Tomorrow I’ll welcome My Third Governor and sixth Health Minister to the RBWH Foundation Research Grant Awards. I seem to be immune as this will be my 7th year as MC. It’s the most challenging gig of my year. The Hospital Staff are brilliant, but no matter how well I’m briefed it has become something of a Sport to watch me try to unravel Medical Terms.

Although all Awards are important many of them are virtually unpronounceable such as the Grant given for: “The Phase 1  Study of haploidentical haematopoietic T cell addback” – presumably to prevent the onset of Phase 2?

I have previously challenged some Grant Recipients: Withholding an Award to the Outstanding Burns and Trauma Unit until they came up with a more Scientific, Latin and Undecipherable name for “Burn Itch”. I also questioned a Professor about the Vagueness of “The Tendencies of some protein toward the something effects on some Chromosome”.  He looked back at me calmly and said, “If I knew that, I wouldn’t need a Grant!” So the Governor handed it over.

This Year looks like another Tongue Twister with such offerings as:

“resistome in the gut microbiome;  levetiracetam pharmacokinetics; and the functional characterisation of primary human proximal tubule epithelial cell-derived exosomes”?!

All I know is that they’re all brilliant people and it’s all doing you good!