Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD)

Engineering is the future of healthcare

The Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) is a biomedical research centre with a focus on chronic disease prevention, early intervention, and the use of robotic, digital and data engineering to improve equitable access to innovative healthcare.

ACMD brings together clinicians, engineers and scientists to tackle complex health challenges and collectively forge paths to uncover new treatments and techniques, as well as work with industry to accelerate medical discoveries and bring them to life.

Its strategic location on a hospital campus provides a unique advantage to work directly alongside clinicians and a greater opportunity to undertake benchtop-to-bedside trials more efficiently. 

Since its inception in 2016, ACMD has developed strong partnerships across academia, healthcare and industry. Experts are already working on projects that are creating smart devices, implantables and technology that aims to vastly improve the quality of life for people living with serious illness.

ACMD’s nine founding partners include St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, the Bionics Institute, the Centre for Eye Research Australia, the University of Melbourne, RMIT University, Swinburne University of Technology, Australian Catholic University and University of Wollongong Australia.

 

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The new centre

A brand-new $206 million ACMD facility is being built at St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne. This state-of-the-art centre will offer specialised research, development and engineering areas with advanced capabilities. The design will include:

  • Specialised laboratories – 3D printing labs, a clinical simulation lab, a human kinetics lab and controlled-environment labs
  • Insulated rooms that enable the development of sensitive hearing and vision technologies
  • Engineering workshops to produce medical device prototypes and robotics that can be used to fast-track clinical trials
  • An education centre to nurture future clinical, nursing, allied health and biomedical research innovators and leaders.

Currently operating from the ACMD BioFab facility located in the Clinical Sciences Building at St Vincent’s Fitzroy campus, the new ACMD centre is scheduled for completion in late 2024.

For more information about ACMD, visit www.acmd.org.au

ACMD Brochure

ACMD brochure