Some Past Initiatives

Extensive skin loss, such as that caused by burns, results in serious complications and may lead to death if not prevented by early wound closure. In this project, Dr Mark Eisenberg of Sydney, working jointly with Dr Hanna Ben Bassat of Hadassah University Hospital in Jerusalem and supported by a grant from the Fund, worked to develop cultured skin for grafting purposes. Small pieces of skin from an unrelated donor were placed in culture dishes to grow into large sheets which can be transplanted to the patient to cover a wound. In experiments with skin taken from the actual burns victim, Dr Ben Bassat was able to achieve similar outcomes. Both methods have resulted in successful transplantations and ultimately to the setting-up of "skin banks" where skin produced by these methods is able to be stored for later use.

With the assistance of the Sir Zelman Cowen Universities Fund, Dr Tony Basten working at the Clinical Immunology Research Centre at the University of Sydney studied the use of Interferon on patients with a particular type of leukaemia which did not respond well to any type of therapy. It had a dramatic effect on these leukaemia patients and soon came to be regarded as the mainstay of treatment for this type of leukaemia.