The diseases we research impact people's lives
Our researchers are dedicated to improving lives through neuroscience. Thanks to the generosity of all our donors, that we can continue our legacy of ground-breaking research.
Brazil Family Foundation
Recognising stroke and motor neurone disease (MND) had only limited treatment options and no cures prompted Lyn and Bobbie Brazil to establish the Brazil Family Program for Neurology in 2017. This enabled us to recruit world-leading researchers and support four laboratories.
Dr Adam Walker’s laboratory has defined some of the early triggers of MND to enable the best targeted approaches for therapies and identified ways to prevent the abnormal accumulation or improve the removal of a protein that causes motor neurons to die.
Dr Tara Walker is examining whether the dietary supplement selenium can prevent or decrease cognitive or motor deficits following stroke.
Dr Matilde Balbi aims to understand how stimulating the cortex in different ways reduces the loss of brain cells after a stroke and whether this mitigates behavioural deficits.
Professor Gail Robinson’s stroke research aims to improve cognitive assessment tests used to evaluate stroke survivors, in the acute phase, to predict long-term outcomes and to develop more targeted, personalised therapy strategies. Professor Robinson also aims to improve our understanding of the biological basis of MND.
The Brazil Family have also donated generously to our Alzheimer’s disease research. This gift contributed to Professor Jürgen Götz and his team’s ground-breaking therapeutic ultrasound approach to target dementia. This research has identified a range of potential applications for ultrasound, including delivering drugs into the brain. The intention is to modify disease progression and ultimately cure brain diseases.
Discovery research leads to the health outcomes of the future, but it takes time and support. Researchers need preliminary data to support their applications for grants. With government grant funding becoming harder to secure , scientists with promising research potential are being lost.
Funding of researchers who narrowly miss out on government grant funding could hold the key to major breakthroughs and, with support, could continue to explore new avenues and build the data needed to be successful in subsequent grant rounds.
The Brazil Family Foundation understands the power of “near-miss” applications and are supporting our scientists with a gift which enables them to continue collecting valuable data to improve their grant success in future funding rounds.
The whole of the QBI community pays tribute to the Brazil Family Foundation whose generosity and support enables us to continue our pathway to expanding our understanding of the brain, the underlying causes of brain disease and help develop new treatments which will benefit the community at large.
Great Ocean Walk, raised over $125 000 to support
brain research.
NFIA Trekkers do the hard yards for QBI
Through the hard work of Brian Davies, a successful businessman and immediate past-president and patron of the National Fire Industry Association (NFIA), and his wife, Liz, QBI was the joint-recipient of a donation of over $250 000 in 2019.
This incredible effort was the result of the NFIA Patron’s Walk held in October, which may sound like a scenic walk in the park but Brian, Liz and seven other NFIA members spent three days enduring driving rain and winds of close to 50 knots coming straight from Antarctica.
The idea for the walk came while the couple were completing the Three Capes Walk to raise money for the Queensland Brain Institute in 2018.
On that walk, Liz suggested to Brian that as the patron of the NFIA, he could create his own walk for charity. Mr Davies believes that corporate Australia has a big responsibility to give back, which is testament to the success of the inaugural walk. The money raised was shared between the Queensland Brain Institute and the Gallipoli Medical Research Foundation (GMRF).
The NFIA walk is the first of three walks to raise money for research at QBI and GMRF, with the aim of raising $500 000 in three years. The donation from the NFIA walk will help QBI’s research into motor neurone disease, dementia, Parkinson’s disease, stroke and QBI’s Discovery Research Endowment fund, which enables fundamental research into major health issues, including depression, anxiety, PTSD and epilepsy. QBI is extremely grateful to Brian and Liz and the NFIA team for their support.
The NFIA walk is the first of three walks to raise money for research at QBI and GMRF, with the aim of raising $500 000 in three years.
The Stafford Fox Medical Research Foundation
(QBI Director) and Dr Steven Zuryn and Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett AO (back row).
In 2019, The Stafford Fox Medical Research Foundation confirmed its continued generous support of the prestigious $2.5 million philanthropically funded international fellowship to Dr Steven Zuryn at the Queensland Brain Institute to fight stroke-induced dementia, also known as vascular dementia. The Foundation also continues to support the work of Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett’s research into prevention of dementia in ageing by improving cognition through exercise.
