Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research

07/03/2026

To mark International Women's Day this year, we want to acknowledge all the amazing women who support the life-changing research happening at the Perkins.

Our heartfelt thanks to the dedicated women who Ride, Walk and Swim to raise funds for research into cancer, heart disease and rare genetic diseases.

To those women who give generously every month as part of our Spark monthly giving program, through our appeals or by leaving gifts in your wills.

To the army of women who volunteer their time and energy to support at events and every day throughout the year to help keep us going.

To the women who get behind their friends and family in so many other ways to help them achieve seemingly impossible feats to beat the diseases that take our loved ones far too soon.

To the women behind the scenes at the Perkins who make research possible.

And to the women who dedicate their lives to research, giving their all to find answers for families living with disease, thank you.

Thank you - today and every day - for the strength, courage and energy you give to help your loved ones live longer, healthier lives.

04/03/2026

Vale Dennis Cometti AM

We are saddened to hear of the passing of Western Australian sports broadcasting icon, Dennis Cometti AM, earlier today.

More widely known as the voice of the AFL, in 2017 Dennis graciously agreed to become an ambassador for Cardiac Health Research and lent his voice to the Perkins campaign to raise funds to establish what is now the Cardiovascular Science and Diabetes Program at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research.

Together with Olympian Ric Charlesworth AO, cricket legend John Inverarity MBE and Chief Justice The Hon Wayne Martin AC KC, Dennis kindly shared his family's very personal story about the loss of his father, when Dennis was just 19 years old, from a sudden heart attack.

Thanks to Dennis's willingness to share his story, and his tireless work to promote the need for a world-class specialist cardiovascular health research facility in Western Australia, the Cardiovascular Science and Diabetes Program at the Perkins remains at the forefront of leading developments in understanding, preventing, predicting and treating heart disease, saving lives not just in WA, but around the world.

On behalf of all the researchers, staff, volunteers, students and supporters of the Perkins, thank you, Dennis, for sharing your family's story so generously for this worthy cause, and for many decades of entertainment on our airwaves sharing your passion for Footy.

28/02/2026

How rare are "Rare Diseases"? Did you know that over 2 million Australians have a rare disease?

Today is Rare Disease Day, and it is a global awareness campaign dedicated to discussing rare diseases.

Rare diseases are often misunderstood, misdiagnosed, and poorly supported, which makes it challenging for individuals living with these conditions to receive the care and attention they need. That's why support for medical research that leads to better outcomes and diagnoses are so important.

Thank you for supporting the vital research at the Perkins that helps to find answers for families affected by rare diseases. You’re helping researchers find answers which can lead to treatments, and help couples planning their families.

If you would like to make a donation towards life-changing medical research, head to the 🔗 in the comments.

We hope you've enjoyed the interviews we've posted throughout the week highlighting the rare disease research work being done at the Perkins, all thanks to supporters such as yourself.

27/02/2026

One more day until Rare Disease Day, and for our final interview in the leadup we spoke to Emeritus Professor Nigel Laing AO about his work in rare genetic diseases.

Watch his interview below where he talks about Mackenzie’s Mission, a $20 million federal government project that he was one of the three co-leads on, which researched how to make reproductive carrier screening for rare diseases available free to all Australians who want to use it.

If you would like to make a donation towards ongoing rare disease research, head to the 🔗 in the comments.

27/02/2026

Tomorrow is - hear from our second last interviewee Dr Rhonda Taylor about her work in rare genetic disease.

Dr Rhonda Taylor is a Research Associate in the Rare Disease Genetics and Functional Genomics Laboratory at the Perkins, within which she is the Leader of the Disease Models and Therapies Team.

Thanks to support from kind people like yourself, Rhonda is currently researching a subset of rare genetic neuromuscular disorders called congenital myopathies.

Specifically, her research has two main aims; 1) To develop new treatments for early onset muscle disorders, and 2) create patient-centric disease models that can be used to test the effectiveness of these treatments.

Watch her short interview below.

As Rhonda eloquently summarises in her interview, her work (and the wider research being conducted at the Perkins) is only made possible thanks to generous and kind people such as yourself. You’re providing vital equipment for the team to use to conduct their studies and you’re keeping scientists in the labs, allowing them to follow their passion and make medical breakthroughs that help people live longer, healthier, better lives.”

If you would like to make a donation, please head to the 🔗 in the comments.

Send a message to learn more

26/02/2026

Your latest Safe Harbour Fellow! (Part 2)

Meet your newest Safe Harbour Fellow, Perkins researcher Dr Rui Hou.

Rui received the Perkins Safe Harbour Fellowship, which thanks to people like you means his ground-breaking research is funded for three years!

Dr Rui Hou, a bioinformatician, is developing tools to study cell-to-cell communication networks using single-cell sequencing and spatial transcriptomics data, strengthening discovery across other Perkins research programs.

