Every minute worldwide, 12 children are born who face birth defects or genetic diseases.
Most families are told their children’s conditions are ‘incurable’, so Children’s Medical Research Institute are on a mission to change this. 
Established in 1958, CMRI was Australia’s first paediatric research organisation. Later, in 1994, the organisation launched the Jeans for Genes campaign in order to fund the new and revolutionary genetic research they were developing.
This year 2025, marks 31 years of Jeans for Genes, and the cause is no less important. Over the last 3 decades, Australians across the country have donated over $65 million to medical research.
Jeans for Genes Day has been moved to the first Thursday in August. After finding that many businesses, offices, and hubs across the nation’s cities are quieter on Fridays, the day was moved to Thursday.
Donations and fundraising efforts of the public on Jeans for Genes Day allows the labs at CMRI to stay open and continue working towards cures.
‘Gene therapy has been completely lifesaving and life-changing,’ says Adriana, mother of six-year-old Alessia, born with Spinal Muscular Atrophy and one of the faces of Jeans for Genes Day 2025. ‘To think that within the past 10 years, if you were given the diagnosis of severe SMA for your child, you knew that it was a death sentence. You were told to go home and to love your child because they will not reach past their second birthday… if you were lucky. And now, Alessia is six. This was unfathomable!’
Sign up to fundraise. There are a number of ways to take part—Bake it Blue with a cake stall, walk, run, skip, or simply wear jeans. Make a donation or buy the Jeans for Genes merchandise to help funnel money towards findings treatments.
Affiliated with the University of Sydney, CMRI is supported by its key fundraiser Jeans for Genes and the Luminesce Alliance. CMRI is located at Westmead.
Register now at www.jeansforgenes.org.au
