International leaders in brain research come to UQ

The University of Queensland’s (UQ) Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) will host the world’s top neuroscientists next week where the latest research on unravelling how brain functions like memory and learning are regulated.

Among those attending the inaugural QBI Brain Plasticity Symposium, running from September 12 to 15, will be Nobel Laureate Professor Susumu Tonegawa, from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Professor Tonegawa won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine in 1987 for his contribution to genetics and immunology by showing how pieces of genes form millions of combinations which can produce a vast number of antibodies.

His current research focuses on how the brain acquires, consolidates and retrieves memory to discover the mechanisms behind cognition and behaviour as well as the causes for neurological diseases.

More than 25 leading international and Australian neuroscientists will present and discuss the latest in brain research.

QBI Director Professor Perry Bartlett, said it was a sign of the standing of the QBI internationally that it was able to attract so many top researchers for the Symposium.

“Since being established in 2003, the QBI is emerging as one of the world’s premier neuroscience research institutes,” Professor Bartlett said.

He said brain plasticity research in recent years, undertaken at the QBI and around the world, had opened up exciting new possibilities for correcting dysfunctions associated with mental and neurological disorders through the development of novel therapeutic approaches.

“I believe that the emergent view of the brain as a highly malleable organ (brain plasticity), capable of both cellular and synaptic changes, has been one of the great advances in neuroscience over the last decade, and offers real opportunities for a deeper understanding of brain function and dysfunction,” he said.

“With this in mind, I hope the Symposium will become a major forum for announcing advances in this field, establishing collaborations, and discussing new and innovative ideas.”

The QBI Brain Plasticity Symposium will be held at UQ’s Queensland Biosciences Precinct Auditorium, Chancellor’s Place, St Lucia. Registration and welcome will take place on Monday, with the Symposium being opened by Professor Bartlett on Tuesday morning at 8.30am.

Media inquiries: Professor Pankaj Sah (0413 314 558) or Shani Doig (0405 805 278).