He is doing this through research on 'cytokines', which are molecules that control how immune cells communicate and fight disease.

The funding he will receive will further his research into cytokines, and hopefully guide the design of more precise cytokine-based treatments for cancer, autoimmune disease and infections.

You've directly supported this potentially life-saving medical research, helping improve medical outcomes and treatment options in the future.

25/02/2026

There’s only a few days left until Rare Disease Day, and Dr Mridul Johari has a powerful story to share that really gives hope to families affected by rare genetic diseases.

Dr Mridul Johari, a molecular geneticist and research fellow from the Perkins Rare Disease Genetics and Functional Genomics Program, sat down with us recently to talk about his research, which is supported by kind and generous people like you.

Watch his short interview below, where he talks about his research and how he directly helped someone halfway around the world get a diagnoses for their muscle disease after years and years of searching.

Mridul’s current research at the Perkins on rare neuromuscular diseases is only made possible thanks to donors and supporters just like you. Because of you, people just like the patient Mridul helped, are getting life-changing answers they have been waiting years for.

If you would like to donate to help researchers like Mridul continue to find answers for families, follow the 🔗 in the comments.

24/02/2026

Rare Disease Day is fast approaching, and Researcher Gavin Monahan’s recent trip to India may hold hope for families affected by Rare Genetic Diseases.

Gavin, a bioinformatician from the Perkins Rare Disease Genetics and Functional Genomics Program, attended the Undiagnosed Hackathon in India. This is a yearly gathering of researchers, AI scientists and clinicians from around the world, working together to find answers for families and people living with undiagnosed genetic diseases.

Watch Gavin’s short interview to find out how they went.

Gavin’s incredible contributions to these discussions was only made possible thanks to donors and supporters like you. Because of you and your support of research into the genetic causes of rare disease, these families, and many more like them, can get the answers they need.

If you would like to donate to help more families affected by rare disease, head to the 🔗 in the comments.

23/02/2026

Rare Disease Day is right around the corner – here’s some ground-breaking genetic disease research that you don’t want to miss. 👇

The Rare Disease Genetics and Functional Genomics Program at the Perkins works to explore the genetic cause of rare diseases that are often fatal, and more often than not, affect children. The Group are a team of dedicated medical scientists, genetic counsellors and clinicians who are passionate about finding answers for people living with rare diseases, to know the genetic cause of their disease and to explore possible life-changing treatments.

A few of the researchers in the Program have shared what they’re doing in this vital field. The first interviewee of five is Dr Joshua Clayton. Watch to hear about what he does here at the Perkins, his hope for rare disease research in the future, and more.

Making that genetic diagnosis is the turning point for families who are in the dark about why their children are suffering from disease. It provides them with answers; it provides them options around planning a family; and it informs precision medicine.

These breakthroughs in medical research and answers for families are only made possible thanks to incredibly generous donors and supporters like you. Because of you, this research can continue, helping families whose children are affected by debilitating rare genetic disease.

Please, if you would like to donate to help keep this research going, head to the 🔗 in the comments.

16/02/2026

Your latest safe harbour fellow! (Part 1)

👉 Meet your newest Safe Harbour Fellow, Perkins researcher Dr Rowan Sanderson. Rowan received the Cancer 200 Perkins Safe Harbour Fellowship, which thanks to people like you means his ground-breaking research is funded for three years!

A senior biomedical engineer in the BRITElab, Rowan is uncovering the mechanical origins of breast cancer using advanced light-based imaging techniques.

A key hallmark of breast cancer is the altered mechanical properties, with tumours being stiffer than the surrounding healthy tissue. This stiffness has long been utilised as a biomarker, from clinical palpation during surgery through to advanced biomechanical imaging techniques.

However, stiffness not only signals cancer but also drives its progression. While important, the relationship between cancer and stiffness is unclear given a lack of imaging tools capable of capturing these interactions. Now with the Fellowship to support his research, he hopes to develop and apply 'optical coherence elastography' to investigate cancer stiffness across a range of studies, uncovering new insight that may improve targeted therapies.

He received the Cancer 200 Perkins Safe Harbour Fellowship, which is funded through the incredible efforts of MACA Cancer 200 Ride participants and their generous supporters!

Thank you to the riders, their friends and family who helped them raise funds, and everybody else who supported them on the way for last year's MACA Cancer 200 ride - your efforts and generosity directly made this medical research possible. Because of you, this potentially life-changing medical research is being supported and may help improve medical outcomes for breast-cancer patients in the future. 💙

Part 2 that spotlights the second Fellowship, the General Perkins Safe Harbour Fellowship, will be posted soon.

13/02/2026

Valentine's Day is right around the corner and we get it's a busy time for most, so we've prepared some heartfelt cards just for you!

Tag someone you adore in the comments or send it to them to let them know how much you 'gene' to them. 😉💙