Palmer pilots research boom

This year, Western Australia will move closer to becoming a world leader in genetic research, underpinning its potential to become an international powerhouse in the wider field of medical research.

According to WA Institute for Medical Research (WAIMR) director Peter Klinken, if the government and business sectors continued to increase their support for medical research “it could become a major arm of WA’s economy with substantial investments from global pharmaceutical companies.

“This would create extra jobs, improve the health of West Australians and help reverse the brain drain,” he said.

A pilot family health study later this year, probably in Joondalup, is the latest step in establishing a biobank in WA and making the state a world leader in biotechnology and human genetics research.

The bank would consist of DNA samples from consenting Western Australians, which, when cross-matched with existing health data dating back 40 years, would form the most comprehensive resource for human genetic research in the world.

The WA Genome Health Project is headed by 37-year-old Professor Lyle Palmer, one of the youngest scientists ever appointed to a chair in the University of Western Australia’s medical school.

A final decision on suburb selection for the year-long study is expected in the first half of this year. Initial surveys and forums in Joondalup have shown great public support for the health study. Ninety five per cent of GPs recently surveyed for their views on the project have been supportive.

Following completion of the pilot, Professor Palmer hopes to take the project state wide, at a total project cost he estimates at between $80 million and $100 million.

“As an investment in infrastructure, it is relatively small for an enormous return. It is important that the resource is state and federal government funded, but after it is created we will need industry to help utilise it for commer-cial benefits,” Professor Palmer said.

“WA has an extraordinary history of population studies and a unique population-based health database that is the envy of medical research groups around the world.”

One of these is the Busselton Health Study, instigated by the visionary GP and Margaret River wine pioneer Dr Kevin Cullity 40 years ago, and one of the longest running epidemiological research programs in the world.

“We have already done an enormous amount of work and the pilot program will give us important information about how feasible the project is, and bring issues into the open,” Professor Palmer said.

“The aim of all of this is not only to treat, but be able to prevent disease in the first place. We can’t afford our health system right now and the only way to make it more efficient is to do better research.”

Professor Palmer’s Laboratory for Genetic Epidemiology at WAIMR recently discovered a gene that reduces the risk of asthma by 50 per cent. Treatments using these findings are currently undergoing human trials in the US.

“In the future, we should be able to work out what genetic factors contribute to lifestyle diseases such as diabetes, cancer, obesity and cardiovascular problems – the conditions that are of pre-eminent socio-economic concern in all industrialised nations,” he said.

Investment in medical research in WA currently stands at $35 million a year, but Professor Klinken said developments, such as the establishment of a centre for genomic medicine, had the potential to triple that investment because of its attractiveness to major international pharmaceutical companies.

In the past six years, WAIMR has received more than $40 million in grants, $16 million of that from the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) last year.

In less than two years since taking up the foundation chair in epidemiology, Professor Palmer’s staff has grown from two to 35 and his team has attracted more than $15 million in private and government funding.

In 2005, he was WA Business News’ First Amongst Equals winner in the newspaper’s prestigious annual 40under40 Awards program.