Queensland Brain Institute

Last updated

Queensland Brain Institute
QBI-building.jpg
The building of the Queensland Brain Institute was completed in 2007.
Founder(s)Professor Perry Bartlett
EstablishedOctober 2007 (2007-10)
MissionNeuroscience research
FocusBasic science
DirectorProfessor Pankaj Sah
StaffMore than 400
Location
Building 79, University of Queensland St Lucia
, , ,
Coordinates 27°29′58″S153°00′42″E / 27.4994°S 153.0117°E / -27.4994; 153.0117 Coordinates: 27°29′58″S153°00′42″E / 27.4994°S 153.0117°E / -27.4994; 153.0117
Website qbi.uq.edu.au

The Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) is an Australian neuroscience research institute, located in Brisbane at the St Lucia campus of The University of Queensland (UQ). Founding director Professor Perry Bartlett AO FAA [1] [2] established the QBI in 2003 [3] [4] with assistance from The University of Queensland, Queensland State Government, and Chuck Feeney, founder of The Atlantic Philanthropies. [5] [6] The purpose-built facility was commissioned in 2004 [3] and on 19 November 2007, the building was opened by former Queensland Premier Anna Bligh. [7] [8]

Contents

Since 2015, Professor Pankaj Sah has been Institute director. Professor Helen Cooper is the Deputy Director (Research).[ citation needed ]

The Institute is one of nine institutes at The University of Queensland, including the Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology (AIBN), the Translational Research Institute, and the Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB).

Overview

As one of Australia’s leading neuroscience research centres, the Queensland Brain Institute encourages interest in the wonders of the brain and support for neuroscience’s vital role in helping people to live healthier, happier and more productive lives.

Through fundamental research, QBI researchers strive to improve the world’s understanding of the brain in health and disease and to find solutions for brain disorders, diseases and injuries, including MND, dementia, depression, stroke and mental health.

History

The Queensland Brain Institute was established in 2003 as part of an initiative to develop a bioscience precinct at the University of Queensland.

Planning for the Institute effectively began in 2002 with the resolution that it would investigate the biological bases of higher brain function and its application to enhance the community’s neurological and mental health.

Since its inception QBI has grown from an initial five founding groups to a cohort of 44 scientific groups and close to 450 personnel.

Research

Queensland Brain Institute Director Professor Pankaj Sah. Pankaj Sah.jpg
Queensland Brain Institute Director Professor Pankaj Sah.

Research at QBI focuses on the fundamental mechanisms of brain function and its application to brain diseases and disorders. Although most of QBI’s activity is basic science based on model systems (rodent, zebrafish, Drosophila and C. elegans) the Institute is also involved in significant research involving humans. This not only relates to clinical studies, but also to the use of humans as experimental subjects.

As of 2022, QBI focuses on five key areas:

The Institute houses more than 400 staff and students. Five research centres currently exist within QBI:

Directors

OrderNameStart dateEnd date
1 Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett 20032015
2Professor Pankaj Sah2015-

Related Research Articles

Neurology Medical specialty dealing with disorders of the nervous system

Neurology is a branch of medicine dealing with disorders of the nervous system. Neurology deals with the diagnosis and treatment of all categories of conditions and disease involving the central and peripheral nervous systems, including their coverings, blood vessels, and all effector tissue, such as muscle. Neurological practice relies heavily on the field of neuroscience, the scientific study of the nervous system.

University of Queensland University in Australia

The University of Queensland is a public research university located primarily in Brisbane, the capital city of the Australian state of Queensland. Founded in 1909 by the Queensland parliament, UQ is one of the six sandstone universities, an informal designation of the oldest university in each state. The University of Queensland was ranked second nationally by the Australian Research Council in their latest research assessment and equal second in Australia based on the average of four major global university league tables. The University of Queensland is a founding member of edX, Australia's leading Group of Eight and the international research-intensive Association of Pacific Rim Universities.