The Stafford Fox Medical Research Foundation was established in 2013 following the death of Moyna Fox, and named in honour of her late husband, James Stafford Fox, a former BP Australia chief executive.
Stafford and Moyna Fox started one of Australia’s wealthiest medical research foundations after many years of careful planning, resulting in a fund worth over $100 million. It was only publicly revealed in Moyna’s will when she died in 2013, many years after her husband.
James Stafford Fox was a private person, tall, physically imposing, but without a, particularly dominant personality. He rose from a position as a junior clerk at the Port Melbourne depot of the Commonwealth Oil Refineries (COR) in 1932, to become the first Australian chief executive of BP Australia Ltd in 1971.
James Stafford Fox spent three years at the helm of BP Australia, and retired in 1974 at age 60, remaining on several boards until 1985. By 1990, he was in poor health, suffering, among other things, from dementia. He entered a nursing home and died in 1994. By that time, he had already charted the course that would lead to the establishment of the foundation. Moyna lived on for more than 18 years, knowing what would happen after her death, but never revealing it publicly. Eventually, she too succumbed to dementia and died in 2013. The couple, who were so careful with their money and who clearly had no desire for fame and prominence during their lifetime, will now forever be remembered for their generosity in setting up the Stafford Fox Medical Foundation.
The Foundation’s support of QBI is crucial in enabling Emeritus Professor Bartlett and Dr Steven Zuryn to continue their work in finding solutions for the growing challenge of dementia today. This cutting- edge research is helping put Queensland and Australia at the forefront of world medical research.
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Brightest scientific minds
Solutions to global health challenges
"I think it is important for people with dementia, their families and carers, to know that they are not forgotten, and that there’s a lot of work going on behind the scenes at QBI to try to unravel the tangled web that is dementia."
– Robyn Hilton (established the Peter Hilton Senior Research Fellowship in Ageing Dementia)
Hear from one of our supporters
Jeff Maclean, Chair of QBI Advisory Board
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Research in action
Meunier: Neuronal trafficking
Group Leader
Professor Frederic Meunier
Professor and Academic Senior Group/Unit Leader/SupervisorQueensland Brain InstituteAffiliate of Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia Research & Affiliate of Clem Jones Centre for Ageing and Dementia ResearchClem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia ResearchResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Researcher biography:Professor Frederic Meunier obtained his Masters degree in Neurophysiology at the Paris XI University, France in 1992 and completed his Ph.D in Neurobiology at the CNRS in Gif-sur-Yvette, France in 1996. He was the recipient of a European Biotechnology Fellowship and went on to postgraduate work at the Department of Biochemistry at Imperial College (1997-1999) and at Cancer Research UK (2000-2002) in London, UK. After a short sabbatical at the LMB-MRC in Cambridge (UK), he became a group leader at the School of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Queensland (Australia) in 2003. He joined the Queensland Brain Institute of the University of Queensland in 2007 and obtained an NHMRC senior research fellowship in 2009 renewed in 2014 with promotion. He became Professor in 2014 at the Queensland Brain Institute and is currently part of the Centre for Ageing Dementia Research.
Body:
Professor Frederic Meunier: Single Molecule Neuroscience LaboratoryThe overall goal of our research is to determine how brain cells communicate and survive in health and disease. Our lab focuses on the molecular events that govern vesicular trafficking within presynaptic nerve terminals and neurosecretory cells. Our discoveries have led to a deep understanding of how secretory vesicles interact with the cortical actin network prior to fusing with the plasma membrane to release the neurotransmitter.
