Kolling Institute of Medical Research

Medical research institute, Sydney

The Kolling Institute is located in the grounds of the Royal North Shore Hospital in St Leonards, Sydney Australia. The institute, founded in 1920, is the oldest medical research institute in New South Wales. The Kolling Institute is a part of the Northern Clinical School, University of Sydney.

The Institute of Pathological Research was established in a cottage within the grounds of the Royal North Shore Hospital in 1920 with the appointment of a biochemist. Doctor W. Wilson Ingram was appointed as the first director in 1928. He remained in the post for almost 50 years. During his tenure, he expanded the medical knowledge of diabetes, opening the first clinic for its treatment in Australia He also accompanied Sir Douglas Mawson on two Antarctic expeditions as medical officer and research scientist between 1929 and 1931. A new two story building was officially opened in 1931 and named the Kolling Institute after businessman Charles Kolling following an in memoriam donation from his widow Eva Kolling. In the last few years, the Kolling Institute has expanded to include other research groups from the Royal North Shore campus. The Kolling Institute was thus rebranded upon relocation to the new Kolling Building in late 2008.

Dr Max Rudolf "Rudi" Lemberg held an appointment within the institute from 1935 to 1972, establishing a major research focus on porphyrins, structures within molecules which give the red colour to blood and the yellow colour to bile. Rudi Lemberg became a Fellow of the Royal Society and was one of the founders of biochemistry in Australia. Bill Ingram was succeeded in 1974 by Dr David Nelson who directed the institute until his death in 1989. David Nelson's research focus was in immune responses and allergy, particularly the involvement of the blood coagulation system in these processes. Professor Robert Baxter became the third director of the Kolling Institute in 1994. Professor Baxter is an international leader in the endocrinology, cell biology and biochemistry of cellular growth factors and is listed as an Institute for Scientific Information highly cited researcher. The existing endocrinology research group (led by Dr Bruce Robinson) expanded into insulin growth factors and IGF binding proteins. Professor Baxter resigned as director in December 2011, and is continuing with his research interests at the institute. In January 2012, Professor Jonathan Morris commenced as the fourth director of the Kolling Institute. Professor Morris was the associate dean and head of the Northern Clinical School. Professor Morris believed that the future direction of the Kolling lay in the adoption of the academic health centre culture, where medical research breakthroughs lead to direct clinical benefits for patients. In May 2019, Professor Carolyn Sue became the fifth director of research, Kolling Institute after being interim director for 12 months. Professor Sue is also the director of neurogenetics at Royal North Shore Hospital and director of the National Centre for Adult Stem Cell Research (Sydney). Her focus is on strengthening the institute's research performance in its quest to deliver translational research outcomes for patients.

Over the decades the Kolling Institute grew substantially and extended into a number of other buildings across the Royal North Shore Hospital campus. In October 2008 Kolling Institute researchers came together in a new research facility known as the Kolling Building. The Kolling Institute is now a research facility of both the Northern Sydney Local Health District and the University of Sydney. In addition to laboratory based research in the Kolling Building, its programs include the clinical and public health research activities of its associated divisions. Its activities are substantially funded by competitive grants, supported by donations and other non competitive funding, and underpinned by the Medical Research Support Program of the NSW Office for Science and Medical Research. The Kolling Institute is accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council and is a member of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes.

Headed by Professor Carolyn Sue, the Neurogenetics group studies disease mechanisms involved in inherited neurological disorders with a particular interest in mitochondrial function and movement disorders (e. g. Parkinson's disease).

Headed by Professor Carol Pollock, Renal Research conducts research into the molecular mechanisms underpinning progressive kidney disease using cell culture models of diabetes and studies of patients with diabetes. The laboratory uses a number of approaches, including studying the single cell, cells in culture, animal models of diabetes through to studies on people with diabetes. Work from Renal Research has highlighted the parallels between developmental biology and cancer cell biology in progressive kidney disease. In 2007 a key focus of our work has been to elucidate the cellular abnormalities inherent in epithelial to mesenchymal transition (common to cancer cell biology) and the recapitulation of developmental signaling processes in kidney disease.

Headed by Professor Jonathan Morris, Perinatal Research aims to improve the health and wellbeing of mothers and babies through biomedical, clinical and population health research.

The Sydney Deafness Research Centre (SDRC) is a research facility located on a hospital campus, the Kolling Building, part of the University of Sydney (Northern Campus). The SDRC team is led by Clinical Associate Professor Nirmal Patel, a surgeon scientist with a particular interest in cochlear implantation. Nirmal is an ear surgeon at the Royal North Shore and North Shore Private Hospitals campus. He spends his non clinical time with the SDRC team overseeing the research and deafness alleviation programme of the SDRC. Nirmal completed a Master of Surgery by Research Thesis through the New York University/ University of New South Wales in the field of gene and stem cell therapy of the inner ear. Nirmal also actively teaches audiology students, medical students, ENT registrars and audiologists on a weekly basis.