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Research Branch
The University of Adelaide
SA 5005
AUSTRALIA
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Telephone: +61 8 8303 5137
Facsimile: +61 8 8303 3700

The Robinson Institute

The Robinson Institute brings together a unique blend of clinical, scientific and research leaders with wide-ranging expertise, from epidemiology through to genetics and molecular biology.

Consisting of more than 350 researchers the Institute concentrates on fundamental clinical and scientific discoveries. Our research focuses on the health of women & babies, origins of diseases, reproductive health and stem cell research.

The Robinson Institute bridges the gap between research discoveries and medical practice, with many of the Institute's senior researchers also leading clinicians in their fields. This enables a strong translation of research discoveries which provides immeasurable benefits to society and for future generations.

One of the great strengths of the Robinson Institute is the link it provides between clinicians and researchers from a wide range of disciplines and organisations. Researchers of the Robinson Institute are based at several sites including:

2010 ERA Results

The Federal Government recently released the results of the Excellence in Research for Australia (ERA) exercise. This was an assessment of the quality of research in all subjects in all Australian universities.

The outcome for the Robinson Institute was outstanding - awarded a score of 5, the maximum possible, for the overarching area of Medical and Health Sciences (Biomedical and Clinical Health) as well as a 5 in the discipline area of Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine.

A score of 5 is defined by ERA as indicating the research is well above world standard. The University of Adelaide is the only Australian University awarded a 5 for Paediatrics and Reproductive Medicine.

Exceptionally high scores were also awarded to areas that are the basis of many other Robinson Institute research activities, such as:

  • Oncology and Carcinogenesis
  • Medical Microbiology
  • Medical Physiology
  • Nutrition and Dietetics
  • Immunology
  • Clinical Science
  • Biochemistry and Cell Biology
  • Genetics

These ERA results confirm that the activities of Robinson Institute researchers are of the highest quality, and that their innovative advances are supported close proximity to equally outstanding collaborators.

The Robinson Institute combines the strengths and expertise of four Research Centres

 

Visit the Centre website.

The Research Centre for Reproductive Health, located at the University of Adelaide, Australia, is a world leader in reproductive health research, innovation and discovery.

The Research Centre for Reproductive Health was established in April 2004, arising from the Reproductive Medicine Unit of the University of Adelaide. The RCRH leads Australia and the international community in reproductive biology and reproductive health research, spanning from pre-conception to birth.

The RCRH seeks to make important scientific discoveries and to translate those into practical health and industry outcomes through clinical and commercial interactions. This is achieved by undertaking first-class, cutting edge fundamental and clinical research, and by fostering collaborations between scientists and clinicians in obstetrics, gynaecology, endocrinology and cancer.

RCRH brings together key research program leaders, emerging postdoctoral researchers and talented postgraduate students to assure its continual growth in excellence, depth and profile. It advocates linkages with government, health service providers and industry to maximise impact on reproductive health service and delivery.

RCRH is a leading world centre of excellence because it:

  • Undertakes research across the continuum of gamete development to birth.
  • Has strong clinical ties to enhance research projects and implementation of research findings.
  • Focuses on early career scientists and postgraduate students through career mentoring, multidisciplinary understanding and structured programs.
  • Utilises the latest, first-rate core facilities, equipment and resources within a vibrant work environment.
  • Builds profile and recognition of its research through attracting national and international awards and media coverage.
  • Has industry linkages and success in commercialisation that are encouraged without dominance over quality science.
  • Obtains strong funding support, including a Program Grant and several NHMRC Research Fellowships.
  • Recognizes its history and origins, and celebrates success.

The current basic science and clinical research programs at the RCRH describe the diversity of reproductive research undertaken, and highlight the opportunity for wide-ranging collaborative endeavours:

  • Ovarian and Follicular Function
  • Oocyte and Early Embryo Development
  • Uterine Biology
  • Embryo Implantation and Placental Development
  • Male Reproduction
  • Reproductive Immunology
  • Human and Animal Reproductive Biotechnology
  • Nutrition, Environment and Reproduction
  • Health and Social Outcomes in Reproduction
  • Early Life Programming of Fetal Development and Adult Health
  • Menopause
  • Infectious Diseases of the Reproductive and Gestational Tissues
  • Contraception
  • Cancers of the Reproductive System
  • Mammary Glands

 

Visit the Centre website.

The Research Centre for the Early Origins of Health and Disease (EOHaD) is a leader in the investigation of the intergenerational and perinatal origins of metabolic, cardiovascular, neurological and reproductive health in postnatal life.

The Centre's membership spans disciplines from public health and epidemiology to molecular biology and epigenetics and includes research groups at the University of Adelaide and their collaborators at external organisations in Australia and overseas.

