Our Supporters

Thank you to our supporters

As we present the Doherty Institute’s Impact Report for 2022, we are excited to spotlight the remarkable outcomes achieved thanks to our dedicated supporters. Philanthropy propels the vital work conducted by our scientists and researchers, strengthening the impact of their expertise in the lab, in clinical settings, and beyond.

In the sections that follow, we hope you find the stories of philanthropic success inspiring, as we endeavour to showcase transformative results that were made possible by our donors. We extend our appreciation to our generous supporters whose contributions empower the researchers at the Doherty Institute to push the boundaries of conventional thinking in finding solutions to some of our most complex problems. We look forward to continuing this incredible work with you by our side.

Kind regards,

Martyn Myer AO, Chairman, Doherty Council

Cumming's historic gift lays down a global challenge

In August, we announced a philanthropic gift of $250 million from Canadian philanthropist, Mr Geoff Cumming, to establish the Cumming Global Centre for Pandemic Therapeutics at the Doherty Institute.  

At the time of submission, this is the largest ever philanthropic donation to Australian medical research, and the most generous individual gift the Institute has ever received.  

 The establishment of the Cumming Global Centre at the Doherty Institute reinforces its global reputation as a leader in infection and immunity research, public health and education. The Centre will be the world’s preeminent facility to enable rapid design and development of treatments and technologies for pathogens of pandemic potential. The Cumming Global Centre’s goals are ambitious—to advance the science behind therapeutics, to transform the management of future pandemics and to save lives.  

Mr Cumming’s leadership and vision in making this gift reflects both his immense generosity and incredible motivation to improve the welfare of humanity and achieve impact on a global scale.  

Through Mr Cumming’s gift, the Centre will:  

Attract global talent from across disciplines and drive impact by providing long-term funding, world class research support services, and a mission-focused framework.   
Remove the barriers for long-term innovation and allow the pursuit of high-risk, high-reward, long-term projects, thanks to the long-term nature of the funding model. 
Focus on breakthrough research in emerging, high potential platforms, enabled by cutting-edge technologies.  
Catalyse partnerships and investment into therapeutics development and research in the biotech hub of Parkville, Melbourne, and beyond.

The gift not only impacts societal health and wellbeing, but it also provides incredible learning opportunities for researchers to further leverage and grow relationships with a broad range of institutions and partners across the world. The decision to base the Centre in the Melbourne Biomedical Precinct also recognises Victoria’s global standing as a leader in biomedical research. 

Mr Cumming’s extraordinary generosity has created a legacy that stands as a testament to the transformational power of partnerships in advancing medical knowledge and achieving global impact.   

University of Melbourne Dr Stephanie Neville, an NHMRC Peter Doherty Fellow at the Doherty Institute, was awarded a prestigious Junior Fellowship supported with funding from the Garnett Passe and Rodney Williams Memorial Foundation in 2022, enabling her to investigate new ways to treat antibiotic resistance in the bacteria that cause middle ear infections. With her new approaches, Dr Neville hopes to improve the quality of life of many, including the 30 million children suffering from chronic middle ear infections annually.

Celebrating the legacy of Lionel Gell AM

In 2022, like many whose life he touched, we paid tribute to the life and legacy of Lionel Gell. One of the Doherty Institute's longest supporters, Lionel was a steadfast advocate of our work, firmly believing in the Institute’s vision to improve health globally through discovery research and the prevention, treatment, and cure of infectious diseases.

Lionel was also very passionate about education and the benefits and opportunities education gave young people in life, especially from disadvantaged backgrounds. As a way to give others what he did not have, he funded scholarships at the Institute to directly help students from the ground-level up. Lionel’s most profound impact at the Doherty Institute was with the Yiaga Ngarnga Scholarship for Infection and Immunity. Established in 2018 to provide specific assistance for First Nations PhD candidates, this Scholarship was the first of its kind at the Institute and an achievement Lionel was very proud of.

Speaking at his memorial service, University of Melbourne Laureate Professor Sharon Lewin, Director of the Institute, reflected on her relationship with Lionel and his support and trust in the Doherty Institute:

“As an Institute, we greatly benefited from Lionel’s immense generosity, but more importantly on a personal level, I feel privileged to have met Lionel and learnt so much from him. While Lionel’s friendship and positivity will be missed by so many, his generosity and legacy will continue well into the future, helping young researchers and students to achieve their full potential,” she said.

Lionel once shared with us what he was hoping to achieve through his support of the Institute. Here are his words:

“I’m hoping to leave a legacy for people to think about donating towards. Helping students of today gives you a sense of purpose. A greater sense of understanding of what people are going through. And this is where older people, like me, get that gap filled in. It gives you the appreciation of giving and what you get back.”

Donor generosity supports groundbreaking initiative

In October, the Doherty Institute was proud to launch the Computational Sciences Initiative – a cross-institute initiative, generously seed-funded through philanthropy, set to transform our understanding of infection and immunity.

In recent years, the Institute has recognised the need for sophisticated methods to maximise discoveries from the large volume of unique data generated from its research endeavours. With this new Initiative, computational scientists and infection and immunity specialists are coming together, forming interdisciplinary teams to leverage the power of complex data. This cutting-edge approach can accelerate the understanding of disease mechanisms, test hypotheses that might be challenging to address experimentally and develop innovative strategies for preventing and treating infectious diseases.

