Children’s Medical Research Institute (CMRI) - 50 years of discoveries

Today we are all indebted to medical researchers of the past - saving us from diphtheria, tetanus, whooping cough or polio. And over the last five decades CMRI scientists have contributed to ground-breaking discoveries, which have had a major impact on the way medicine is practised.   Below are just a few of CMRI’s breakthroughs.

• Thousands of prematurely born Australians, who suffered from respiratory distress, can thank CMRI for improving their chances for a healthy survival. Before the work of CMRI researchers in the 1970s, 40% of premature babies with respiratory distress syndrome died. Just four years later, only 6% died.
• Some of the world’s earliest experimentation in microsurgery techniques was carried out at the CMRI. Scientists developed pioneering techniques to repair tiny nerves and arteries and studied the use of immunosuppressive drugs in organ transplantation and graft rejection.
• About 7 million Australians, born since mandatory rubella vaccinations for girls were introduced in the early 1970s, can also thank CMRI’s researchers.  Their earlier research established the connection between rubella in pregnancy and adult-onset diabetes. 
• Research results on the effectiveness of the rubella virus vaccine prompted CMRF scientists to lobby the state government for the introduction of a vaccination program.  Today, there are only one or two cases of rubella in pregnancy each year in Australia.
• Australian mothers and babies continue to benefit from the CMRI’s pioneering work into foetal alcohol syndrome in the early 1980s. CMRI scientists lobbied the government on the dangers of drinking when pregnant and also worked to improve drug and alcohol support programs for pregnant women.
• In 1995 CMRI’s researchers discovered ALT, a method by which approximately 15% of human cancer cells achieve ‘immortality’ and keep dividing.  This work is being pursued with a focus on understanding ALT and developing potential anti-cancer treatments and diagnostic tools.
• In 2007 CMRI researchers discovered the composition of telomerase, the enzyme which, when active, enables the other approximately 85% of human cells to be immortal and therefore cancerous.  This discovery opens the way for the development of drugs that block telomerase, which are expected to be an important new form of treatment for most types of cancer.

Find out more about these discoveries and more at the exhibition "50 Years of Discoveries" at the National Museum of Australia, 12 March to 4 May.