Behind some of the most powerful medical breakthroughs taking place in South Australia is something that rarely makes headlines — philanthropy.
For more than a decade, the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation has been quietly backing bioinformatics research at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute (SAHMRI), helping to build a world-leading capability that is transforming how disease is understood, diagnosed and treated.
“Bioinformatics is essentially the analysis of vast amounts of data,” explains Kerry de Lorme, Executive Director of the James & Diana Ramsay Foundation. “That data is analysed by bioinformaticians, working alongside clinicians, to support precision medicine, enabling better outcomes for patients.”
In simple terms, bioinformatics is the engine room behind modern medicine. As technology has evolved, medical researchers can now generate enormous volumes of data — from genomic sequencing to molecular analysis. Bioinformatics makes sense of that data, turning it into insights that can directly inform patient care.
“Twenty years ago, it took 13 years and around $3 billion to map a human genome,” Kerry says.
“With advancements in technology, backed by philanthropic support, today it can be done in under a day for less than $700. This field is moving at an extraordinary pace.”
The Foundation first partnered with SAHMRI more than 10 years ago, providing early support for a bioinformatics position that helped catalyse the growth of the discipline locally. That initial investment became the foundation for what is now the South Australian Genomics Centre — a nationally significant hub supporting researchers across health and medical science.
For Kerry, that early involvement highlights exactly why philanthropy plays such a critical role in medical research.
