The 60th Anniversary celebration of Children's Medical Research Institute.

On Friday, 31st May, the staff and supporters of Children’s Medical Research Institute gathered for the 34th Annual General Meeting and 58th Annual Meeting of Committees. 

It was a moment to celebrate the 60th year of the Institute, six decades representing a continuous effort by a band of researchers, each contributing to the lives and health of countless children.

Our co-founder, Sir Lorimer Dods aptly said:

“The prize for success is beyond all measure: The health and potential happiness of a vast army of children of today and tomorrow.”

Words to live by.

Words to work by.

We gathered in McLaurin Hall at The University of Sydney and took time to pause, to look back on achievements of the past, then look ahead to the possibilities for the future.

We celebrated our 60 years just a few hundred metres from where the first CMRI building stood behind Camperdown Hospital, where the first researchers were appointed and where work commenced that would change the trajectory of generations to come.

We came together to acknowledge, to celebrate, and commemorate the contributions of our supporters down through the decades, especially the Fundraising Committees of CMRI.

In addition to the Committees, the families of Sir Lorimer Dods and long-time CMRI Director, Professor Peter Rowe also attended the luncheon. 

During the Annual Meeting of Committees, a new Fellowship and Scholarship was announced in the name of Professor Peter Rowe. Naz Salehin of the Institute’s Embryology Unit awarded as the inaugural recipient of the Peter Rowe Scholarship.

Professor Dominic Rowe, Peter Rowe’s son, said he felt like he grew up at CMRI as a child following his father around the building. He knew his father would have loved the fellowship.

Dominic recounted that his father sometimes came in for criticism for his recruitment of younger scientists. He would retort in his inimitable style, simply saying: 

“Science moves forward because young scientists do experiments old scientists knew wouldn’t work.”

“It is a great honour,” Dominic said of the fellowship and scholarship named after his father. “My father was so proud of CMRI and what the scientists achieve.”

Each of the Committees gave short reports on the fundraising activities of the past year. The Canberra Committee held two successful events, and the Hills Committee again performed superbly with their Mother’s Day and Spring luncheons. The new Goulburn Committee of just two people had a terrific debut year, while the Mudgee Committee braved plummeting temperatures in their quest to raise funds for the Institute. The Strathfield Committee continues to go from strength to strength as they approach their 60th Anniversary in September. 

The 2018 Tenacity Award went to the BBQ held by a Committee in Auburn during Ramadan!

Each of the Committees of CMRI underlines the role each person has played in the life and continued success of this vital institution over the course of 60 years.

Children’s Medical Research Institute at Westmead is today the site of world-class research.

We cannot do our work without you….the supporters of Children’s Medical Research Institute.

As the eminent physicist and chemist, Marie Curie once said,

“One never notices what has been done; one can only see what remains to be done.”

And so every dollar gifted by our donors or raised our supporters assists our magnificent researchers to find treatments and cures to the most intractable diseases and genetic defects confronting our children in areas such as cancer, neurobiology, embryology and gene therapy.

Your gifts support ideas with massive implications for the health of all children and our society….

The idea that every child can and should receive the best draw in the Lottery of Birth, and the best start to life…

The idea that 1 child in 20 born with a genetic disease is one child too many…

We honour you, our supporters and enablers of our work and the important role each of you has played in the success of Children's Medical Research Institute as it works to safeguard the health of our children.

Andrew J. Kelly