Stories

A new device combining ultrasound and advanced imaging to provide crucial information for the safe delivery of drugs into the brain has been developed by QBI researchers.

The Meunier Lab have discovered a new lipid-based pathway where neurons connect and communicate with each other, essential for memory formation.

QBI Associate Professor Kai-Hsiang Chuang from the Queensland Brain Institute has identified new regions of the brain crucial to the formation of long-term memory.

Professionals working with children and young people will be offered training in brain science in an Australia-first initiative between UQ and the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) through the Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership (TQKP). Thriving Kids Brain Builders is a neuroscience translation initiative being developed with QBI for people working across the health, education, social and community services, justice and housing sectors.

Dr Odette Leiter and Dr Tara Walker have discovered that platelets secrete a protein that rejuvenates neurons in aged mice in a similar way to physical exercise.

Dr Rodrigo Suarez has discovered that the extinct Tasmanian tiger had brain cells like other carnivorous marsupials, indicating that the internal structure of the brain is a better indicator of evolutionary relatedness between species than external appearances.

Professor John McGrath analysed data from more than 150,000 adults across 29 countries between 2001 and 2022 with results demonstrating the high prevalence of mental health disorders, with 50 per cent of the population developing at least one disorder by the age of 75. 

Associate Professor Steven Zuryn and Dr Michael Dai at the Queensland Brain Institute have discovered that a protein called ATSF-1 controls a fine balance between the creation of new mitochondria and the repair of damaged mitochondria.

Dr Tristan Wallis and Professor Frederic Meunier have developed an algorithm from a video game to gain insights into the behaviour of molecules within live brain cells.