The $110 million Westmead Millennium Institute for Medical Research (WMI) has been officially opened, boosting Western Sydney’s research muscle.
The new 9 storey facility will for the first time accommodate the institute’s centres of research, which has over 400 scientists and clinicians, under one roof.
The building will enable the institute to expand its core research areas that include:
- infectious and immune diseases
- cancer and leukaemia
- liver and metabolic diseases
- eye and brain-related disorders
- heart and respiratory diseases.
NSW Premier Mike Baird said the NSW Government’s $38 million contribution to the facility was an investment in delivering “cures, treatments and hope for patients in the future”. The Premier also said, “This outstanding building further cements Western Sydney’s reputation as a national leader in medical research”.
Health Minister Jillian Skinner, who described Western Sydney as “a diabetes hot spot” confirmed that the new building would also house a new Centre for Diabetes and Obesity Research – to target type 2 diabetes and obesity.
“The Institute already has a fine reputation for research into diabetes. The opening of the Centre for Diabetes and Obesity Research makes it one of the foremost diabetes research centres in the nation”, Minister Skinner said.
Source: News Release, NSW Government media release, 10 October 2014