Injury is the leading cause of death for people under 45 years of age. Injuries to the nervous system, such as brain and spinal cord injuries, are particularly devastating - often leading to lifelong disability.
These injuries affect the remaining undamaged nervous system so that even finding how best to make damaged cells regenerate may not be successful in producing functional recovery. Peripheral nerve injury may also lead to chronic "neuropathic" pain which does not respond to current treatments.
Our research includes a range of studies from basic research into the mechanisms of injury, to developing improved treatments for injured people and to developing strategies to prevent injuries.
The Institute is dedicated to fundamental and clinical neuroscience research. Our outstanding medical research initiatives are founded on excellence in research leadership and will accelerate discovery and redefine neuroscience to reduce the global burden of disease. The overall theme is research at the interface between basic and clinical studies. Research programs are in neurological sciences and diseases, an area of strength in Australian medical research. The Institute has an established record of research leadership in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other dementias, stroke, spinal cord and nerve injury, child injury in car accidents, pain mechanisms, vestibular function and falls, especially in the elderly, neural regulation of autonomic function and breathing and macular degeneration and blindness.
The Institute continues to develop new research programs using molecular, cellular and genetic approaches to our existing research strengths in neurological disease, especially in Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease. We have also undertaken a strategic expansion into research on the major psychiatric disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and depression.
Bilston Group We are interested in how the soft tissues of the body respond to and are influenced by mechanical loading. |
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Macefield Group Our human neurophysiology group uses invasive and non-invasive means to assess how the nervous system operates in health and disease. |
McLachlan Group The peripheral nervous system and its connections within the spinal cord form a complex but accessible system of pathways that transmit signals from the environment into the central nervous system and |
Stoodley Group Investigators in the neurosurgery laboratory focus on two main clinical probl |