Selected recent publications
Visualizing endocytic recycling and trafficking in live neurons by subdiffractional tracking of internalized molecules
Joensuu, Merja, Martinez-Marmol, Ramon, Padmanabhan, Pranesh, Glass, Nick R., Durisic, Nela, Pelekanos, Matthew, Mollazade, Mahdie, Balistreri, Giuseppe, Amor, Rumelo, Cooper-White, Justin J., Goodhill, Geoffrey J. and Meunier, Frederic A. (2017) Nature Protocols, 12 12:2590-2622. doi:10.1038/nprot.2017.116In vivo single-molecule imaging of syntaxin1A reveals polyphosphoinositide- and activity-dependent trapping in presynaptic nanoclusters
Bademosi, Adekunle T., Lauwers, Elsa, Padmanabhan, Pranesh, Odierna, Lorenzo, Chai, Ye Jin, Papadopulos, Andreas, Goodhill, Geoffrey J., Verstreken, Patrik, Van Swinderen, Bruno and Meunier, Frederic A. (2017) Nature Communications, 8 . doi:10.1038/ncomms13660Subdiffractional tracking of internalized molecules reveals heterogeneous motion states of synaptic vesicles
Joensuu, Merja, Padmanabhan, Pranesh, Durisic, Nela, Bademosi, Adekunle T. D., Cooper-Williams, Elizabeth, Morrow, Isabel C., Harper, Callista B., Jung, WooRam, Parton, Robert G., Goodhill, Geoffrey J., Papadopulos, Andreas and Meunier, Frederic A. (2016) Journal of Cell Biology, 215 2: 277-292. doi:10.1083/jcb.201604001Flux of signalling endosomes undergoing axonal retrograde transport is encoded by presynaptic activity and TrkB
Wang, Tong, Martin, Sally, Nguyen, Tam H., Harper, Callista B., Gormal, Rachel S., Martinez-Marmol, Ramon, Karunanithi, Shanker, Coulson, Elizabeth J., Glass, Nick R., Cooper-White, Justin J., Van Swinderen, Bruno and Meunier, Frederic A. (2016) Nature Communications, 7 . doi:10.1038/ncomms12976The Munc18-1 domain 3a hinge-loop controls syntaxin-1A nanodomain assembly and engagement with the SNARE complex during secretory vesicle priming
Kasula, Ravikiran, Chai, Ye Jin, Bademosi, Adekunle T., Harper, Callista B., Gormal, Rachel S., Morrow, Isabel C., Hosy, Eric, Collins, Brett M., Choquet, Daniel, Papadopulos, Andreas and Meunier, Frederic A. (2016) The Journal of Cell Biology, 214 7: 847-858. doi:10.1083/jcb.201508118Munc18-1 is a molecular chaperone for α-synuclein, controlling its self-replicating aggregation
Chai, Ye Jin, Sierecki, Emma, Tomatis, Vanesa M., Gormal, Rachel S., Giles, Nichole, Morrow, Isabel C., Xia, Di, Götz, Jürgen, Parton, Robert G., Collins, Brett M., Gambin, Yann and Meunier, Frédéric A. (2016) The Journal of Cell Biology, 214 6: 705-718. doi:10.1083/jcb.201512016Profiling of free fatty acids using stable isotope tagging uncovers a role for saturated fatty acids in neuroexocytosis
Narayana, Vinod K., Tomatis, Vanesa M., Wang, Tong, Kvaskoff, David and Meunier, Frederic A. (2015) Cell Chemistry and Biology, 22 11: 1552-1561. doi:10.1016/j.chembiol.2015.09.010Control of autophagosome axonal retrograde flux by presynaptic activity unveiled using botulinum neurotoxin type A
Wang, Tong, Martin, Sally, Papadopulos, Andreas, Harper, Callista B., Mavlyutov, Timur A., Niranjan, Dhevahi, Glass, Nick R., Cooper-White, Justin J., Sibarita, Jean-Baptiste, Choquet, Daniel, Davletov, Bazbek and Meunier, Frederic A. (2015) Journal of Neuroscience, 35 15: 6179-6194. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3757-14.2015Activity-driven relaxation of the cortical actomyosin II network synchronizes Munc18-1-dependent neurosecretory vesicle docking
Papadopulos, Andreas, Gomez, Guillermo A., Martin, Sally, Jackson, Jade, Gormal, Rachel S., Keating, Damien J., Yap, Alpha S. and Meunier, Frederic A. (2015) Nature Communications, 6 6297: 1-11. doi:10.1038/ncomms7297An acto-myosin II constricting ring initiates the fission of activity-dependent bulk endosomes in neurosecretory cells
Gormal, Rachel S, Nguyen, Tam H, Martin, Sally, Papadopulos, Andreas and Meunier, Frederic A (2015) Journal of Neuroscience, 35 4: 1380-1389. doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.3228-14.2015Lab Manager
Ms Mahe Bouquet
Lab Manager & Laboratory ManagerQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Research Members
Dr Tristan Wallis
Research FellowQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Dr Isaac Akefe
Research FellowQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Mr Anmin Jiang
Casual Research AssistantQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Dr Rachel Gormal
Research Fellow & Research Fellow/Senior Research officerQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Dr Sevannah Ellis
Postdoctoral Research FellowQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:1Supervisor:Dr Alex McCann
Senior Research TechnicianQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Students
Dr Shanley Longfield
Postdoctoral Research FellowQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Mr Ben Matthews
PhD Student & Postdoctoral Research FellowQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Miss Barbara Duda
PhD Student & Casual Scientific Services OfficerQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Body:About me: I originally come from France where I obtained a pharmaceutical degree specialising in biotechnology and innovative therapies. When not in the lab, I love exploring Australia’s unique landscapes and wildlife by hiking and camping. I am also a runner and appreciate competing in races from 10km to marathons. Not to forget, as a French person, cooking and discovering new good food venues is one of my hobbies as well.
