The PA Research Foundation (PARF) was established in 1984 as the philanthropic arm of the Princess Alexandra Hospital campus (Queensland’s leading research hospital and largest clinical trials center).
Our home - the PA Hospital campus - is one of the Southern Hemisphere’s leading precincts for medical discoveries housing Australia's most advanced research facility, the Translational Research Institute (TRI) as well as a new clinical research facility to conduct research on human subjects within the main hospital building. Additionally, co-located is Australia's first major mammalian biopharmaceutical production facility, Patheon Biologics.
The combination of a leading, innovative public hospital, medical research institute and biopharmaceutical production facility makes the PA Hospital Campus the first of its kind in Australia, which has the capacity to translate research from bench to bedside at a much faster rate.
PARF proudly celebrates a history of supporting groundbreaking medical research; most notably, by awarding seed funding to Professor Ian Frazer to help support his early research, which ultimately led to the discovery of the world's first cancer vaccine, Gardasil. The Gardasil Vaccine has since saved millions of lives globally and is on track to eliminate cervical cancer in Australia. Gardasil is widely regarded as the major milestone in the fight against cancer.
Our donor directed funding model has allowed us to work closer with the community, our donors and partners to help us to support life-saving-research across our 5 funding areas of skin cancer, prostate cancer, breast cancer, other health and other cancer. This renewed funding focus has allowed us to go back to our roots of funding new, innovative projects which have an emphasis on translating research into improved patient care.
PARF provides the PA Hospital campus with crucial funding for certain equipment, staff training and patient-focused initiatives.
In addition to funding medical research, thanks to the generosity from donors, community supporters and partners, PARF provides the PA Hospital campus with crucial funding for certain equipment, staff training and patient-focused initiatives that sit outside of Queensland Health budgets. This investment into the campus ensures that the PA remains at the forefront of new technology, patient care and treatment methods.
Everyday countless Australian lives of both the young and old are lost to serious health conditions, many of which could be prevented by early diagnosis, better health care and treatment alternatives. At the PA Research Foundation we are driven by this and are focused on saving lives and creating a healthy world for all – by working hand in hand with the community to create opportunities to bring amazing health and medical breakthroughs to life.
Major breakthroughs require risks. And they require the support and involvement of people who believe that innovation is vital. Working as one with our researchers, industry partners and the people impacted by health challenges—people everywhere, both patients and carers, family and friends—we can drive change and promote better health in our nation, region and the world.