The Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery – Australia’s first hospital-based biomedical engineering research centre – has begun construction in Victoria.
Victorian Premier, Daniel Andrews, and Minister for Medical Research, Mary-Anne Thomas, visited the site of the new $206 million centre at St Vincent’s Hospital to mark the start of construction.
Premier Andrews said, “Melbourne is the medical research capital of Australia – this new centre will cement our place as a world leader in medical discoveries and scientific breakthroughs.
“The new Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery is just another example of how we’re supporting medical research – creating jobs and delivering innovation that will save and change lives.”
The centre brings together clinicians, scientists, and engineers from hospitals, research institutes and universities all under the same roof for collaborative research and development.
Backed by a $60 million Victorian Government investment, the new centre forms part of Melbourne’s rapidly growing biomedical precinct – helping to attract and retain leading medical researchers by offering world-class facilities and enabling cutting-edge research opportunities and cross-institute collaboration.
The new centre will feature specialist 3D printing and clinical simulation laboratories, insulated rooms for the development of sensitive hearing and vision technologies, engineering workshops to produce medical device prototypes and robotics, and an education centre to train the next generation of healthcare workers.
The centre will address future health challenges and chronic illnesses like epilepsy, cancer and osteoarthritis, while exploring innovative treatments and technologies that include artificial intelligence, implantable digital devices, regenerative medicine and 3D-printed devices. With a core focus on prevention and early intervention, the new centre will help to save and improve lives in Victoria, Australia and around the world.
Ms Thomas said, “We’re supporting our medical researchers with the best facilities and latest technology so they can make the discoveries that will help Victorians live longer and healthier lives.”
Construction on the centre, due for completion in 2024, will create hundreds of local jobs – and once complete, the new Aikenhead Centre will go on to support more than 300 jobs across the medical research sector.
The Victorian Government has invested $1.3 billion in medical research since 2014, including up to $400 million for the Australian Institute for Infectious Disease – the largest centre of infectious disease in the Southern Hemisphere.
Victoria’s medical research sector supports more than 30,000 jobs, contributing around $21 billion to the economy.
Investment in new centres like Aikenhead are part of the Labor Government’s ten-year plan to make sure Victoria has the people, institutions and scientific innovations required to position the sector to be the best in the world.
