Rebecca L. Cooper Medical Research Foundation




The Cooper Foundation is governed by a board of directors who have been nominated to that position. At present, there are seven directors, three of whom are ‘Lay Directors’, whilst four are either doctors or academics involved in various fields of research. Of the founding directors, three remain on the board. They are:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

William Kevin Cahill – Chairman Kevin had involvement with Mrs Cooper prior to his appointment as a director and Founding Chairman of the Foundation. Kevin has now largely retired from his active legal practice in Bondi Junction, however, he regularly attends his office and maintains an active interest in all aspects of endeavour of the Foundation.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Al Rosenstrauss OAM – Secretary Al was instrumental in the formation of the Foundation. Having established a close personal and working relationship with Mrs Cooper, he played a large part in encouraging Mrs Cooper to establish a medical research foundation in her name. This came to fruition on 13 January 1984 (co-incidentally his 59th birthday) and on her death, some three months later, he and Kevin Cahill became the executors of Mrs Cooper’s estate which she had bequeathed to the Foundation. The rest, as they say, is history. Having grown the income of the Foundation from less than $80,000 per annum to a multi-million dollar figure today, he was awarded an OAM in the Australia Day Honours list in 2008.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Thomas Cromer Tom is an Endocrinologist with several practices in the inner Sydney area.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Directors appointed since:

Jeffrey Rosenstrauss One of the Lay Directors, Jeff’s involvement with the Foundation dates to September 1979, when with Al, he was introduced to Mrs Cooper at her home in Randwick, where she requested assistance with rental collections following the death of Mr Cooper some 9 months earlier. Jeff’s background is in property valuation and asset management, having formerly served as a Fellow of the Australian Property Institute. He is currently responsible for much of the day to day management of the Foundation’s assets and the maintenance and reconstruction programme of the Foundation’s property portfolio. Appointed to the Board of Directors 13 July 1999

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prof. Philip Sambrook OAM Phil is the Florance and Cope Professor of Rheumatology at the University of Sydney. He has published over 260 peer reviewed papers and reviews including invited editorials in the New England Journal of Medicine and Lancet. His research has focused on the aetiopathogenesis of secondary osteoporosis and the epidemiology of osteoporosis in general. He is the President of the Australian & New Zealand Bone & Mineral Society and a member of the Committee of Scientific Advisors of the International Osteoporosis Foundation as well as a Board Member of the International Bone and Mineral Society. Phil was invested with his OAM in the Queens Birthday Awards, in 2008. Appointed to the Board of Directors on 13 October 1999

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Dr Ross Paterson Ross, now retired, was a practising general practitioner with his surgery located at Maroubra, in the Eastern Suburbs of Sydney. Since retirement, Ross has diligently attended directors meetings and contributed in scoring the annual grant applications together with the other board members. Appointed to the Board of Directors on 30 October 2000

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Prof. Nicolas Hunt Nick is the Professor of Pathology, School of Medical Sciences, University of Sydney, and the Executive Director of the Bosch Institute. He is also Chief Editor of the “Redox Report”. Nick is an active researcher with current research interests in the fields of Malaria, Meningitis, Inflammation and Cancer. He serves on the editorial boards of scientific journals: American Journal of Pathology, Pathophysiology and the International Journal for Parasitology. Nick is an Honorary Consultant in Anatomical Pathology at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Appointed to the Board of Directors on 26 November 2006

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

As with all organisations, nothing happens without the ‘backroom’ workers seeing that the cogs are oiled and the machine is in gear. The Foundation too has its “backroom” worker:


Val Rosenstrauss Val new Mrs Cooper and with Al, was very involved with her welfare in the several years before Mrs Cooper’s death. It is Val who collates all of the applications for research grants, bundling them in order of category so that it make sense to the Directors, who have to read and score them. It also falls to Val to inform both the successful and unsuccessful candidates of their result. Val is instrumental in putting together the highlight of the Foundations year, the Annual Dinner. She single handedly organises the table seating, the name tags and the place setting names and oversees the event management and she tolerates Al’s interference with the running of the dinner. Without Val’s quiet work in the background, much of the activity of the Foundation just wouldn’t happen.