QIMR Berghofer

Since 1945,  the Queensland Institute of Medical Research, now QIMR  Berghofer, has worked  to  improve  the  lives  of  people  locally,  and  across  the  globe  –  driving  better  health  outcomes through  impactful  medical  research.

Today, QIMR Berghofer is a prominent feature in the Brisbane skyline, with the Institute’s state-of-the-art facilities being housed across three buildings – The Bancroft Centre, The Clive Berghofer Cancer Research Centre and the Central Building – on Herston Road. However, the Institute had far more humble beginnings, originally operating from a decommissioned WWII US Army hut situated at Victoria Park/Barrambin.

Even in those early years, QIMR Berghofer built an international reputation for making ground-breaking and transformative discoveries. The Institute’s initial research focused heavily on the infectious diseases affecting Northern Australia at the time, including Q Fever, Scrub Typhus and Malaria. Today, QIMR Berghofer houses four vibrant research programs– Cancer, Infection & Inflammation, Brain & Mental Health, and Population Health – focusing on the health challenges.

Visitors will have a chance to:
View the special display of QIMR Berghofer’s 80-year history.
View the Water Memory artwork by renowned First Nations artist, Judy Watson.

Important Notice

Due to limited capacity for the lab tour, each individual may book only one ticket.
If you wish to register a guest or accompanying person, please ensure they book separately.
Thank you for your understanding.

Molecular Nutrition Laboratory

The Molecular Nutrition Laboratory studies the processes responsible for nutrient homeostasis and how they relate to health and disease. They focus predominantly on disorders of iron homeostasis and are passionate about improving the health of people with iron-related conditions, such as iron deficiency and the iron loading disorder hereditary haemochromatosis, both of which affect a surprisingly high number of Australians. In fact, iron-related disorders represent some of the most common conditions affecting humans worldwide. In the Molecular Nutrition Laboratory, researchers are working hard to understand the molecular basis of these disorders and to use this knowledge to develop better treatments for affected individuals.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.qimrb.edu.au/researchers-and-labs/molecular-nutrition

Mosquito Control Laboratory

The Mosquito Control Laboratory (MCL) manages state-of-the art pathogen and insect containment facilities with the capacity to undertake studies on all aspects of vector biology and disease transmission. They work on innovations in mosquito surveillance and control that might help interrupt parasite and pathogen transmission. The MCL has permission to hold a number of exotic mosquito species in addition to native Australian mosquitoes. These include insecticide-resistant and susceptible Aedes aegypti strains, Aedes albopictus and Anopheles stephensi. The MCL is able to perform mosquito vector competence assessments for globally emerging arboviruses, including dengue, Japanese encephalitis, Zika and chikungunya viruses, and for locally transmitted viruses; including Ross River and Barmah Forest viruses.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.qimrb.edu.au/researchers-and-labs/mosquito-control

The Conjoint Gastroenterology Laboratory

The Conjoint Gastroenterology Laboratory studies the molecular genetic alterations which underlie the progression of benign bowel polyps to bowel cancer. The laboratory has now developed an animal model of the serrated pathway and are testing chemoprevention strategies. The bowel cancers which arise through the serrated pathway often carry an oncogenic BRAF mutation and develop DNA methylation silencing important genes such as mismatch repair genes. These characteristics are important in predicting prognosis and response to chemotherapy and this is also a focus of r the research programme.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.qimrb.edu.au/researchers-and-labs/conjoint-gastroenterology

Cardiac Bioengineering Laboratory

The Cardiac Bioengineering Lab brings together engineering and cell biology disciplines to develop human cardiac organoid screening platforms This enables researchers to perform screening and large scale ‘omics’ experiments to determine how contractile function is controlled and what goes wrong in disease. Over the past 15 years, the laboratory  has discovered conditions that enhance maturation of cardiac organoids so that they reliably model human heart function. Together, these unique properties enable disease modelling and drug screening approaches that can be more reliably translated to the clinic. More recently as part of the Snow Medical Fellowship program, we have put considerable effort into developing a robust semi-automated process for 96-well plate screening for function, RNA-sequencing and proteomics.

FOR MORE INFORMATION: https://www.qimrb.edu.au/researchers-and-labs/cardiac-bioengineering

Education Lab

Our purpose-built Education Lab will showcase scientific equipment in action and is where attendees can get their gloves on for some hands-on experiments.

No bookings are required for general access to the Education Lab.

Enclosed shows must be worn, and persons under the age of 15 must be accompanied by an adult guardian.