QLD BRAIN TECHNOLOGY FIRST IN THE SOUTHERN HEMISPHERE
Published Tuesday, 27 March, 2007 at 10:15 AM
Minister for State Development, Employment and Industrial Relations
The Honourable John Mickel
Queensland has become one of only a handful of locations around the world, and the first in the Southern Hemisphere, to acquire new technology that enables scientists to analyse ‘live’ brains.
Minister for State Development John Mickel today visited the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), within The University of Queensland, to launch a state-of-the-art 16.4Tesla (700 MHz) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Spectrometer for Advanced Brain Imaging.
Mr Mickel said the Spectrometer, which allows scientists to develop sophisticated images of the brain down to the cellular level, was purchased with more than $5 million Queensland Government Smart State funding.
“This is a vital piece of technology,” Mr Mickel said.
“Almost half of all illnesses suffered by older Australians are related to the brain in one way or another, including Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease, brain tumors, spinal cord injury and anxiety disorders.
“It’s clearly an area of science that impacts on many Australians so it’s important our scientists have the tools they need for finding cures and treatments for brain-related illnesses and disorders.”
Director of the Queensland Brain Institute Professor Perry Bartlett said this was a quantum advance both for the Institute and for Queensland.
“This is an extremely exciting development. We’ve learned a lot about how we think the brain works, but we’ve never been able to look at it in real time,” Professor Bartlett said.
“This imaging capability will allow us for the first time to rapidly identify and really interrogate the mechanisms controlling brain function and apply these discoveries to the treatment of disease.
“And it puts Queensland right in front of the pack leading the world in discovery in this area."
Professor Bartlett said QBI scientists were currently using the equipment to look at molecules they believed would help with the regrowth of damaged nerve cells following trauma such as spinal cord injury.
“If this proves successful in animal models we could conceivably go to trials within the next 18 months to two years,” he said.
Minister Mickel said the new 700 MHz MRI complemented the 900 MHz high-resolution spectrometer – what could be called this machine’s big brother - launched by the Premier in September last year.
“The Queensland NMR Network is a unique high-field micro-imaging hub which places Queensland at the forefront of international research in structural biology, biodiscovery and animal neuro-imaging,” Mr Mickel said.
“QBI is now one of the top three neuroscience institutes in the Asia-Pacific Region and continues to grow and attract to Queensland new distinguished scientific teams.
“In late 2006, seventeen scientists relocated to QBI from interstate universities, adding yet more research strength to Queensland neuroscience.”
“Internationally recognised neuroscientists – such as Professor Mandyam Srinivasan (recipient of the 2006 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science) and Professor Jason Mattingley – have joined the Queensland Brain Institute, each bringing with them an established scientific team.
“More than one-third of QBI’s senior scientific staff have come from leading international scientific organisations.
“They’re part of the Queensland ‘brain gain’, and they were attracted to the critical mass of scientific expertise at UQ and their state-of-the-art research facilities.”
Minister Mickel said the Queensland Government had invested nearly $3 billion in hard and soft infrastructure to boost Queensland’s innovation, science and research capacity since 1998, including $20 million toward the QBI facility.
_____________________________________
Media contact: Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
Organisation contact:
Professor Perry Bartlett
Director of the Queensland Brain Institute
The University of Queensland, St Lucia.
(07) 3346 9560
27 March, 2007
Minister for State Development John Mickel today visited the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI), within The University of Queensland, to launch a state-of-the-art 16.4Tesla (700 MHz) Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) Spectrometer for Advanced Brain Imaging.
Mr Mickel said the Spectrometer, which allows scientists to develop sophisticated images of the brain down to the cellular level, was purchased with more than $5 million Queensland Government Smart State funding.
“This is a vital piece of technology,” Mr Mickel said.
“Almost half of all illnesses suffered by older Australians are related to the brain in one way or another, including Parkinsons and Alzheimers disease, brain tumors, spinal cord injury and anxiety disorders.
“It’s clearly an area of science that impacts on many Australians so it’s important our scientists have the tools they need for finding cures and treatments for brain-related illnesses and disorders.”
Director of the Queensland Brain Institute Professor Perry Bartlett said this was a quantum advance both for the Institute and for Queensland.
“This is an extremely exciting development. We’ve learned a lot about how we think the brain works, but we’ve never been able to look at it in real time,” Professor Bartlett said.
“This imaging capability will allow us for the first time to rapidly identify and really interrogate the mechanisms controlling brain function and apply these discoveries to the treatment of disease.
“And it puts Queensland right in front of the pack leading the world in discovery in this area."
Professor Bartlett said QBI scientists were currently using the equipment to look at molecules they believed would help with the regrowth of damaged nerve cells following trauma such as spinal cord injury.
“If this proves successful in animal models we could conceivably go to trials within the next 18 months to two years,” he said.
Minister Mickel said the new 700 MHz MRI complemented the 900 MHz high-resolution spectrometer – what could be called this machine’s big brother - launched by the Premier in September last year.
“The Queensland NMR Network is a unique high-field micro-imaging hub which places Queensland at the forefront of international research in structural biology, biodiscovery and animal neuro-imaging,” Mr Mickel said.
“QBI is now one of the top three neuroscience institutes in the Asia-Pacific Region and continues to grow and attract to Queensland new distinguished scientific teams.
“In late 2006, seventeen scientists relocated to QBI from interstate universities, adding yet more research strength to Queensland neuroscience.”
“Internationally recognised neuroscientists – such as Professor Mandyam Srinivasan (recipient of the 2006 Prime Minister’s Prize for Science) and Professor Jason Mattingley – have joined the Queensland Brain Institute, each bringing with them an established scientific team.
“More than one-third of QBI’s senior scientific staff have come from leading international scientific organisations.
“They’re part of the Queensland ‘brain gain’, and they were attracted to the critical mass of scientific expertise at UQ and their state-of-the-art research facilities.”
Minister Mickel said the Queensland Government had invested nearly $3 billion in hard and soft infrastructure to boost Queensland’s innovation, science and research capacity since 1998, including $20 million toward the QBI facility.
_____________________________________
Media contact: Elouise Campion 3224 6784.
Organisation contact:
Professor Perry Bartlett
Director of the Queensland Brain Institute
The University of Queensland, St Lucia.
(07) 3346 9560
27 March, 2007