SCA has keenly observed the good citizenship qualities of NRMA Insurance. For many years that organisation has supported many worthwhile community projects - particularly those related to the suffering caused by motor accidents.

In 2005 SCA approached NRMA Insurance to propose a joint venture which would provide funding for a three-year senior research fellowship. The outcome was positive and a $300,000 gift, of $100,000 over three-years (2006-2008), was granted.

SCA then placed advertisements in major newspapers in ACT and NSW calling for applications for the prestigious award.

Five applications were received and these were peer-reviewed by leading scientists and a clinician all involved in spinal cord injury research and treatment.

A unanimous decision was reached to award the fellowship to Dr David Brown to allow him to conduct a research project which will assess whether a transport of genetically modified autologous bone marrow cells can provide a therapeutic strategy for spinal cord injury. Dr Brown's laboratory will be located at the Centre for Immunology at St Vincent's Hospital Sydney which is a Research Centre of the University of NSW.

For the past two years Dr Brown, whose qualifications are MBBS (Hons) PhD FRACP FRCPA, has worked at The Salk Institute in California. His research has involved neuronal structure and functions. Prior to that he was at the Burnham Institute in California where the stem cell biology program was the research focus. Before embarking on a research career Dr Brown was clinician trained at St Vincent's Hospital in Sydney including two years as Director of Clinical Training.

SCA is proud to welcome Dr Brown back to Australia to take up his new post. The need to have co-operation between scientists and clinicians as we move towards trials of therapies for spinal cord injury is patently obvious. Dr Brown having expertise in both fields is an outstanding acquisition for the spinal cord research community in Australia. Thanks to the wonderful community support from NRMA Insurance it has been possible to bring back a leading Australian researcher to make a major contribution to the spinal cord research community in this country.