Western Australian Governor, The Hon. Kim Beazley AC, today visited the future home of the Australian National Phenome Centre (ANPC) at the Harry Perkins Institute (South).

Led by Murdoch, the ANPC is one of the most significant research collaborations ever established in Western Australia, with the potential to transform how long and how well people live, not just in Australia, but around the world.

Governor Beazley was accompanied by Murdoch University Deputy Vice Chancellor of Research and Innovation, Professor David Morrison, and the Premier’s Fellow of Phenomics, Professor Elaine Holmes, on a tour of the ANPC premises, which are currently undergoing fit-out.

Ground-breaking research program

The ANPC is an international centre of expertise in metabolic phenotyping and a core platform of the Western Australian Health Translation Network (WAHTN), which brings together expertise from all WA universities, major hospitals, medical research institutes and partners.

Sophisticated and powerful data analysis technology to be housed at the ANPC – including the largest collection of mass spectrometers in the Southern hemisphere – will enable researchers to examine the complex interaction and influence of genes, the environment and lifestyle on human and animal health.

Professor Morrison said Murdoch University was proud to be leading such an ambitious and collaborative project.

“Thanks to this collaboration, the ANPC will house the world’s most advanced scientific infrastructure to advance clinical phenomics research, bringing health benefits to Australians and millions more around the world,” Professor Morrison said.

Professor Holmes said that, initially, ANPC researchers would focus on chronic diseases and the role nutrition and the environment play in an individual’s metabolic function.

“Such precise data will allow clinicians to better predict health problems and intervene earlier, saving time, money and lives. The potential of this research to provide truly personalised care is remarkable,” Professor Holmes said.

The ANPC is expected to be launched later this year.