RMIT partners with six organisations to open Australia’s first hospital-based medical discovery centre

RMIT partners with six organisations to open Australia’s first hospital-based medical discovery centre

Australia’s first hospital-based medical discovery centre – The Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery (ACMD) – was officially launched this week.

The ACMD is a $206 million state-of-the-art biomedical engineering centre featuring cutting-edge laboratories, a human kinetics lab, 3D printing facilities, engineering workshops, a clinical simulation lab, and dedicated education facilities to train the next generation of clinical, nursing, allied health and biomedical research leaders.

The Centre aims to address patient needs using Med Tech research and development through multi-disciplinary innovations, to achieve translation and drive innovations that create value and improve patient outcomes and to build a vibrant health technology ecosystem in Victoria.

The ACMD’s overarching mission is to maximise every individual’s ability to live their healthiest life and develop a more equitable and cost-effective health system.

Distinguished Professor Calum Drummond AO, Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research & Innovation and Vice-President at RMIT University, said that the ACMD’s partnership model would help to deliver better outcomes for patients.

“RMIT is excited to be involved in ACMD research and innovation activities on a path to improved diagnosis, treatment decisions, and patient outcomes, at this purpose-built facility for MedTech innovation,” he said.

“ACMD will accelerate pathways from concept to commercialisation. Its strength is in its unique partnership model, bringing together industry, research expertise and clinical knowledge to deliver societal benefits." 

12 June 2026

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RMIT’s role at the ACMD

RMIT University’s role ACMD is to contribute its research strengths, educational capabilities, and translational focus to advance medical innovation. Specifically:

  • Research Translation and Impact: RMIT is aligned with ACMD’s mission to turn cutting-edge research into real-world solutions. The university emphasises research that serves our communities. ACMD offers a platform for RMIT to accelerate the impact of its work in MedTech, BioTech, and Digital Health.
  • Cross-Disciplinary Collaboration: RMIT is a proponent of the ACMD’s model of coordinated collaboration among universities, hospitals, and research institutes. With expertise in engineering, biomedical science, and digital innovation, the University will contribute critical knowledge to multidisciplinary projects.
  • Education and Training: Through integrated teaching and training facilities at ACMD, RMIT helps build the future workforce in biomedical engineering and health technologies, equipping students with experience in real-world, clinician-led research environments.
  • Innovation Ecosystem Support: RMIT already contributes to the broader health tech ecosystem in Victoria and leverages its relationships with industry, government, and other academic partners to attract investment and talent. 
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A unique model of collaboration 

The ACMD’s business model is built on the principle that the fastest path from medical discovery to a patient’s bedside is to put the people who understand unmet clinical need in the same building as the people with the tools to solve it.  

It’s unique collaborative model, which places researchers, engineers, clinicians and industry partners under one roof for the first time, is designed to deliver groundbreaking technologies that improve patient outcomes, enhance health equity and transform Australia’s health system. 

Located in the St Vincent’s Fitzroy Health and Innovation Precinct, next to St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, the Centre is a partnership between St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne, Australian Catholic University, Bionics Institute, RMIT University, St Vincent’s Institute of Medical Research, Swinburne University of Technology, and University of Melbourne.

It’s opening marks the culmination of more than two decades of planning, collaboration and investment in Australia’s biomedical engineering future.

"This isn't just a research facility, it's where the discoveries made in the lab will find their way to the bedside faster, and more reliably, than ever before,” said Michael Krieg, Acting CEO, Aikenhead Centre for Medical Discovery.

“For patients across Victoria and beyond, that means better outcomes, shorter stays, and care that's built around what works."

The ACMD stands on the site of the former Aikenhead Wing of the St Vincent’s Hospital Melbourne’s residence for trainee nurses. It is named after Mary Aikenhead, the founder of the Sisters of Charity, the order of nuns who established St Vincent’s. 

 

Story: Finn Devlin

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12 June 2026

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