New $2m gait research centre launched

Federal treasurer Peter Costello and Dame Elisabeth Murdoch today launched the $2 million Centre for Clinical Research Excellence (CCRE) in Gait Analysis and Rehabilitation at the Royal Children's Hospital, Melbourne.

The Gait CCRE was established with AUD$2 million in competitive funding from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and brings together the Murdoch Children's Research Institute (MCRI), Royal Children's Hospital, Kingston Centre of Southern Health and departments of La Trobe, Melbourne and Monash universities.

The Gait CCRE chief investigator, Prof Kerr Graham, said that the NHMRC had to be congratulated for bringing these institutions together, because together "we'll make an internationally recognised contribution".

He said that the centre will "deliver a new understanding of walking" and will treat disorders of walking that occur because of cerebral palsy, injury, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, and stroke.

The centre will also "train the next generation of researchers who will deliver a wide range of outcomes," said Graham.

Gait analysis uses high technology equipment, specialised television cameras, force plates and computers to assess how people with disabilities walk. The information collected through this movement analysis is then used to plan the most appropriate treatment for patients and to evaluate treatment success.

Federal treasurer Peter Costello said the Gait CCRE would take its place at the Royal Children's Hospital as a "world class opportunity".

"A substantial proportion of the Australian public has significant difficulty walking," said Costello. "This gait research will go a long way to help them become mobile."

Together, Costello and the MRCI's patron Dame Elisabeth Murdoch, unveiled the commemorative plaque which officially opened the CCRE.

"We are very grateful to you as a treasurer for your understanding and financial support to this work," said Murdoch. "It's an honour for me to share with you this ceremony."

The NHMRC currently funds 17 CCRE and in 2007 the NHMRC intends to fund an additional six CCRE at up to $400,000 each per annum for five years.