Ballarat scientist fears 'brain drain'

By Kim Quinlan
Updated November 2 2012 - 4:18pm, first published April 13 2011 - 1:16pm

A BALLARAT scientist fears she and other Australian scientists may be forced oversees if planned cuts to medical research in next month’s federal budget go ahead.Dr Misty Jenkins, a research fellow from the Peter MacCallum Cancer Institute and the University of Ballarat, believes a substantial funding cut to the National Health and Medical Research Council would result in job losses in the medical research sector.Dr Jenkins, a NHMRC biomedical research fellow on maternity leave with a four-month-old daughter, is urging the Gillard government to reconsider cutting funds from $700 million to $400 million over three years.“It will have a huge impact on the medical and scientific community, as well as ramifications for the health sector right across Australia,” said Dr Jenkins.She believes promising clinical trials in the fields of diabetes, cancer and arthritis research would be severely compromised by the cut.“The federal government is making it impossible for young researchers and scientists like myself to stay in Australia for work. It will force us overseas when we would really prefer to stay in Australia,” she said.“This budget cut not only means a huge reduction of programs seeking to answer some of our most challenging medical problems, but also contributes to the brain drain, as talented researchers leave Australia for greener pastures.”

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