Major activities revolve around defining how the early environment before and after birth affects development and health in childhood and later life, specifically including:

  • the role of maternal nutrition in affecting respiratory health and allergic disease, including asthma in children
  • the impact of prematurity on motor control, cognition and other neurological functions in childhood and older age, and development of novel therapies to rehabilitate impaired motor function after poor early development or in brain injury
  • maternal and fetal treatments with growth promoting peptides, including growth hormone, to improve placental function and fetal growth and survival.

The Research Centre for Early Origins of Health and Disease will maintain a multidisciplinary research approach into the future to ensure our research focuses on the issues most relevant to human health.

The Centre will continue to assist in the translation of research outcomes into guidelines and interventions for early life to promote health.

Research priorities for the centre include:

  • Defining genetic factors that interact with the early life environment to influence metabolic, respiratory, neurological and reproductive health in postnatal life, particularly as we age
  • Identifying epigenetic pathways in early life programming of later metabolic and neurological health
  • Demonstrating early life programming of risk of cancer, including prostate cancer, and the underlying pathways

The Research Centre for Early Origins of Health and Disease is also looking to expand on core facilities to include non-invasive body composition analysis of infants and adults and cutting edge MRI facilities.

 

Visit the Centre website.

The Centre for Stem Cell Research offers opportunities for both staff and students to undertake world class research in the area of stem cells.

The University of Adelaide’s Centre for Stem Cell Research is a collaborative initiative comprising 19 research groups located in the University of Adelaide Faculties of Sciences and Health Sciences, the Hanson Institute, the Women’s and Children’s Hospital, SA Pathology (Institute of Medical and Veterinary Sciences), the Queen Elizabeth Hospital and the Royal Adelaide Hospital.

The members of the Centre for Stem Cell Research undertake internationally recognised and awarded research in bone marrow, neural, periodontal, ovarian and cord blood stem cells and their potential applications in stroke repair, cardiac repair, tissue repair (dental, muscle, cartilage), cystic fibrosis, Lysosomal storage and other inherited disorders, transplantation medicine, developmental biology, immune diseases and leukaemia.

The focus of the centre is on translating basic research into clinical and commercial outcomes via collaboration of its members, and with external partners.

The Centre for Stem Cell Research aims to:

  • Undertake world class research in stem cell research
  • Foster collaborative research in stem cell research within as well as outside the Centre
  • Establish and maintain local, national and international collaborative links
  • Provide world class higher degree and research training opportunities
  • Build public awareness, involvement and the profile of stem cell research in South Australia
  • Attract funds from the public and private sectors to help support and expand the Centre's research programs
  • Provide opportunities for the professional development of staff, particularly new and early career researchers
  • Undertake research and consultance activities on behalf of industry, Government, the community
  • Become a leading Centre for stem cell research in Australia

 

Visit Centre website.

The Australian Research Centre for Health of Women and Babies (ARCH) is an international centre of excellence for maternal and perinatal research, which benefits women and babies by:-

  • answering questions of major importance in the field of maternal and perinatal health, across the spectrum from preconception, through pregnancy and childbirth, infancy and later life.
  • generating research evidence of the highest quality that promotes the best health possible for all women and their babies.
  • ensuring that research findings are incorporated into health care practice.
  • increasing capacity in research synthesis, randomised trials and implementation and translational research through career development and education, locally, nationally and internationally.
  • strengthening our existing collaborations and identifying new international, national and regional collaborations.

Research Programs

Our six major multidisciplinary research themes for 2008 - 2012 that will benefit women and babies for the next five years are:

  • Care before, during and after pregnancy and childbirth
  • Health care and lifestyle interventions during pregnancy and their implications for later health
  • Child health after pregnancy and childbirth intervention studies
  • Indigenous maternal and perinatal health
  • International maternal and perinatal health
  • Promoting and supporting evidenced based health care

ARCH research methodologies integrate:

  • Systematic identification of research gaps
  • Systematic reviews and research synthesis
  • Randomised clinical trials, single and multicentred
  • Qualitative research
  • Short and long term follow up of research cohorts
  • Economic evaluations of values of different care options

ARCH Research Collaborations and Networks

ARCH has strong collaborative research links with key international and national organisations in maternal and perinatal health.

Together with the extensive network of multidisciplinary health care professionals, within Australia and internationally ARCH actively promotes and supports, these research networks can:

  • Collaboratively address research questions of major national and international importance
  • Enhance the capacity to complete large prospective randomised trials
  • Link individuals and research groups to prepare relevant systematic reviews
  • Strengthen the interface between researchers and clinicians
  • Encourage cross cultural and trans global research