Endocrine research centre opens at Austin Health

A new research centre to battle diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis, called the Endocrine Centre of Excellence, was opened at Austin Health in Melbourne today. The centre will lead the way in research into the three most pressing health problems facing Australia today: diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis. The centre will also undertake international collaborations for new treatments for diabetes and osteoporosis.

Head of the centre, Prof George Jerums, said it would offer a comprehensive range of expertise in diabetes, obesity and osteoporosis, but also androgen and thyroid disorders.

The centre will incorporate a clinical area for outpatient treatment, a clinical trials unit, an endocrine laboratory, a weight clinic and bone mineral density unit.

"Its unique in the sense that it is all in the one place -- the laboratory, outpatients' area and clinical trials area is all on the one floor. This leads to more efficiency and hopefully more productivity," said Jerums. A range of trials are planned for the centre, "We will undertake both drug company and investigator-initiated translational research, to see if experiments in a rat model can be shown to work in humans," he said.

The centre, at Austin Health's Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, was opened by Victorian treasurer and innovation minister John Brumby. It has been sponsored by pharmaceutical companies, the Mary Potter Foundation, the Collier Charitable Fund and the University of Melbourne.

About one in eight Australians has diabetes and the incidence of diabetes is doubling every 20 years. One in four Australians over the age of 65 has diabetes. Approximately one in two Australians are either overweight or obese. One in two women and one in five men will develop osteoporosis, with fractures common in the aging community.