Children'S Medical Research Institute

Children's Medical Research Institute is committed to finding cures and better treatments for a range of genetic diseases, birth defects, and cancers.

How We’re Different

Not all research is the same.

CMRI conducts fundamental (meaning fundamentally important) medical and biological research. We ask the difficult questions. What causes cancer? How do we stop it? Why does development go wrong and how can we prevent it? How does the brain work? Can what we’ve learned about brain cells be put to use to treat epilepsy and other neurological disorders?

Our task is to make the future better.

CMRI scientists ask the difficult questions in order to gain the important answers. This knowledge will enable us build a better future and light the spark that will lead to tomorrow’s discoveries.

What we’ve accomplished in the last 20 years:

Found a single genetic defect can cause cleft lip and palate
Fate map of the early embryo to help us understand many developmental problems
Identification of the components of telomerase, which will be important for treating 85% of all cancers
Discovery of the Alternative Lengthening of Telomeres (ALT) mechanism, which can lead to treatments for the other 15% of cancers
Developing a blood test for ALT cancers that will allow physicians to diagnose and plan treatments for cancers such as aggressive glioblastoma brain tumours
Partnering with the Children’s Hospital Westmead on a cure for genetic liver disease, with clinical trials about to begin
Discovering and developing a new class of drugs for treating epilepsy

What we plan to accomplish in the next 20 years:

Develop epilepsy treatments that will help children (and adults) around the world
Develop new treatments for kidney disease and diabetes
Gene therapy cures for rare genetic diseases in children
New treatments for infectious diseases
Telomere research to help us understand predisposition to disease
Find new and better treatments for every type of cancer