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Monday 8:30am - 5pm Tuesday 8:30am - 5pm Wednesday 8:30am - 5pm Thursday 8:30am - 5pm Friday 8:30am - 5pm

Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI)

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New Lambton, NSW
Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI)

We're taking healthy further. Hunter Medical Research Institute (HMRI) exists to transform the health and wellbeing of our communities. We’re thinking long term.

As the largest regional medical research institute in Australia, since 1998 our groundbreaking work has changed the lives of so many. We could never have done it alone. HMRI has been about collaboration from day one, when a group of world-class researchers, health professionals and community leaders created an organisation to make a positive impact on peoples’ lives. The unique partnership with our local health district, university and community, has enabled us to punch above our weight and work together in agile ways to tackle the biggest health issues of our time. We remain focused on innovation and medical research that’s relevant to everyday life. Our world leading experts collaborate across multi-disciplinary teams with one goal: to help our community be healthier and live their best lives. We’re working in the lab and beyond. We’re always listening and learning from our community to help us shape our research priorities, so we can make sure we’re providing impact where it’s needed most. At HMRI, every day we’re taking healthy further.

16/04/2026

For many young Australians, school is where they first learn about relationships, consent and sexual health. But are they getting what they actually need?

New research led by researchers from HMRI and The University of Newcastle, Australia Dr Jessie Sutherland and PhD candidate Ava Medley found a significant gap between what educators think students need and what students say they want and need.

The findings show curriculum gaps are having real consequences. In 2022, people aged 15 to 29 accounted for 69% of Chlamydia cases and 48% of Gonorrhoea cases in Australia.

Many young people also report that consent education lacks practical clarity, fertility is rarely discussed, and LGBTQIA+ experiences are largely absent from the classroom. When gaps exist, young people fill them with information from peers and online sources that aren't always accurate or safe.

This NSW Youth Week, we're amplifying the message that young Australians deserve sexuality education that is inclusive, accurate and built around their voices.

Read the full story:
https://okt.to/YnJdlw

14/04/2026

Step right up 🎪
Tickets to the 2026 HMRI Fun Fair Gala Ball are officially on sale!

Join us on Saturday, 20 June 2026 for an evening inspired by the charm and spectacle of a vintage circus, featuring three-course dining, a drinks package, live entertainment from , a live auction, Diamond Draw and raffle, and the unveiling of this year’s HMRI Art Series Commission.

But beyond the spectacle lies something even more powerful. Every ticket purchased directly supports HMRI researchers working to improve prevention, diagnosis and treatment for the health challenges affecting our community and our world.

Secure your seat or table here https://hmri.org.au/get-involved/events/2026-hmri-gala-ball-the-fun-fair/ 🎟️

07/04/2026

Together for Health is this year's World Health Day theme. For HMRI, it's how we've always worked, and today we're celebrating just how far that work has come.

Our research is grounded in its connection to the community we're here to serve, clinicians, and our partners The University of Newcastle, Australia and the Hunter New England Local Health District. It's what ensures the research we do here reaches the people who need it most.

A new bridge connecting HMRI to the John Hunter Hospital Health and Innovation Precinct is nearly complete and represents over 1,500 researchers and staff working alongside those partners toward one shared goal.

The new acute services building at John Hunter Hospital will bring a new emergency department, expanded ICU capacity, more operating theatres and a newly approved rooftop helipad, strengthening the hospital's role as the region's major tertiary and trauma centre.

When that bridge opens, people in the Hunter New England region will have faster, more direct access to clinical trials and innovative treatments, with researchers and clinicians working side by side. For a community of one million people, that means better health outcomes, closer to home.

Getting research from the lab to the people who need it has always been the goal. This bridge just makes that journey a little shorter.

05/04/2026

Happy Easter from all of us at HMRI 🐣
The Easter Bunny made a quick stop by… we’re still fact-checking their nutrition advice.

02/04/2026

There is real science behind why chocolate makes you feel so good. Ahead of Easter, we asked Professor Karen Charlton from the The University of Newcastle, Australia and HMRI’s Nutrition and Metabolic Health Research Program to break it down.

Chocolate contains a unique mix of compounds, including theobromine, flavanols and phenylethylamine, that can influence how you think and feel. Some act as mild stimulants, others support blood flow to the brain, and others trigger the release of feel-good chemicals like dopamine, serotonin and endorphins.

Professor Charlton walks us through the science behind the craving, why the type of chocolate you choose actually matters, and what moderation looks like when the research is doing the talking.

Dark chocolate with 70 per cent or higher cacao content is where the brain-health benefits sit, and a small amount enjoyed regularly is what the evidence actually supports. Not quite the Easter-egg-sized serving most of us have in mind.

Read the full article for the full scoop:
https://okt.to/rWnafd

31/03/2026

76% of Australians support letting students wear sports uniforms every day and researcher Belinda Peden says it could be one of the simplest wins for kids' health we're not yet taking.

