Baker IDI Heart and Diabetes Institute

Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute

The Institute's building in the AMREP, 2008
Founder(s)	John F. Mackeddie Thomas and Alice Baker Eleanor Shaw
Established	1926; 91 years ago (1926)
Mission	Medical research
Focus	Diabetes, heart disease, obesity
Chairman	Peter Scott
Director	Thomas Marwick
Faculty	Monash Partners Alfred Health Burnet Institute Cabrini Health Epworth HealthCare Monash University Prince Henry’s Institute Monash Health
Adjunct faculty	Alice Springs Alice Springs Hospital Aboriginal Medical Services Alliance Northern Territory Tangentyere Council Centralian Australian Aboriginal Congress Northern Territory PHN
Subsidiaries	Nucleus Network Ltd Osprem V-Kardia Pty Ltd Elacor Pty Ltd
Formerly called	Baker Medical Research Institute International Diabetes Institute
Location	75 Commercial Road, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
Coordinates	37°50′45″S 144°59′00″E / 37.84583°S 144.98333°E / -37.84583; 144.98333Coordinates: 37°50′45″S 144°59′00″E / 37.84583°S 144.98333°E / -37.84583; 144.98333
Website	www.baker.edu.au

The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, commonly known as the Baker Institute, is an Australian independent medical research institute headquartered in Melbourne, Victoria. Established in 1926, the institute is one of Australia’s oldest medical research organisations with an historical focus on cardiovascular disease. In 2008, it became the country’s first medical research institute to target diabetes, heart disease, obesity and their complications at the basic, clinical and population health levels.

The institute is located adjacent to The Alfred Hospital within the Alfred Medical Research and Education Precinct (AMREP). The institute also has a national Aboriginal Health program, with a research facility in Alice Springs in the Northern Territory.

The Institute’s research agenda is based on the notion of a disease continuum from birth to death, with the aim of treating, managing and preventing the progression of disease at any stage. Baker IDI’s work ranges from cellular and molecular biology research in the laboratory to clinical-based research through to lifestyle and behavioural research that aims to inform prevention strategies.

The Institute’s science strategy and organisation structure contains programs to encourage broad-based, multidisciplinary research to focus on peaks of scientific excellence, and domains to accommodate funding and line management.

The present five programs focus on specific questions that form the basis for the Institute’s work. Baker IDI’s teams comprising medical specialists, scientists and public health experts are focussed on bringing their knowledge and expertise to bear on these areas:

The Institute’s domains are based around seven themes.

The Baker Medical Research Institute was the creation of Dr. John F. Mackeddie, a clinical doctor and researcher, who had the idea of improving the laboratory facilities at The Alfred Hospital to keep up with advances in research. Mackeddie persuaded his friend, the photography industry pioneer and philanthropist Thomas Baker and his wife, Alice and sister-in-law, Eleanor Shaw, to assume financial responsibility. They decided the Institute should not only provide a better laboratory service for the hospital but should also have facilities for medical research.