Our community empowers us
Our work is made possible by our community, who share in a common belief that through research, lives can be transformed. They help inform our strategic direction, providing critical insights and resources that allow us to identify and address unmet needs. Through genuine relationships that cut across generations, Cabrini Research is able to reach important discoveries for clinical impact. Learn about the many ways you can become part of our community, through our upcoming events, consumer engagement programs and more.
Consumer Engagement
Consumers offer unique and invaluable insights for our work and their involvement represents one of our core operating principles. They ensure that our research is always aligned with our clinical services, highlighting areas of unmet need across our patient populations. To provide a voice for lived experiences, consumers take part in active partnerships, on-going communication, and impactful engagement, collaborating with researchers and professional services at Cabrini.
Consumer perspectives are embedded within our research methods and priorities. They play a substantive role in determining how studies are designed and implemented, providing on-going feedback that continuously improves the quality of research being conducted at Cabrini.
In recognising this, Cabrini invites not only patients, but also families, friends, and caregivers, to be represented at the highest levels of our governance structures, including the Cabrini Research Committee and Scientific Advisory Committee. This allows consumers to play a prominent role in our decision-making processes and meaningfully guide our future trajectory.
Cabrini Consumer and Community Involvement Committee
Cabrini Research has worked closely with its Consumer Advisory Committee to facilitate pathways for consumer engagement throughout its history. To meet growing demands and evolving priorities across the Australian medical research landscape, the Consumer and Community Involvement Committee was established in 2023. With equal representation from Cabrini Research and its consumers, the Committee’s mandate is to develop research policies and practices that improve healthcare outcomes not only for patients and their support groups, but also for clinicians and health systems more broadly.
Philanthropic Impact
Through the power of philanthropy, Cabrini has been able to pursue a sustainable and impactful portfolio of research. These contributions range in size, some targeting specific clinical challenges, with others establishing foundations that will secure research for decades to come. The following are some examples where philanthropy has fundamentally altered both the trajectory and scope of our work.
Neil Beauglehall Endowed Chair for Medical Oncology Research
Driving logging trucks from the age of fifteen, Neil Beauglehall was able to build a transport empire over his five-decade career. It was through this vision that he decided to bequeath the Endowed Chair for Medical Oncology Research, currently held by Professor Gary Richardson OAM. Through this contribution, our researchers are able to conduct their work with greater ambition, delivering innovations in cancer care that will carry on Neil’s legacy in perpetuity.
Peter Greenham and the Cabrini Cancer Institute
A titan of industry who left an indelible mark across several Melbourne institutions, Peter Greenham’s support for Cabrini spans decades and several causes. In understanding the generational potential of clinical research, he directed his bequest to the establishment of the Cabrini Cancer Institute. Today, the Institute supports nationally recognised programs in clinical trials and exercise oncology, that will soon be complemented by genomics capabilities reinforcing Cabrini’s standing as a leader in cancer care.
Alan, Ada, and Eva Selwyn Emergency Department
Alan Selwyn and his wife Ada shared a lifetime of philanthropy that continues on through their daughter, Eva. As major benefactors for key institutions in healthcare, research, and the arts, they have advanced numerous humanitarian causes cross the globe. This commitment was extended to the development of the Alan, Ada and Eva Selwyn Emergency Department, which opened in 2019 to serve the most urgent and critical needs of our patient community.
Awards
Awards allow us to recognise research excellence at Cabrini. A selection panel of researchers, professionals, and consumers gather each year to evaluate candidates for awards in three categories: the Doug Lording Research Award, the Publication of the Year Award, and the Best Medical Student Presentation Award. These are conferred at each December Research Session and mark the culmination of another year of scientific discovery and clinical innovation at Cabrini Research.
To receive more information on our award programs, contact us at research@cabrini.com.au.