Medical miracles in our midst

The two public hospitals that serve this paper’s readership enjoy an excellent reputation.

One has its own story. It was set up with more than usual control by a team of trained nurses. The nurses were in a religious order that enjoyed particular respect as professionals from politicians and doctors. The order obtained land in the congested terrace belt of Darlinghurst. The hospital is, of course, St Vincent’s.

At St Vincents, a teaching hospital, the Sisters of Charity felt that their hospital, enjoying a reputation for patient care and the professionalism of their medical teams, would be well placed to undergo significant medical research.

In 1963, though with few funds, research projects began and word spread amongst the Sisters’ many contacts. One of these, Mrs Helen Mills, surprised them with a gift of £100,000, an absolute fortune in those days. She asked if the research centre could be named after her father, James Patrick Garvan. The Garvan Institute is now the largest medical research institution in NSW, the second largest in Australia.

Waverley’s assembled historians recently heard Garvan’s Anita Hoskins explain some of the research projects in layman’s terms. Much of this has centred around the cells of the human body, its building blocks.

While the historians already understood the link between cells and cancer, Ms Hoskins explained that cell behaviour had been found to cause many other conditions, for example Parkinson’s Disease is caused by a loss of cells in a section of the brain.

She said some cells go through a stage of being general purpose cells at first, stem cells, available for duty in different forms into which they develop as the need arises.  Just how these stem cells can be influenced to avert illness is just one aspect of research the Garvan Institute is pursuing.

Assistance for research at Garvan often comes unexpectedly. Following her talk to the Waverley historians, a call came in from Bondi Junction’s Rotary Club; one historian, a Rotarian, passed on details of the talk and the club is now assisting the work.

For updates of the Garvan Institute’s work call the Garvan Foundation at 9295 8110.

One of The View’s historical writers, John Ruffels will speak to the Waverley Historical Society on July 12 at 4 pm at Club Bondi Junction’s 1st floor (Gray St) where he will reveal some of Waverley’s Mysteries.
– BY PETER McCALLUM