BACKGROUND
Background and History of NRF
Dr Trevor Dinning founded the Neurosurgical Research Foundation in 1963. The object of the Foundation is directed primarily towards research into the cause, diagnosis, prevention and treatment of diseases or injuries or malfunctions of the brain, spine and the nervous system.
By 1987, the NRF had funded research grants totalling about $90,000 and had also contributed to the salaries of a number of research workers.
With the passage of time it became evident that productive research in the surgical neuro-sciences required an academic basis, and in 1988 the Foundation launched an appeal to establish a Chair in Neurosurgery Research in South Australia . This was the first such Chair in Australia and was supported as a national project by the Neurosurgical Research Society of Australasia.
On January 29, 2004 , the Chair was established on permanent basis, and in tribute to the role of the NRF, it was renamed the NRF Chair of Neurosurgery. Donations amounting to $1,841,235 were presented to the University of Adelaide .
In 1992, when it was already clear that the Chair was a success, the NRF resumed its policy of offering grants, this time to neurosurgical research workers throughout Australia, on a competitive basis. In the period 1992 – 2004 grants totalling about $714,394 have been awarded.
Australia is well renowned as a force in neurosurgical research. Without a strong university presence, neurosurgical research in Australia will falter. Adelaide has the advantage of being well established. Clinical neurosurgical services are also predominantly located in one institution, the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH), and other neuroscientists are on campus or immediately adjacent. This concentrates experience and opens opportunities for non-academic neurosurgeons to have an involvement in research.
It is a statement to the increasing respect of NRF funded research that neuro-scientists throughout the world and Australia collaborate with the Chair of Neurosurgery at Adelaide University and with the independent grant recipients.
