Monash Memo - 25 July 2001

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Monash a key player in neuroscience push

Monash neuroscientists are a key part of a new research group that will work on the debilitating effects of stroke and neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's and schizophrenia.

Victorian Premier Mr Steve Bracks launched the newly-created Neurosciences Victoria (NSV) that will pool the resources of the four founding partners - Monash, the University of Melbourne, the Howard Florey Institute and the National Stroke Research Institute.

NSV will act as a single point for negotiations with government, industry and potential investors in research and allow coordinated promotion and administration.

NSV's chief executive officer, Associate Professor William Hart, said the research group would consolidate the many small and competing research groups now scattered around Melbourne.

Dr Hart said Monash, through its cross-campus Centre for Neuroscience, was a key player in the formation of NSV.

"Monash has particular strengths and expertise in Parkinson's disease and other movement disorders, as well as in neuro-pharmacology and the behavioural sciences," he said.

"It is very important for Neurosciences Victoria to build on these strengths and complement the work being done by other institutions in the group."

Monash will also benefit from additional funds flowing from the NSV group into its animal behaviour laboratories, which will become a resource for all the partners in the group.

NSV will assist several Monash research projects undertaken by Faculty of Medicine, Nursing and Health Sciences staff including Professor Malcolm Horne, Professor Phil Beart, Dr Surindar Cheema, Professor Bevyn Jarrott and Professor Elsdon Storey.

In launching NSV, Mr Bracks announced that German drug company Schering AG had pledged $25 million over five years to fund research at NSV on a range of neurological conditions.