Introducing the State of Excellence

Some of the most influential people in the West Australian Health and Medical Research fields were invited to Government House in the evening for the inaugural ‘State of Excellence’ dinner. This series of events aims to celebrate West Australian achievement while bringing together leaders and experts from a chosen field of interest, with each month focusing on a selected area of advocacy and interest for the Governor and Ms Annus. State of Excellence facilitates the opportunity for those within the chosen field to come together, consider and plan the future of their industry.

The first event showcased our health and medical research industry.

Western Australia is home to an array of outstanding health and medical researchers, institutes, universities, businesses and organisations delivering ground-breaking research projects, findings, opportunities and outcomes. The medical research sector not only contributes significantly to the health and well-being of our population, but is also a vital economic contributor through job creation, knowledge development, innovation, commercialisation and investment opportunities, and global partnerships.

Western Australia is a world leader in health and medical research. The list of achievements and ground-breaking outcomes runs deep, and together with a highly skilled and innovative workforce, the sector continues to strive for scientific excellence and emerging opportunities.

The aim of this dinner was to celebrate the wonderful work being undertaken in WA, such as world first approaches and ground breaking research to improving outcomes across a range of health conditions, development of next generation vaccines, establishment of dedicated facilities, co-invention and commercialisation of a cell-based therapy used globally in burn treatment, 3D bio-printing skin cells to improve wound healing, development of novel imaging technology for surgery and new diagnostic devices.

It also allowed the Governor to connect forefront health and medical experts to those tasked with key decision-making – allowing for discussions on the future of the industry.

Advocacy and promotion of the WA Health and Medical research sector has been a key priority for the Governor on many fronts, including one-on-one meetings and group discussions with a wide cross-section of sector representatives including government, university, institute representatives, researchers, patronages. There have also been multiple visits across the years to institutes and organisations to view research in action. As well as this, Government House has hosted a Roundtable Breakfast for WA Health and Medical Life Sciences and a Governors Lecture Series for the Telethon Kids Institute.

The Governor would like to thank representatives from the WA Government, Telethon Kids Institute, Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research, Women and Infants Research Foundation, OncoRes Medical, Burns Service WA, Perron Institute for Neurological and Translational Science, Ear Science Institute Australia, Curtin Health Innovation Research Institute, as well as WA’s Chief Scientist and representatives from private capital organisations for their attendance.

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