Club Visits The Telethon Institute

Former secretary Des Mant:  reported on the club visit to the Telethon Kids Institute.  The party was welcomed by Dr Paul Watt who (apart from being president Laurie Smith’s nephew) is the institute’s Drug Discovery Unit head and research strategy leader, as well as  Adjunct Professor at the University of  WA’s Centre for Child Health Research. After  graduating from UWA, Paul Watt completed his doctorate in molecular biology at Oxford University before taking up post-doctoral appointments in yeast genetics at Harvard and Oxford.

Dr Watt told the visiting Rotarians and spouses that the institute’s strength was the combination of laboratory research and population science.

Des said visiting the institute made it clear where donated  money went. Ken Gray remarked on the medical robots which took much of the drudgery out of the researchers work.

Dr Raelene Endersby took the visitors through several labs after Dr Watt departed.  One small machine, which deeply impressed your scribe, was constantly jiggling liquids horizontally and then vertically.  It was labelled “The Belly Dancer”.