NRF supporters acknowledged for service at Government House event

A group of dedicated supporters of the NeuroSurgical Research Foundation (NRF) were thanked for their service by Her Excellency the Honourable Frances Adamson AC and Mr Rod Bunten, at Government House Adelaide on Wednesday 8^th December 2021.

This reception acknowledged the outstanding contributions of a number of personal, community and corporate benefactors who have contributed to the success of the Foundation over the past 2 years.

NRF President Dr Glenn McCulloch congratulated the award recipients and thanked them for their support.

“Your donations, fundraising and support ensure that advances in neurosurgical research, knowledge and clinical techniques will continue to save lives and improve quality of life,” he said.

The NRF is proud of its approach of providing innovative and new research with seed funding to start new research. The results of these projects enable researchers to apply for more significant funding from the Commonwealth Government, such as the National Health and Medical Research Council funding.

Dr McCulloch said, “In the past 16 months, $450,000 of seed funding provided by the NRF has enabled our researchers to attract $10.9 million in further research funding to South Australia. This is 25-fold return for every NRF dollar of seed funding - an outstanding result.

“Thank you to every one of our donors and fundraisers – we could not achieve this incredible result without you.”

The NRF is currently funding researchers at all three local SA universities, SAHMRI, the Royal Adelaide Hospital and the Women’s and Children’s Hospital. The funding of medical research is vital for this area, which is facing alarming statistics:

• Brain Tumour - 1000 people a year are diagnosed with Glioblastoma, the most aggressive form of brain cancer – which has an average survival period of 15 months.
• Traumatic Brain Injury - TBI is the leading cause of disability and death worldwide, with as many as 69 million people suffering from a brain injury or brain damage each year.
• Spinal Cord Injury - leaves patients disabled and dependent for basic daily activities and there are currently no effective treatments available for SCI.
• Stroke - 1 in 4 people will suffer a Stroke in their lifetime.
• Parkinson’s - In Australia 1 in every 350 Australians suffers from Parkinson’s, with 32 new cases diagnosed each day.

The full list of award recipients is below:

Friend of the Foundation – Gold Donations $100,000+

• Nadia Kingham & Anthea Dinning (absent Anthea Dinning)

Equipment Donations Royal Adelaide Hospital and Women’s & Children’s Hospital

• The Wilkins Family Foundation: Mrs Sandy, Mr Michael and Miss Kristen Wilkins

Major Benefactor Silver Donations $25,000+

• Francis X Donlan

Major Benefactor Bronze Donations $10,000+

• Donors: Frank & Margaret O’Neill
• Donor: Mel Zerner
• Donor: Santosh Poonnoose
• Fundraiser: Adelaide Brain Tumour Support – Annette Taylor
• Fundraiser: Running for Richard - Kerry Buttery
• Fundraiser: Picnic for Carmel – Carmine, Alexander & Alyssia Maio
• Fundraiser: Pete’s Army - Amy & Jess Cutting

Benefactor Donations $5,000+

• Donor: Marina Pascale
• Donor: Casandra Hewett
• Donor: Margaret Dingle
• Fundraiser: Kylie & Peter Verhagen