History
Located in Adelaide South Australia, IMVS was first established in 1938 to provide laboratory diagnostic services for the Royal Adelaide Hospital (RAH) and the general medical community.
It began as a development from the RAH laboratories, largely due the vision of Sir Trent Champion de Crespigny, Medical Superintendent of the RAH and Dean of Medicine from 1929 to 1947, for an institute that combined laboratory services, teaching and research.
Since that time, the IMVS, a not for profit organisation, has expanded its services. In June 2008, Professor Ruth Salom was appointed Executive Director and formed a full state wide service incorporating all 6 metropolitan and 11 regional public hospital laboratories. Today the IMVS, with expertise in adult, perinatal and neonatal pathology, provides services to both South Australian public hospital patients as well as the South Australian general community.
As all pathology testing is performed in South Australia, the IMVS directly provides employment to over 2000 staff throughout the state, including remote and regional locations. IMVS is committed to the rural community and has a proud history of supporting the rural community for the long term.
The integration of the IMVS with teaching hospitals and university medical schools has allowed IMVS research, education and training to be expanded through its development of a comprehensive teaching and training program in pathology.
The IMVS actively supports research, having established within it the Hanson Institute and the Centre for Cancer Biology. It supports over 200 researchers, many working on studies to identify fundamental causes of cancer in order to find new ways to prevent and treat the disease. The success of IMVS research is exemplified by two IMVS staff being awarded SA Scientist of the Year; Professor John Hopwood in 2008 and Professor Angel Lopez in 2010.
Today, the IMVS is recognised not only within South Australia for the quality of its pathology services, but also throughout the world as a hub for innovative science leading to breakthrough therapies.
