Drive for Charity fast-tracks success at the Children’s Medical Research Institute

Drive for Charity continues to support the vital work of the Children’s Medical Research Institute. Assisted by funds collected from the Eastern Distributor, M4 and M5 Motorways the Institute has been able to expand their research programs in several areas, including cancer research, muscle disorders and eye disease.

One in twenty children born in Australia suffers from some kind of chronic disease or congenital abnormality such as cleft palate, muscular dystrophy, blindness and cystic fibrosis. The scientists at the Children’s Medical Research Institute conduct fundamental genetic research to find out exactly why this happens – so that all children can have a healthy beginning.

Funds from Drive for Charity in 2003, 2004 and 2005 have raised a total of over $200,000 and contributed to bolstering the Institutes research efforts with exciting results; recent studies have revealed a new gene implicated in eye disease and a novel mechanism that cancer cells use to multiply. These discoveries will lead the way to improved screening and diagnosis programs for eye disorders, and provide a major clue to developing specific treatments for types of brain and bone cancers.

With the vital support of Drive for Charity, the Children’s Medical Research Institute hopes to continue this research success with the purchase of a highly sophisticated cell recognition microscope. This piece of equipment, particularly relevant to the brain and cancer research units, is able to identify minute characteristics of cells and will significantly speed up research progress in many areas; as experiments that take days to complete can be done in mere minutes.

You can help support the Children’s Medical Research Institute in more ways than one; drive to work using your E-way tag and by wearing your jeans and making a donation for their annual fundraiser – Jeans for Genes Day – Friday August 4th 2006.