Discovery Circle
Transforming lives through the power of collective giving
Join an exclusive group of benefactors changing the world through medical research.
Our Discovery Circle brings together a group of committed donors who share a passion for life-changing research and are determined to make a powerful impact on improving the health and well-being of our community.
Your involvement is more than a donation - it’s a partnership that drives discovery, inspires progress, and delivers life-saving solutions for communities worldwide.
The cumulative potential of this Discovery Circle is immense. Your donations combine to create a substantial, meaningful investment in inspiring projects with the potential for wide-ranging impact. Each year, members attend an exclusive event where early and mid-career researchers present and pitch their projects. Together, members decide which initiatives to fund and then follow the progress of their support over the following year.
Your 2025 Discovery Circle Winner!
Congratulations Dr Julian Carosi!
Dr Carosi, Postdoctoral Researcher/THRF EMCR Fellow in SAHMRI's Lysosomal Health in Ageing group, took out the 2025 Award for his project "Destruction of toxic proteins that cause neurodegeneration."
Dr Carosi will use the $100,000 funding to create advanced cell models as he targets harmful protein accumulations in the brain that contribute to dementia.
“I’m deeply honoured and grateful to the donors and thrilled about the new knowledge this Discovery Circle Award will help unlock,” Dr Carosi said.
The other finalists were Dr Georgina Irish, whose project is titled “Matching matters: Increasing donor utilisation and improving allocation for Kidney Transplant Recipients”; and Dr Naranie Shanmuganathan, whose project is called “Unravelling the mechanisms involved in blast phase chronic myeloid leukaemia”.
Each of the Discovery Circle runners-up receives $5000 to progress their projects.
Click here to read a more detailed description of each of our finalists' projects.
How it works
As a Discovery Circle member, you will:
- Make an annual tax-deductible donation of at least $5000, with the option to re-commit each year and the ability to pay in monthly instalments
- After hearing SAHMRI researchers present their work, you decide with your fellow members which project to support
- Receive regular updates on the projects you've supported
- Have opportunities to network with your fellow Discovery Circle philanthropists
If you'd like to learn more about the Discovery Circle, read our flyer here.
"While not all of us can find the cure to cancer, we can support the researchers who can find solutions.
I could have just made a donation, but I like how the Discovery Circle program connects me to SAHMRI's researchers. They have so much potential; their talent and dedication will discover life-changing and life-saving advances.
By directly supporting them, I'm hopeful that SAHMRI's researchers can enable all of us to have disease-free lives and the opportunity to thrive."
Discovery Circle Member
"I've chosen the SAHMRI Discovery Circle, driven by profound personal experiences and the indomitable spirit of two individuals close to my heart.
My sister's battle with triple-negative breast cancer at 32, who passed five years later, is a stark reminder of the urgent need for research breakthroughs. Equally inspiring is my colleague's ten-year journey battling adenoid cystic tongue cancer, diagnosed at 35 years old, defying grim odds.
SAHMRI represents hope, the prospect of effective treatments with fewer side effects, a beacon in the face of life's unpredictable challenges."
Discovery Circle Member
- AirTouch
- Aaron Blabey
- Kirstie Blabey
- Paul and Paula Bonney
- Richard Bray
- Burton Foundation
- Carthew Foundation
- Wee Keat Chan
- Dr Margaret Davy
- Foskett Foundation
- Graeme Hayes and Karen Hayes AM DSJ
- Kathryn House AM
- Nick House
- Insurance Advisernet Foundation
- Beverley James
- Dr Stewart Lake
- Roger Lang
- Jennifer Richter AM
- Shaun Rolevink
- Helen Rule
- Don Sarah AM
- Ian and Kathryn Sargent
- Dr Lea Thin Seow
- John Watts
- Paul Whealton AM CGSJ
- Dr Evelyn Yap OAM
- Eric and Ivy Yeoh
We invite you to join this group of like-minded philanthropists to help create healthier futures with SAHMRI.
To learn more, please contact Carly Hocking at carly.hocking@sahmri.com or on 0400 176 137.
Join the Discovery Circle online
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SAHMRI is located on Kaurna Country. We pay respects to the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We are committed to embracing knowledge and culture as we continue our working journey to incorporate Aboriginal health research across all of our themes and further reconciliation.
Read more"Tirki nguta tappa tangka marninithi"
(Learning and knowledge are the pathway to alter the mind)
- Uncle Lewis Yerloburka O’Brien, Kaurna Elder
