Annual Report 2000
REPORT FROM THE
MENZIES CENTRE FOR
POPULATION HEALTH RESEARCH, HOBART
The year 2000 was a very significant one for the Menzies Centre. New funding support was received resulting in an increase in total income of 17% over 1999. This equates to $3.5 million, including $500,000 from the NHMRC for five new studies and two continuing research projects. Core funding increased by 37% to a total of $852,000. This represents an important area of growth for the Centre, a major component of which is an increased contribution from the University of Tasmania.
Donations continued to grow in 2000 with over 500 individual contributions, the highlight being the inaugural "Tree of Life" campaign, a statewide appeal, which will continue on an annual basis. During the year the State Premier, the Honourable Jim Bacon, honoured the Menzies Centre as a Tasmanian Icon. This award includes an annual grant of $500,000 to further the development of commercial opportunities resulting from genetic research at the Centre.
Amongst the major new research initiatives for the Centre is the development of the Cohort Studies Unit which has arisen from the Tasmanian Infant Health Survey database that continues to provide valuable information for many of the Centre's studies. Dr Alison Venn formally from the Centre for the Study of Mother's and Children's Health, La Trobe University directs this Unit which is conducting follow-up studies into cardiovascular disease and the metabolic syndrome, along with projects measuring physical activity in children.
During 2000 the Menzies Centre collaborated with the International Diabetes Institute to conduct the Tasmanian component of the National Diabetes, Obesity and Lifestyle Study (AusDiab). Findings from this population study have provided reliable data indicating that over one in four Tasmanian adults either have diabetes or are at high risk of developing diabetes and heart disease.
The Tasmanian Multiple Sclerosis Research Program continued with a focus on identifying genes that increase a person's susceptibility to MS. The Study's researchers are also focusing on environmental factors enabling examination of gene-environment interactions. The data collection phase has been completed and the analysis phase has started. To date, analysis of 'candidate' regions reported by other groups has been conducted on 45 MS families. As this only represents a small proportion of the total number of families (~25%) in the study, it is difficult to draw any concrete conclusions at this stage. However, it has been confirmed that one of the four candidate regions is associated with susceptibility to MS.
During 2000 the Centre's Director Professor Terry Dwyer was awarded a prestigious WHO Fellowship that saw him travel to Geneva where he spent four months studying the increased incidence of cardiovascular disease in developing countries. The specific countries that were investigated included the Pacific Islands where there are problems of heart disease related to diabetes, countries in East Asia where there is high blood pressure and stroke and the Middle East where the incidence of heart disease has increased as the countries there have developed.
While in Geneva, Professor Dwyer and an international team of five people prepared the necessary documentation on how to cost effectively measure risk factors of cardiovascular disease and diabetes and how to collect relevant information in developing countries. As a result of Professor Dwyer's research the Menzies Centre will coordinate a program of activities in the Pacific Islands which will examine problems of cardiovascular disease and diabetes.
A major issue for 2000 was progress with the Incorporation of the Menzies Centre. Following discussions with the Menzies Centre Board, the Menzies Foundation and meetings with the Tasmanian government and resolution by the Council of the University of Tasmania, it was determined that the Menzies Centre would be incorporated as a separate legal entity to enable it to function effectively in a commercial environment. The timetable for Incorporation is June 2001 and significant progress towards finalisation of the Constitution has been made.
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