Brazil Program for Neurology

The Brazil Family Program for Neurology broadly focuses on understanding disease mechanisms and progressing translational approaches for neurological disorders, including motor neurone disease (MND) and stroke.

Thank you to the Brazil Family who is now supporting five leading researchers, who together draw on their diverse expertise, to advance our goals in discovery research and translation.

Research Leads

Stroke Research - Dr Matilde Balbi

Dr Matilde investigates the potential of precision neuromodulation for stroke recovery. Across clinical and preclinical streams, the Balbi lab is converging on a unified goal of developing scalable, personalised, mechanism‑informed neuromodulation treatments that enhance recovery after stroke and ageing‑related motor decline. The Balbi lab aims to develop a clinically deployable, mechanistically grounded platform for precision brain stimulation that accelerates recovery, reduces long‑term disability, and improves quality of life after stroke.

Stroke Research - Dr Margaret Moore

Dr Margaret Moore is an emerging leader using cognitive neuroscience and neuropsychology to better understand post-stroke perception and attention. In partnership with the Mater Hospital, her work combines behavioural and neuroimaging data to explain why stroke survivors experience different combinations of cognitive impairments, such as memory, attention, and language problems. By analysing behavioural and neuroimaging data she builds models that better explain patient profiles and support more accurate recovery predictions. She also studies spatial neglect, a common and disabling condition where patients fail to perceive one side of space, using advanced EEG and machine-learning approaches to uncover the brain mechanisms that cause it and guide future treatment development.

Motor Neurone Disease (MND) and Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD) Research — Dr Adekunle Bademosi

Dr Adekunle (Kunle) Bademosi is an Emerging Career Research Fellow at QBI investigating the mechanisms driving MND and FTD, with a focus on TDP‑43 protein aggregation. A specialist in single‑molecule super‑resolution microscopy, he uses advanced imaging to detect early disease changes and identify new therapeutic targets. A recipient of the Dementia Australia Sir Jackie Stewart “Race Against Dementia” Fellowship, he is building strong momentum in both research impact and community engagement

Dementia Research — Associate Professor Tara Walker

Brain Injury Research — Professor Fatima Nasrallah

Professor Fatima Nasrallah’s research spans the spectrum of traumatic brain injury from concussion and chronic traumatic encephalopathy (CTE) to severe and acquired injuries, using advanced imaging and biomarkers to improve diagnosis and recovery monitoring. The TACKLE Concussion Study, is a longitudinal program addressing the lack of objective concussion diagnostics, aiming to develop a point-of-care biomarker test to guide clinical and Return to Play decisions. This study is being conducted in collaboration with World Rugby, Rugby Australia, QScan, Sullivan Nicolaides, Trajan Scientific and Brisbane GPS schools and is due for completion by December 2026. It will have broader applications in stroke and other brain injuries.