PhD Project: My PhD is focused on better understanding the role of a neuronal presynaptic protein called alpha-synuclein (α-syn). α-Syn is involved in neurotransmission by regulating synaptic vesicle trafficking. However, this protein is also involved in a group of neurodegenerative diseases termed synucleinopathies characterised by the accumulation of intraneuronal inclusions of α-syn. Using microfluidic devices to isolate synaptic terminals from the cell body of neurons, I investigate the impact of transmitted α-syn on retrograde transport in recipient neurons. Furthermore, I explore α-syn’s nanoscale organisation in neurons using super-resolution microscopy. By comparing the effect and organisation of wild-type α-syn and mutants linked to familial forms of Parkinson’s disease, I hope to bring more knowledge into the physiological roles of transmitted α-syn and its implication in Parkinson’s disease.
Supervisor: Prof. Frederic Meunier, Dr. Adekunle Bademosi
Mrs Anusha Malapaka
PhD Student & Casual Research AssistantQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Ms Visalakshi Veerappan
PhD StudentQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Body:PhD Project: The role of free fatty acids in learning memory and neurodegeneration.
Supervisors: Dr. Tristan P Wallis & Prof. Frederic Meunier
About me: I graduated from Sathyabama University -Chennai, India with a BTech in Biotechnology. I worked with Dr. Jayshree Nellore studying the complex interplay of genetic and environmental risk factors associated with Parkinson’s disease as an undergraduate researcher. Upon the completion of my bachelor’s, I worked in Pfizer, Chennai as a Regulatory Affairs associate liaising with European Medical Agency and supporting the market authorizations across the European Union. I still had a calling to pursue a research career in Neuroscience and switched lanes to start my PhD. I am interested in answering the fundamental questions behind the process of learning and memory. The free fatty acids (FFAs) derived from the membrane phospholipids undergo significant change due to phospholipase activity in the rodent brain during learning and memory. Despite their significant presence, their exact role remains largely unknown. I aim to understand the role of FFAs in memory acquisition and the impact of ageing and neurodegeneration on their levels using mass spectrometry techniques for my PhD research.
When not experimenting in the lab, you can find me experimenting in the kitchen, petting dogs, and on the coastal walks.
Mr Kye Kudo
PhD StudentQueensland Brain InstituteResearcher profile is public:0Supervisor:Body:About me: Kye received his Bachelor of Biomedicine (Degree with Honours) from the University of Melbourne. He undertook his Honours year in the Neuron Development and Plasticity Laboratory under the supervision of Kathryn Munro and Jenny Gunnersen. During his Honours, he investigated the roles of Seizure Related Protein 6 on dendritic spine morphology while developing a strong passion for molecular neuroscience and computational analyses. When away from the microscopy, Kye enjoys skateboarding.
PhD Project: The presynaptic terminal exhibits an intriguing ultrastructure in which synaptic vesicles and cytoplasmic proteins are clustered in apposition to the electron-dense presynaptic active zone. The high concentration of synaptic vesicles at these exocytic sites is essential for sustaining precise synaptic communication during demanding bouts of high frequency stimulation. Intriguingly, this clustering is apparent despite an entropic force driving synaptic vesicles and cytoplasmic proteins to distribute homogenously throughout the entirety of the axon. Kye is investigating the mechanism by which synaptic vesicles and proteins cluster at the presynaptic terminal.
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