Liverpool. Key economic accelerator

Liverpool City Council and the Parramatta-based Regional Development Australia – Sydney have partnered to conduct a study and to get a comprehensive picture of future economic and employment trends of the city’s health and hospital cluster, and to study the multiplier effect of the cluster. Sal Husain, manager, economic development, said the overall potential of the emerging Liverpool bio-medical cluster, had so far not been appreciated. He regards it as a key accelerator for economic development. He said almost 15 per cent of the jobs were in the health sector, and Liverpool Hospital was gaining a very solid reputation as a major research hub along with Ingham Institute for Applied Medical Research.

Blacktown. $10.5 million project

The Sydney West Joint Regional Planning Panel will consider, on August 2, a DA lodged by the University of Western Sydney for an “educational establishment” comprising the construction of a new 2-storey building with a 400-seat lecture theatre, 20 classrooms, associated amenities on its Nirimba campus. The proposed building has been designed to accommodate 1000 students and 40 staff, increasing the total number of students and staff on site to 5056 The proposed development has a capital investment value of $10.5 million.

Westmead. Eureka Prize finalists

Associate Professor David Booth, Professor Jacob George and Professor Graeme Stewart, at the Westmead Millennium Institute, are finalists in the Australian Museum Eureka Prize. Treatment for hepatitis C is very expensive and unpleasant, requiring frequent injections, but clears the virus in only 50 per cent of cases. Associate Professor David Booth’s team has identified a gene test to predict who will best respond to treatment, saving many patients from current treatments that may not work. The winners will be announced on August 28. This is the second time WMI researchers have been selected as Eureka Prize finalists.