History of the Hanson Institute

The Hanson Institute

The Hanson Institute is the research division of the Royal Adelaide Hospital and SA Pathology. The Institute also works in close collaboration with the University of Adelaide.

The RAH and SA Pathology have provided significant support that has ensured the success of the Hanson Institute; one of the largest medical institutes in South Australia and one of the top five in Australia.

The Hanson Centre for Cancer Research

The Hanson Centre for Cancer Research was established in 1991 with the aid of a grant from South Australia’s Anti-Cancer Foundation and funding from the Australian Cancer Research Foundation.

The new research centre was constructed within the existing IMVS (now SA Pathology) building and combined the research arms of the Divisions of Human Immunology and Haematology of the IMVS. These divisions both had a major interest in leukaemia research, and had made significant advances in their research.

Launch of the Hanson Institute

In 2001 the Hanson Institute was opened, encompassing all research for the IMVS and the RAH.

The Hanson embraced many fields of research in addition to cancer, incorporating

  • the Centre for Cancer Research,
  • the Centre for Bone and Joint Research,
  • Clinical Research Centre,
  • Centre for Neurological Diseases, and
  • the Centre for Biomedical Research.

The Institute is continuing to ensure its success through the strategic identification of research needs and the recruitment of high calibre scientists.

Excellence in medical research

The Hanson Institute is dedicated to excellence in medical research. Its main goals are

  • to make fundamental biological and biomedical discoveries,
  • to provide an environment of world-class facilities to enable international level research, and
  • to establish the important link between scientists and clinicians to fully develop the therapeutic potential of scientific discoveries.