CMRI is a world-leading independent research institute dedicated to discovering how to prevent or treat birth defects, children’s cancer and genetic diseases. CMRI actively conducts fundamentally important medical and biological research, and as Australia’s first medical research facility dedicated to children, has been helping to save the lives of children for over 60 years.

Together with Plato and Resolution Capital, the Foundation formed a partnership with CMRI in FY18, funding key upgrades to one of CMRI’s research facilities and purchasing important new research equipment. Funding has continued to be directed towards research and equipment, and in FY25 will support a new research project: targeting cancer cell immortality to improve treatment of aggressive cancers.

Current funding supports the purchase of a new VantaStar Multimodal Plate Reader. The VANTAstar is a highly versatile instrument for multi-mode detection in microplate-based experiments, widely used in biotech, pharma, and academic research labs for high-throughput and precise data acquisition. This upgraded microplate reader replaces an obsolete system, enhancing precision and throughput for fluorescence, absorbance, and luminescence assays across multiple research groups.