“This essential gift allowed the concept of the Computational Sciences Initiative to come to life. Philanthropic investment was crucial for this innovative idea to be realised, as it was not amenable to traditional sources of government funding.” 

University of Melbourne's Dr Jenny Anderson, Project Manager for the Computational Sciences Initiative at the Doherty Institute.

Empowering Innovation: The Collective Impact of Gifts, Big and Small

At the Institute, we recognise that every contribution, regardless of its size, holds immense potential to advance infectious disease and immunity research. To harness the full potential of our donors’ generous support, we established the Agility Fund: a platform that pools the general donations to the Institute and allocates funding to our scientists’ most innovative projects through an internal grant process.

One such project, made possible by the collective support of Agility Fund donors, is the research into the Golden staph bacterium (Staphylococcus aureus) by University of Melbourne‘s Dr Abdou Hachani, Senior Researcher and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow at the Doherty Institute.

The human nose is constantly filtering the air we breathe to prevent harmful bacteria and viruses entering our body. Golden staph can colonise our noses without immediately causing disease. In fact, up to one third of the population carries this bacterium asymptomatically. However, it can cause devastating bacterial infections when it becomes invasive and enters the bloodstream of vulnerable individuals, particularly hospitalised patients. Adding to the concern, Golden staph's resistance to some conventional treatments further heightens its status as a significant health risk.

With the backing of grants from the Doherty Institute Agility Fund and the CASS Foundation, Dr Hachani and a multidisciplinary team, composed of University of Melbourne’s Professor Elizabeth Vincan (Organoid Biology), Professor Tim Stinear (Genomics), Dr Ellie Cho (Imaging) and Dr Calum Walsh (Computational Biology), developed a revolutionary new experimental framework that allows scientists to study how Golden staph colonises the nose.

Using a laboratory cell system known as an “organoid”, effectively a mini version of a nose in a Petri dish, they developed a new imaging system that enabled them to observe how Golden staph attaches to the lining of the nose. With this imaging technique, the team can now examine how the tiny hairs (called motile cilia) in the nasal lining work together to clear out the bacteria, mimicking the natural process that occurs when the bacteria live in the nose.

In the next phase of their work, the researchers will study how each cell in the inner lining of the nose reacts to Golden staph samples collected from healthy volunteers. Through this process, they hope to discover the signals that the nose sends to the immune system, determining whether to protect against the infection or allow the bacteria to invade the body. This information is crucial, as it can enhance our understanding of our body's defence mechanisms and provide insights into effective strategies to prevent and fight off the infection.

As we celebrate the achievements of our scientists and the impact of the Agility Fund, we are reminded that each gift, regardless of its size, plays a pivotal role in realising the Institute’s vision to improve health globally through discovery research and the prevention, treatment and cure of infectious diseases.

“Philanthropic support is instrumental for priming big ideas in medical research. With such support, we have the chance to accelerate the creation of tomorrow’s new medicines and treatments.”

University of Melbourne's Dr Abdou Hachani, Senior Researcher and Marie Sklodowska-Curie Global Fellow at the Doherty Institute.

Want to get involved?

Discover how you can support advanced research in infection and immunity by contacting us at doherty-philanthropy@unimelb.edu.au or by exploring our website at doherty.edu.au.

Australian Institute for Infectious Disease gains momentum

2022 saw the Australian Institute for Infectious Disease (AIID) kick into gear with key milestones achieved and significant work undertaken to progress the visionary project. 

The AIID is a world-class initiative to drive faster, more effective pandemic and infectious disease detection, prevention and response to help protect Australia and the region.  

The Doherty Institute has joined forces with the Burnet Institute and the University of Melbourne as Foundation Partners in the establishment of the AIID. The Victorian Government is the Major Supporting Partner, providing up to $400 million to fund the development of the facility.  

Following the AIID’s official announcement and funding commitments in 2020 and 2021, 2022 saw the Business Case for funding approved and significant work commencing to make the project a reality.  

The process of land acquisition commenced to establish the AIID on the site encompassing the area of 766–780 Elizabeth Street and 213–223 Berkely Street – right in the heart of Melbourne’s Biomedical Precinct. This will allow the building to physically connect to the Doherty Institute across multiple storeys. 

Additionally in 2022, Wardle was appointed as the Principal Consultant and architects, and Aurecon as the lead engineers. 

Wardle is an internationally renowned architectural firm leading the collaboration with Wilson Architects, international workplace specialist Studio O+A, and laboratory specialist Perkins and Will, to design the building. Wardle has previously partnered with the University of Melbourne to design award-winning facilities including the Glynn Davis Melbourne School of Design and the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music’s Ian Potter Southbank Centre.   

Aurecon is an international design, engineering and advisory company engaged as the lead engineers, in partnership with Wood for laboratory engineering for the AIID design and construction program of works.  

Doherty Institute Director Professor Sharon Lewin said it was exciting to see the project gaining momentum and edging closer to reality:

“The AIID is a significant endeavour for the Doherty Institute and our fellow Foundation Partners, allowing us to have a greater impact in the prevention, preparation and response to pandemics and emerging infectious diseases.

"2022 saw significant groundwork undertaken and milestones achieved to ensure the project is brought to life, and I look forward to the project’s continued growth and progression over the coming years.” 

Visit the AIID website to learn more about the project and to find out how you can help.