National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke Department of the U.S. National Institutes of Health

The National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) is a part of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). It conducts and funds research on brain and nervous system disorders and has a budget of just over US$2.03 billion. The mission of NINDS is "to reduce the burden of neurological disease—a burden borne by every age group, every segment of society, and people all over the world". NINDS has established two major branches for research: an extramural branch that funds studies outside the NIH, and an intramural branch that funds research inside the NIH. Most of NINDS' budget goes to fund extramural research. NINDS' basic science research focuses on studies of the fundamental biology of the brain and nervous system, genetics, neurodegeneration, learning and memory, motor control, brain repair, and synapses. NINDS also funds clinical research related to diseases and disorders of the brain and nervous system, e.g. AIDS, Alzheimer's disease, epilepsy, muscular dystrophy, multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, spinal cord injury, stroke, and traumatic brain injury.

Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health

The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, more commonly known as the Florey Institute, is an Australian medical research institute that undertakes clinical and applied research into treatments for brain and mind disorders and the cardiovascular system. The Institute's areas of interest include Parkinson's disease, stroke, motor neurone disease, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury, addiction, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, brain development in premature babies, Huntington's disease, depression, schizophrenia, brain function in health and disease, heart failure, and dementia.

The QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute is an Australian medical research institute located in Herston, Brisbane, in the state of Queensland. QIMR was established in 1945 by the Government of Queensland through the enactment of the Queensland Institute of Medical Research Act 1945 (Qld). Previously known as the Queensland Institute of Medical Research (QIMR), the original purpose of the institute was to further the study of tropical diseases in North Queensland. The current director is Professor Fabienne Mackay. The institute is a registered charity. In 2021, the institute was named as one of the Queensland Greats by the Queensland Government.

Clem Jones Australian politician

Clem Jones AO, a surveyor by profession, was the longest serving Lord Mayor of Brisbane, Queensland, representing the Labor Party from 1961 to 1975. He was chair of the Darwin Reconstruction Commission from 1975 to 1978. He was a successful businessman and philanthropist.

Decade of the Brain

The Decade of the Brain was a designation for 1990–1999 by U.S. president George H. W. Bush as part of a larger effort involving the Library of Congress and the National Institute of Mental Health of the National Institutes of Health "to enhance public awareness of the benefits to be derived from brain research".

Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation

The Institute of Health and Biomedical Innovation (IHBI) was an Australian collaborative medical research institute established in 2000 and based at the Queensland University of Technology (QUT) in Brisbane, Queensland. While the bulk of the institute was located at a purpose built facility on the Kelvin Grove campus of QUT, a number of projects were conducted at sites across the two main QUT campuses and at multi-partner research institutes adjoining major hospitals. Research was also conducted at IHBI's Medical Engineering Research Facility (MERF), in the grounds of the Prince Charles Hospital.

National Brain Research Centre

National Brain Research Centre is a research institute in Manesar, Gurgaon, India. It is an autonomous institute and a nodal center under the Department of Biotechnology, Ministry of Science and Technology, Government of India. The institute is dedicated to research in neuroscience and brain functions in health and diseases using multidisciplinary approaches. This is the first autonomous institute by DBT to be awarded as the deemed to be university by the Ministry of Education, formerly known as the Ministry of Human Resource Development in May 2002. NBRC was dedicated to the nation by the Hon'ble President of India Dr. A.P.J. Abdul Kalam in December 2003. The founder chairman of NBRC Society is Prof. Prakash Narain Tandon, whereas the founder director Prof. Vijayalakshmi Ravindranath was followed by Prof. Prasun Roy, Prof. Subrata Sinha, and Prof. Neeraj Jain. The current director-in-charge of NBRC is Prof. Pravat Kumar Mandal.

Samuel E. Gandy, M.D., Ph.D. is a neurologist, cell biologist, Alzheimer's disease (AD) researcher and expert in the metabolism of the sticky substance called amyloid that clogs the brain in patients with Alzheimer's. His team discovered the first drugs that could lower the formation of amyloid.

The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior is a research institute of the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA). It includes a number of centers, including the "Center for Neurobehavioral Genetics", which uses DNA sequencing, gene expression studies, bioinformatics, and the genetic manipulation of model organisms to understand brain and behavioral phenotypes.

Neuroscience Research Australia

Neuroscience Research Australia is an independent medical research institute based in Sydney, Australia. Previously called the Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute, the institute relaunched as Neuroscience Research Australia on 1 June 2010. NeuRA is accredited by the National Health and Medical Research Council.

UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology Academic institution in United Kingdom

The UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology is an institute within the Faculty of Brain Sciences of University College London (UCL) and is located in London, United Kingdom. Together with the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, an adjacent facility with which it cooperates closely, the institute forms a major centre for teaching, training and research in neurology and allied clinical and basic neurosciences.

Translational Research Institute (Australia)

The Translational Research Institute (TRI) is Australia's first translational medical research institute dedicated to translating scientific discoveries into applications for medical practice.

Linda Richards (neuroscientist) Australian neurobiologist, educator and researcher

Linda Richards is an Australian researcher at Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) at the University of Queensland.

Vladimir Hachinski Canadian clinical neuroscientist

Vladimir Hachinski is a Canadian clinical neuroscientist and researcher based at the Schulich School of Medicine and Dentistry at Western University. He is also a Senior Scientist at London's Robarts Research Institute. His research pertains in the greatest part to stroke and dementia, the interactions between them and their joint prevention. He and John W. Norris helped to establish the world's first successful stroke unit at Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto, and, by extension, helped cement stroke units as the standard of care for stroke patients. He discovered that the control of the heart by the brain is asymmetric, the fight/flight (sympathetic) response being controlled by the right hemisphere and the rest and digest (parasympathetic) response being controlled by the left hemisphere and damage to one key component can lead to heart irregularities and sudden death. This discovery has added fundamental knowledge to how the brain controls the heart and blood pressure and lays the foundation for helping prevent sudden death.

Health Translation Queensland is the first Advanced Health Research Translation Centre in Queensland, Australia. The organisation’s purpose is to strengthen the linkages between healthcare, research and education in order to deliver better health outcomes for the community. By encouraging and supporting collaboration, BDHP assists the translation and integration of cutting-edge research and innovation into healthcare delivery.

Giovanna Mallucci British neuroscientist

Giovanna Rachele Mallucci is van Geest Professor of Clinical Neurosciences at the University of Cambridge in England and Associate Director of the UK Dementia Research Institute at the University of Cambridge. She is a specialist in neurodegenerative diseases.

Kaarin Anstey is an Australian Laureate Fellow and one of Australia's top dementia scientists. She is Co-Deputy Director of the ARC Centre of Excellence in Population Ageing Research (CEPAR) at the University of New South Wales, Australia, where she is Scientia Professor of Psychology. Kaarin Anstey is an Honorary Professor at the Australian National University and a Fellow of the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia. She is a Director of the NHMRC Dementia Centre for Research Collaboration, Senior Principal Research Scientist at NeuRA and leads the NHMRC Centre of Research Excellence in Cognitive Health and the UNSW Ageing Futures Institute.

Perry Francis Bartlett is an Australian neuroscientist. He was awarded the Florey Medal in 2015.

References

  1. "UQ praises Premier`s $20m for brain institute". University of Queensland. 22 January 2004.
  2. "Professor Perry Bartlett congratulated on CSL Florey Medal win". Ministers and Assistant Ministers for the Department of Industry, Innovation and Science. 12 November 2015.
  3. 1 2 "Premier Beattie announces Queensland Brain Institute". Queensland Brain Institute. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  4. "Queensland Brain Institute: Science's best minds in Brisbane for 'last frontier of science'". The Courier Mail. 8 March 2016.
  5. "Funding and contacts". Atlantic Philanthropies. 15 June 2016.
  6. "Atlantic's Arrival in Australia". Atlantic Philanthropies. Retrieved 20 July 2017.
  7. "University of Queensland, Queensland Brain Institute". OpenBuildings. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  8. "Bligh kickstarts work on $1B 'Australian-1st' Ecosciences centrepiece" . Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  9. "Science of Learning Centre". Queensland Brain Institute. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  10. "Premier opens Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research". Queensland Brain Institute. 8 February 2008. Retrieved 20 June 2017.
  11. "$10 million Asia-Pacific Centre set to make Brisbane a world leader in brain research". Centre for Clinical Research. 18 March 2012. Retrieved 20 June 2017.

Further reading