New UQ research complex

A new research complex, the Centres for Health Research, was officially opened on Monday (July 15) at the Princess Alexandra Hospital to house 140 scientists from the University of Queensland and the Princess Alexandra Hospital.

The $33 million Centres will act as an umbrella organisation to the research groups based at the hospital campus.

"The University of Queensland is pleased to be a partner in this research facility, which is a cornerstone in the development of a major biomedical precinct in conjunction with the Queensland Government," UQ Vice Chancellor Professor John Hay said in a statement.

The major occupant of the new centres will be the Centre for Immunology and Cancer Research (CICR), a research group developing vaccines against cervical cancer and genital warts, under the direction of Prof Ian Frazer.

The vaccines are designed to prevent cervical cancer before it develops as well as treat it once it has formed. Phase III clinical trials are underway in Australia and the US.

"The centre has pioneered the world's first vaccine against cervical cancer and has a world-class portfolio of projects," said Hay. "The newly appointed research laboratories mark another milestone in the centre's history."

CICR spin-off Coridon will also be located in the building. The company is commercialising technology licensed from CICR for identifying and modifying genetic codes used in particular cells in combining amino acids for the production of proteins, and has a $3.7 million R&D contract with the CICR.

Other research groups to be located in the new facility include the Liver Transport Research Group, Bowel Cancer Research Group, Urological Cancer Group, Liver Research Groups, Therapeutics Research Group and Renal Research Groups, and the Lions Laboratories.

As well as the Centres for Health Research, the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus is to be the site for the Pharmacy Australian Centre of Excellence.

Herron Pharmaceuticals and Imaginot, a pharmaceutical research initiative involving industry and academic interests, are also co-located in the new precinct.