Her study, published in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, analysed nearly 2,000 public responses and found strong backing for the change, with equity and inclusion coming through as key themes alongside the physical activity benefits.

Belinda, a researcher from The University of Newcastle, Australia and HMRI's Population Health Research program, says traditional uniform policies more frequently disadvantage girls, students from diverse cultural and religious backgrounds, low-income families, and gender and sexually diverse students. Sports uniforms, by contrast, give kids more freedom to move and more comfort throughout the school day.

The World Health Organization recommends children do at least 60 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity every day, but globally only one in three kids are hitting that target. Belinda believes flexible uniform policies are a low-cost, scalable way schools can help close that gap.

Read the full findings: https://okt.to/CngVGQ

30/03/2026

What an incredible Sunday! 🏃‍♀️

48 team HMRI fundraisers took on Hill to Harbour and raised $13,679, making us the second highest charitable team in the whole event, helping fund the medical breakthroughs that matter most to our community.

Special mention to the HMRI Mascot for being the hype crew we all needed, and to Mike Collins who hauled a backpack full of rocks across 12km in his mythological inspired Sisyphus Challenge.

To our runners, our donors, and everyone who shared, cheered and supported from afar, thank you!
Missed out on the day? You can still donate to Team HMRI:
https://okt.to/h5KM3Z

26/03/2026

Colorectal cancer is one of the leading causes of cancer-related death globally.
For many patients, surgery is life-saving. But it can come with a serious, sometimes fatal, complication that doctors currently have no reliable way to predict or prevent.

This National Colorectal Cancer Awareness Month, we're spotlighting HMRI's Microleaks Project, led by colorectal surgeon Associate Professor Peter Pockney and microbiologist Dr Emily Hoedt.

Their research is investigating the role the gut microbiome plays in anastomotic leaks, one of the most serious complications of bowel surgery, which can leave patients with a permanent stoma bag or, in the worst cases, cost them their life. The goal is a probiotic that could prepare a patient's body to heal before surgery even begins.

Emily and her team are around five years away from a medical advance that could change outcomes for bowel surgery patients worldwide. But 92% of Australian medical research grant applications miss out on government funding every year, and this project is no exception.

Learn more and support the research:
https://okt.to/EOe0qP

25/03/2026

Hill to Harbour is this Sunday, and Team HMRI is on the move! 🏃‍♀️

Thank you to everyone who has donated so far! You've helped us raise $8,809 towards our $20,000 goal, and every dollar funds research into the conditions touching the lives of people right here in our community, from cancer and heart disease to dementia and mental health.

$100 can help keep a lab running
$500 helps fund an MRI
$1,000 can help power a full day of research

It all adds up, and it all makes a difference.

Donate to Team HMRI or support one of our runners:
https://okt.to/rGjW8A

24/03/2026

We are incredibly grateful to announce Art for Impact 2026 raised over $80,000!

Three days at Earp Distilling Co. where local artists and so many wonderful people came together in support of medical research right here in the Hunter.

From the artists who so generously donated their works, to the guests who came along and the bidders who took something beautiful home, this was a true community effort. That $80,000 goes directly to the research working to prevent, treat and cure diseases impacting our Hunter New England community and beyond.

A heartfelt thank you to our presenting partners HIC Services and sponsors Cougar Group, Entire Concrete, Turks and MOVABLELE, whose support helped make every bit of it possible.

📸 Art for Impact Long, Long Luncheon captured by EMG photography

23/03/2026

When research funding declines, so does the science that protects us all.

That's why immunologist Dr Alexandra Spencer is running 12km at Hill to Harbour this Sunday for HMRI 🔬🏃‍♀️

Based right here in Newcastle, Alex is channelling her passion for understanding how our immune system fights disease into every step of the 12km course.

Learn more and support Alex's run for medical research: https://okt.to/UnDEjx

Address

1 Kookaburra Cct
New Lambton, NSW
2305

Opening Hours

Monday	8:30am - 5pm
Tuesday	8:30am - 5pm
Wednesday	8:30am - 5pm
Thursday	8:30am - 5pm
Friday	8:30am - 5pm

Telephone

+611300993822

Website

http://www.hmri.org.au/

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Giving Hope, Finding Answers

What began in 1998 as a bold vision to improve community wellbeing in the Hunter Region of NSW has today evolved into a world-class institute with 1500 medical researchers, students and support staff striving to prevent, treat and defeat a multitude of serious illnesses. Over 20 years later the health and wellbeing of the community remains at the heart of all we do.

Delivering patient-focused translational research is our major goal, which means seed funding start-up studies, supporting larger scale research projects whilst fostering a flow of information and innovation back and forth between scientists, clinicians and public health professionals. Attracting top health and medical specialists and collaborating with other leading institutes and industries helps to fast-track the provision of new and better health solutions.