Associate Professor Hugh Dunstan, D.Phil. Oxford
School of Environmental & Life Sciences
The University of Newcastle

The Gideon Lang Research Foundation is extremely fortunate to have a board representing a wealth of experience and enthusiasm for initiating fund-raising projects and seeing them through to completion. Each member of the board has relevant experience and training in appropriate fields to make the GLRF a great success, with expertise in financial management, local government, University research and community awareness.

In present times we are continually asked to donate to many different worthwhile causes and the challenge is to generate novel projects which involve the community. Chronic pain and fatigue conditions can affect 30% of the population at some stage in their life and fund-raising is desperately needed to support research. Generally the pain and fatigue conditions are poorly defined and largely ignored by the research fraternity or found too difficult to manage by the medical community.

We have taken on the challenge of fundraising by developing working relationships with sporting clubs at the University of Newcastle. The first venture is the instigation of the Rowing Marathon where the students and staff attract sponsorship for completing a gruelling 40Km row. We would like to extend the sponsorship capacity to those of you from different countries to help build the Gideon Lang Research Foundation to a level where we can support research initiatives all around the world.

Tell your friends and relatives about our endeavours. The first result of our activities is the provision of a specialized website called “PainFriends” which provides chat rooms and a range of specialized information resources. It is designed for those of you who may be restricted due to chronic illness to establish contacts around the world and to exchange ideas.

We wish to foster innovative initiatives in multidisciplinary medical/science research. The board acknowledges the need for multi-disciplinary approaches to tackle complex problems and there is also a need to facilitate collaborations between science and clinical medicine. The GLRF will foster excellence and promote the publication and dissemination of research materials to those who most need the information for patient management and the transfer of technology to clinical practice.

I hope that we can count on your support to help us to grow the foundation to a level where we can fund substantial projects bringing scientists and doctors together to progress our knowledge base of chronic disease and to generate innovative patient management programs.

Thanking you in anticipation of your support.

Hugh Dunstan
President, The Gideon Lang Research Foundation