Background

Charles Kolling Memorial Laboratories in the 1940s. Image courtesy of Keith Miller.

The Kolling Institute is the longest-running medical research institute in New South Wales. Established in 1920 by Act of Parliament as the Institute of Pathological Research of NSW, the Institute has held a central position in the research activities of Royal North Shore Hospital in St Leonards, Sydney, for almost 90 years. In 1931 it moved into a new building (right) and was renamed the Kolling Institute of Medical Research in memory of Charles Kolling, an engineer whose widow Eva Kolling made a substantial donation towards its development.

W. Wilson Ingram, a pioneer in the treatment of diabetes, directed the Kolling Institute for almost 50 years from 1928. During this period, from 1935 to 1972, Max (Rudi) Lemberg, often described as the father of Australian biochemistry, led a major research progam in the biochemistry of blood pigments, and became the scientific director of the Institute. David Nelson, an acclaimed immunologist, was director from 1974 until his death in 1989. The current director, Robert Baxter, an international leader in the endocrinology, cell biology and biochemistry of cellular growth factors, took office in 1994.

The new Kolling Institute Research building is set to become the landmark building of the major re-development of the Royal North Shore Hospital site at St Leonards. The building was officially opened by the NSW Health Minister John Della Bosca in November 2008.

Over the decades the Kolling Institute grew substantially and extended into a number of other buildings across the Royal North Shore Hospital campus. In late 2008 these dispersed laboratories were consolidated into the new Kolling Building (left), a purpose-built, state-of-the-art medical research and education facility which was funded jointly by the NSW Department of Health and the University of Sydney. In addition to four floors for educational activities, the building includes seven dedicated research floors, potentially accommodating up to 350 research staff and students.

The Kolling Institute is now a research facility of both the Northern Sydney Central Coast Area Health Service and the University of Sydney. In addition to laboratory-based research in the Kolling Building, its programs include the clinical and public health research activities of its associated divisions. Its activities are substantially funded by competitive grants, supported by donations and other non-competitive funding, and underpinned by the Medical Research Support Program of the NSW Office for Science and Medical Research. The Kolling Institute is accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council and is a member of the Association of Australian Medical Research Institutes.