Sixty life-changing years

It’s unbelievable how much The Hospital Research Foundation Group has achieved in its 60 years!

As this milestone rolls around in 2025, we’ve been uncovering even more about the life-changing impact The Group’s had on the South Australian community. Here are six of The Group’s most significant achievements in 60 years, made possible thanks to generous donors, fundraisers and supporters of The Hospital Research Foundation Home Lottery.

Transplant medicine
In 1965, the Southern Hemisphere’s first live kidney transplant was performed right here at The Queen Elizabeth Hospital, sparking the creation of The Hospital Research Foundation Group. They have since grown from supporting a single hospital to funding research and patient care across South Australia and Australia.

The Group has supported transplant research throughout its 60 years and played a pivotal role in funding South Australia’s first islet cell transplant for type 1 diabetes in 2010. The first recipient, Margaret Harrigan, had been living with type 1 diabetes for 35 years and was enduring up to three hypo episodes a day. “One day, I was eating dinner in front of the TV with my husband and the next minute, I was on the ground with him looking over me — I had passed out,” Margaret said. After the islet cell transplant, Margaret’s life changed dramatically and she no longer experienced the hypos that once had such a dangerous impact on her life.

The fight against cancer
Across The Hospital Research Foundation Group’s history, 50 percent of its funding each year has been used to directly attack common and rare cancers from all angles.

The ultimate goal is to find a cure and more effective treatments so that cancer becomes a manageable chronic disease, rather than a death sentence. Thanks to The Group’s support, critical breast cancer research, spearheaded by Associate Professor Wendy Ingman from the University of Adelaide and Basil Hetzel Institute for Translational Health Research, has led to women’s increased knowledge about breast density. Dense breasts are common and normal, but they also increase a woman’s risk of breast cancer and make it harder to see on a mammogram. As a result, Breastscreen SA now notifies women of their breast density during mammograms, empowering them to make informed decisions about their health.

Gut health
Understanding the importance of gut health has come a long way in 60 years, largely thanks to The Hospital Research Foundation Group. In 2016, it funded Australia’s first poo bank, BiomeBank, which was pivotal in trialling and proving that stool transplants cure some chronic bowel conditions like Clostridioides difficile (C-diff) — a bacterial infection that causes diarrhea, fever, abdominal pain and nausea. This treatment is now being trialled on other diseases, like ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease.

For Morgan Goss, a stool transplant was life-changing. Diagnosed with C-diff at 23, Morgan was left with vomiting, diarrhea, stomach pain, exhaustion and in and out of hospital. She was eventually recommended a stool transplant, which ended up being a miracle treatment. “Within 48 hours, all my symptoms had resolved. I went from feeling so bad to just feeling great, like it never happened,” Morgan said.

Responding in a crisis
The Hospital Research Foundation Group is also one of the few charities that can respond quickly in a crisis. When COVID-19 struck, it quickly funded vaccine research, supported frontline workers and provided essential equipment that helped vulnerable community members receive their treatment at home. And when the 2019/20 Adelaide Hills and Kangaroo Island bushfires hit, The Group acted swiftly to provide emergency funding for first responders battling the fires. The Group has also assisted other charities with grants and funding to help them continue their important work, like Treasure Boxes, Taboo, Rare Find Foundation, Childhood Dementia Initiative and others.

Under Our Roof
Under Our Roof is a special service that provides country cancer patients and their families a comforting place to stay while receiving treatment in Adelaide. The Hospital Research Foundation Group has four beautiful, family-style homes (two at Woodville West and two at Bowden), which allow a patient’s support network to stay with them. The Group is also looking to raise even more money to fund more homes. Cindy, a breast cancer patient from Streaky Bay who lives over 700 kilometres away from treatment in Adelaide, experienced the phenomenal impact of Under Our Roof. “You don’t know you need it until you need it,” Cindy said. “To stay somewhere like this is life-changing for someone like me.”

Health services
More recently, The Hospital Research Foundation Group has expanded its services to support the community directly. It now offers allied health services, including nurses, occupational therapists, exercise physiologists, counsellors and more. The Group also runs the Brain x Body Fitness Studio in Woodville, helping clients improve their mental and physical health while managing chronic conditions.

These are only six out of hundreds of achievements across its 60 years and none of these initiatives would have been possible without the community’s support. The Hospital Research Foundation Group relies solely on donations, fundraising and ticket proceeds from the Home Lottery to continue their vital work. Congratulations on 60 of the best! You’ve changed more lives than we’ll ever truly know.

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Level 1, 62 Woodville Road, Woodville

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