A scientist’s work is never done, and staff at the Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute have usually got quite enough on their (microscope) plates – like developing an mRNA vaccine to prevent heart attacks, or devising implantable artificial hearts.
But on Friday, the team downed tools to sip champagne and eat cake baked in the shape of a heart.
The party, held at their Prahran headquarters, marked the institute’s centenary.
Director Professor John Greenwood said reaching 100 was worth celebrating and said some of the Institute’s discoveries had led to life-saving treatments.
He said its work on the sympathetic nervous system, for example “helped us understand the mechanisms behind heart failure and how the heart repairs and remodels itself after a heart attack”.
The institute, also known as the Baker Institute, had proved that type 1 and type 2 diabetes are distinct conditions, requiring different approaches to treatment and care.
And a heart-lung machine built and tested at the institute helped make Australia’s first successful open-heart surgery possible at The Alfred hospital in 1957.
In 1926, pathologist Dr John Mackeddie convinced his friend Thomas Baker – the co-founder of Kodak Australasia – to invest in a small medical research laboratory behind The Alfred. Baker, his wife, Alice, and sister-in-law Eleanor Shaw agreed and provided a £20,500 grant.
In 1975, the institute’s trustees chose to focus on heart disease.
A multimillion-dollar donation from philanthropist Chuck Feeney helped fund today’s seven-storey building which opened in 2002 now housing 350 staff closely linked to The Alfred next door.
In 2008, the Baker Heart Research Institute merged with the International Diabetes Institute.
Professor Greenwood said this week that in the next five years, the institute would focus on research for heart attack, heart failure, diabetes and obesity.
Brunswick resident Siba Diqer said it was great to have a world-leading research organisation on our doorstep.
Diqer, a lawyer and mother of two who lives with type 1 diabetes, has for two years trialled the use of an artificial pancreas system being tested by the Baker Institute.
The device – an insulin pump that ‘talks’ to a continuous glucose monitor – is designed to remove the need for self-injections and constant surveillance to keep blood sugar at a safe level.
Diqer said the institute had helped “countless people”.
“It’s worth celebrating all that they have achieved, and all that they will achieve,” Diqer said.
As part of the centenary celebrations, chef Gary Mehigan will host Small Changes, Big Impact, on May 21 at Federation Square, a free (but bookings essential) demonstration, alongside institute researchers, of how to cook tasty, nutritious food.
From May 23, a 10-part TV series, Good Food Everyday, will kick off on Channel 10, featuring stories of heart disease and diabetes, and cooking dishes with Mehigan.
Later in the year, on October 16, the institute will host a scientific symposium on heart disease, diabetes and obesity.
Start the day with a summary of the day’s most important and interesting stories, analysis and insights. Sign up for our Morning Edition newsletter.
