The Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research is a

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 ...

centre based in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, Western Australia. It has facilities at the

Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre The Queen Elizabeth II Medical Centre (QEIIMC), commonly known as just QEII, is a medical campus in Perth, Western Australia, situated in the suburb of Nedlands directly adjacent to Kings Park. It contains Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital, the P ...

in Nedlands and

Fiona Stanley Hospital Fiona Stanley Hospital (FSH) is a state government hospital and teaching facility in Murdoch, Western Australia. Completed in December 2013, the hospital is the largest building project ever undertaken for the Government of Western Australia. ...

Murdoch Murdoch ( , ) is an Irish/Scottish given name, as well as a surname. The name is derived from old Gaelic words ''mur'', meaning "sea" and ''murchadh'', meaning "sea warrior". The following is a list of notable people or entities with the name. ...

. The institute was established in 1998 as the Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR), and was renamed in 2013 in honour of Harry Perkins, its founding chairman.

History

The Western Australian Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) was established in 1998 as a collaboration between the

University of Western Australia The University of Western Australia (UWA) is a public research university in the Australian state of Western Australia. The university's main campus is in Perth, the state capital, with a secondary campus in Albany, Western Australia, Albany an ...

(UWA),

Royal Perth Hospital Royal Perth Hospital (RPH) is a 450-bed adult and teaching hospital located on the northeastern edge of the central business district of Perth, Western Australia. History The hospital traces its history back to the first colonial hospital, whi ...

, and

Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital (SCGH) is a teaching hospital in Nedlands, Western Australia. Opened in 1958 as the Perth Chest Hospital and later named in honour of Sir Charles Gairdner, governor of Western Australia from 1951 to 1963, it is pa ...

Fremantle Hospital Fremantle Hospital is an Australian public hospital situated on South Terrace in central Fremantle, southwest of Perth, Western Australia. It was formerly the major hospital in its region; however, with the opening of Fiona Stanley Hospi ...

became a partner in 2003. The institute was an initiative of two UWA professors,

Peter Klinken Svend Peter Klinken (born 30 July 1953 in Singapore) is an Australian medical researcher and academic. He is currently the Chief Scientist of Western Australia. He was appointed a Companion of the Order of Australia (AC) in the June 2017 Queen ...

and Peter Leedman, with Klinken becoming its first director. Harry Perkins, the chairman of

Wesfarmers Wesfarmers Limited is an Australian conglomerate, headquartered in Perth, Western Australia. It has interests predominantly in Australia and New Zealand, operating in retail, chemical, fertiliser, industrial and safety products. With revenue o ...

, played a key role in its establishment and was appointed as the institute's first chairman, a position he held until his death in 2002. Wesfarmers provided an initial donation of $5 million, and has been the institute's major sponsor ever since. In October 2013, WAIMR changed its name to honour Perkins' legacy.

Facilities

The institute was originally housed in existing space at the

. In March 2014, the institute moved into a new purpose-built 10-storey building at on the same site, which cost $122 million and was funded by the state and federal governments and private-sector contributions. The new building (known as Perkins North) has a capacity of 750 researchers. In late 2014, a second facility (known as Perkins South) was opened at on the new

site, a six-storey building costing $63.5 million. It will accommodate up to 400 researchers.

References

External links

* {{Coord, -31.968115, 115.813933, display=title Medical research institutes in Western Australia University of Western Australia 1998 establishments in Australia Research institutes established in 1998