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Cooperative Research Centre Program
The Cooperative Research Centre for Cellular Growth Factors
Mission
Objectives

Annual Reports
 

Cooperative Research Centre Program


The Cooperative Research Centre Program is a Commonwealth Government funding initiative to boost the competitiveness of industry and capture the benefits of research for Australians. The CRC Program brings together researchers from universities, research organisations, government agencies and industry for strategic collaborative research. The CRC Program website contains information about the CRC program and the CRCs.

The Cooperative Research Centre for Cellular Growth Factors

The CRC for Cellular Growth Factors was originally established in July 1991 as a collaborative venture between two medical research institutes (The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, which includes the Department of Medical Biology of The University of Melbourne, and the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, Melbourne Tumor Biology Branch), a Commonwealth research organisation (CSIRO Division of Biomolecular Engineering), a joint CSIRO/State Government research organisation (The Biomolecular Research Institute) and a commercial partner (AMRAD Corporation Limited). In July 1997 the CRC-CGF was established as a new centre for another seven-year term. CSIRO Molecular Science was party to the new Centre Agreement, however, following a recent restructure, CSIRO is now represented by the Health Sciences and Nutrition division. BRI ceased research operations on 31 December 2000 and officially retired from the CRC-CGF on 30 June 2001, after external support for its research activities was discontinued. Its obligations will be met by WEHI and CSIRO.

The Centre identified the field of cellular growth factors as a research theme of enormous potential benefit to Australians. It aimed to increase the chance of success of Australian research into cellular growth factors by integrating the unique and specialised skills of several leading groups in this field of research. These skills include in vitro and in vivo biology, molecular biology, protein purification, protein structure determination, molecular modelling, rational drug design, clinical trials and, most recently, screening of phage-display, combinatorial chemical and natural product libraries. The close tie formed with the Centre’s commercial participant, AMRAD, a successful Australian biopharmaceutical company, ensured that any benefits from the research remain, as much as possible, under Australian control.
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Mission

By integrating and coordinating the scientific, educational, clinical and commercial skills of the partners, the CRC-CGF aimed to become a major international centre of growth factor research with the capacity to develop novel therapeutics based on growth factors, from the laboratory bench to the clinic and commercial exploitation.

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Objectives:

  • To be a permanent research organisation seen by the partners as a valuable means of co-ordinating research efforts that require multi-institutional participation and linking them with the clinical and commercial development of growth factor research.
  • To pursue projects on the basis of research excellence and competitive edge and to maximally utilise the various skills of the partners by having a research portfolio in which at least 70% of the projects have multi-institutional participation.
  • To produce products of clinical and commercial value so that royalty flows from the commercial partner will sustain the continuing programs of the centre. To have research programs of sufficient commercial merit to attract additional funding by the commercial partner.
  • To ensure that the commercial partner is an active participant in formulating the centre's research strategy, in identifying and protecting intellectual property and in providing resources for the full clinical and commercial development of the centre's projects.
  • To provide a unique environment within Australia for the educational development of younger scientists with exposure to multi-disciplinary scientific skills as well as the commercial aspects of research.
  • To promote the CRC program through its advertising of conferences, workshops and courses both nationally and internationally, through its mention of the CRC program in press releases of major discoveries and through its acknowledgment on all publications and posters presented to conferences.
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Annual Reports

Chairman's Report

Director's Report

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The Cooperative Research Centre for Cellular Growth Factors. Disclaimer and Copyright Information.
December 2004.