Chairman's Report

The year 07/08 has been again a period of unprecedentedgrowth for the Foundation.Culminated by the single biggest donation of $250,000 by our Major National Sponsor ISIS.

This confirmed the Board’s resolve to “grow the business”to have a national identity to pursue the notion of a National BGF Virtual Research Institute and have nodes of research in each capital.

Currently interstate the BGF is supporting Professor John Bateman in Victoria at the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute and Professor David Little at the Westmead Children’s Hospital NSW.

Locally the success of the NHMRC funding has resulted in Dr Cory Xian’s transfer of research activity to a new facility at the University of SA. We congratulate him and his team as the BGF commits to continuing to support the group now totalling 12.

Three students completed their Honours projects in 2007 with excellent results. Dr Rosa McCarty, the inaugural John Fitzgerald PhD Scholarship and Dr Fiona Zhou, Big W Scholarship, were both awarded their degrees.

In the clinical area the BGF is part funding the salary of Dr Leanne Sutherland based in Women’s & Children’s Hospital, Orthopaedic Department focusing on scoliosis and other
clinical problems of growth.

The prospective enrolment of patients that require “Fitbone” limb lengthening surgery has continued. A result has been the publication of the successful outcomes in a peer review article “Leg Lengthening With a Motorised Nail in Adolescents” in Clinical Orthopaedics and Related Research, January 2008.

A visit to Dallas Texas in March ’08 to Dr John Birch at the TSRH to assist in establishing two more “proof of concept” operation successes with the Fitbone method by way of collaboration with the International Centre of excellence using this German device manufactured by Wittenstein and first used in Munich Germany by Professor Rainer Baum and Dr Peter Thaller.

There is no gain without pain however and we have had not as much success in the process of establishing a pathway of succession planning. More positively I note and thank Mr Andrew Black for his contribution whilst he was a Board Member 2005 – 2008 and now a casual
vacancy exists on the Board.

It remains to acknowledge the work of our secretariat Louise McDonald, Jill Lillis and the volunteers they coordinate that enable continued success. And to the patients that inspire the drive to find new solutions

Thank you

Bruce Foster