The Vice-Chancellor of The University of Queensland, Professor John Hay, AC, today accepted a bequest of $650,000 from the estate of Lisa Denise Palmer, who died of cancer after living with a paralysing spinal injury.
“It is a great honour to accept this grant from SpinalCure Australia for the Lisa Palmer Spinal Research Consortium, headed by the Queensland Brain Institute,” Professor Hay said at UQ’s Customs House in Brisbane.
“Lisa Palmer’s legacy will fuel the quest for a cure; her contribution may one day prove to be priceless.
SpinalCure Australia CEO Bob Turner, who presented a cheque to Professor Hay, said the executors of Lisa’s estate and SpinalCure Australia had agreed that the bequest should be used to fund the consortium. The consortium comprises the Queensland Brain Institute, Queensland Institute of Medical Research and the University of Melbourne Centre for Neuroscience.
“We are delighted that the Lisa Palmer Spinal Research Consortium will significantly contribute to this centre of excellence in Australia, which we believe is making a major contribution to spinal research.”
Professor Perry Bartlett, Director of the Queensland Brain Institute, said the bequest would fund three years of basic scientific research with part of the bequest being set aside for human clinical trials in the fourth year.
“It will allow the team at the Queensland Brain Institute and our consortium colleagues to further our discovery that inhibiting the molecule EphA4 leads to spinal cord repair.
“Lisa’s bequest will help us attain the goal of commencing human clinical trials in 2008,” Professor Bartlett said.