Some of Australia’s biggest philanthropists including the Ingham family and Lady Mary Fairfax played a vital role in improving the health of Australian communities by supporting the 2016 Ingham Institute Ball.
Led by Australian TV icon Kerri-Anne Kennerley as MC, this year’s ball was attended by more than 300 dedicated sponsors and supporters and raised $180,000.
Funds raised will support all of the Institute’s medical research programs.
Professor Michael Barton, Ingham Institute Research Director, thanked all of the event sponsors and attendees for their tremendous support.
“Over the past 12 months our researchers have made significant achievements on both national and global stages which are, right now, creating a pathway to prevent and eradicate serious diseases impacting Australians,” Professor Barton said.
“The funds raised from the 2016 Ingham Institute Ball will make a huge difference, helping our researchers to transfer their findings into new treatments and methods of care for diseases including cancer, diabetes, mental health, injury and trauma,” he said.
Presentations on the night included two of the institute’s globally recognised researchers who have also had books published about their impressive work and achievements, Prof Ian Harris and Prof Ken Hillman.
Prof Harris, leader of the injury stream of research, highlighted the importance of his research which evaluates the effectiveness of treatments offered to surgical patients – the key focus of his new book Surgery, the Ultimate Placebo.
Prof Ken Hillman, author of Vital Signs and the brainchild of the Medical Emergency Team (MET) protocol, articulated his 25 year journey developing and implementing the MET call system.
Now used across hospitals globally, MET has helped to reduce hospital mortality and cardiac arrests by one third. This amounts to hundreds of thousands of lives saved every year in Australia and around the world.
Ingham Institute chairman Terry Goldacre declared the ball a success and thanked all sponsors for their generosity.
