Chair of Neurosurgery

NRF Chair of Neurosurgery at Adelaide University

In 1992 the NRF established the Gwendolyn Michell Chair of Neurosurgery Research at Adelaide University. This was the first University Chair of Neurosurgery in Australia. Clinical neurosurgical services are also predominantly located in one institution in Adelaide , 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.

Without a strong university presence, neurosurgical research in Australia will falter. In the past, many hospital-based neurosurgeons were able to do research of the highest calibre. Today, our public health system has changed enormously and barely a week goes by without media coverage of the strain it is under. As this pressure rises, patient care remains the highest priority and the first areas to suffer are teaching and research. It is becoming even more important to have university neurosurgeons who have indeed a commitment to patient care but whose first priority is teaching and research. This requires a nucleus of people with similar interests to allow for cross fertilisation of ideas, sharing of clinical responsibilities and provision of a clear career path for young academic neurosurgeons.

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 Neurosurgical Research. Donations amounting to $1,841,235 were presented to the University of Adelaide.