Milan Fernando

Children's Medical Research Institute

Children's Medical Research Institute (CMRI) pioneered microsurgery, immunisations against lethal childhood illnesses, and care for premature babies, all of which has improved the lives of countless Australian children. The work at CMRI is made possible by a network of devoted community supporters and Jeans for Genes®, the iconic fundraising campaign established in 1994 to fund revolutionary research that helps diagnose, understand, and find cures or treatments for conditions affecting kids. Today, CMRI is an independent institute and the site of world-leading research in the areas of cancer, neurobiology, embryology, proteogenomics and gene therapy. CMRI is affiliated with the University of Sydney and is a founding partner of Luminesce Alliance and the Westmead Research Hub. CMRI collaborates with scientists all over the world to push research forward. It also provides important resources for scientists in Australia. It operates CellBank Australia™, the only national repository of cell cultures in Australia, necessary for many fields of medical science; as well as advanced gene therapy and gene engineering facilities--creating treatments of the future. In addition, CMRI houses the ACRF Cancer Centre, which includes the ACRF Telomere Analysis Centre and ACRF ProCan®, whose combined efforts are to understand, improve diagnosis, survivability and discover new treatments for all types of cancer.