 1922 – 25 September 2012) was an Australian biochemist best known for his seminal contributions to virology and immunology and his long leadership of the Department of Microbiology at the John Curtin ...

, Frank Fenner , Sir Hugh Ennor ,

David Roderick Curtis David Roderick Curtis AC MB BS PhD FRACP FAA FRS (3 June 1927 – 11 December 2017) was an Australian pharmacologist and neurobiologist. Born in Melbourne, he was Professor of Pharmacology, Australian National University 1966-1988 and Direct ...

and Chris Goodnow . The Director of the School is Professor Graham Mann. The JCSMR comprises three divisions: the Division of Immunity, Inflammation and Infection, the Division of Genome Sciences and Cancer, and the Eccles Institute of Neuroscience.

Research focus

Doherty's research discovered the way T cells interact with the Major Histocompatibility Complex in antigen recognition. Eccles was the Foundation Professor of Physiology at JCSMR when he received the Nobel Prize in 1963 for his study of nerve cells. Since 2012, the Eccles Institute of Neuroscience has been located in a new 60 million wing of JCSMR. The main research areas of the Eccles Institute of Neuroscience are cellular and synaptic physiology, sensory physiology and retina and muscle. Research in the Genome Sciences and Cancer Division combines advanced experimental and computational approaches with sophisticated genetic models to connect genotype with phenotype, understand mechanisms of cell differentiation, development or pathology, and generate novel therapies for cancer and other disease. The Division of Immunity, Inflammation and Infection focuses on mechanisms of immune-mediated pathology, mechanisms of immunity to infection, the longevity of immunity and immunological memory, and immunodeficiency syndromes, and mechanisms of leukocyte differentiation, trafficking, and growth control that are pertinent to cancer, immunological tolerance, autoimmunity, allergy and immunodeficiency.

JCSMR facilities

Completed as three buildings in stages over seven years by Hindmarsh Construction Australia at a cost of 130 million, the design of the building is influenced by the DNA double helix and provides education, conference, and secure research laboratory facilities. Parts of the School were filmed during the making of the drama series, '' The Code'', broadcast on ABC TV during 2014 and 2016. On 28 August 2006, the new ACRF Biomolecular Resource Facility was officially opened within the JCSMR, a new facility focusing on investigating the molecular aspects of cancer biology. The facility was partially supported by a 1.13 million grant awarded in 2004 by the

Australian Cancer Research Foundation The Australian Cancer Research Foundation (ACRF) is an Australian not-for-profit organisation which funds research into the prevention, diagnosis and treatment of all types of cancer. It provides multimillion-dollar grants for high-end research equ ...

. Major action star Jackie Chan made donations to the School, with the Director in 2006 announcing the Jackie Chan Science Centre was named in his honour; and was opened by Chan in 2008.

References

External links

John Curtin School of Medical Research
{{Authority control Australian National University Medical research institutes in the Australian Capital Territory 1948 establishments in Australia Research institutes established in 1948

Research focus

JCSMR facilities

See also

References

Further reading

External links