Ross Maclean Senior Research Fellowship

Although Ross Maclean knew there was little chance he would benefit from new research into motor neurone disease (MND), that didn’t stop the Index Group founder from concentrated efforts during his final years to establish a fund to fight this most debilitating disease.

Before he passed away in 2005, Mr Maclean was instrumental in establishing a fellowship to study MND at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI).

Mr Maclean’s company, the Index Group – one of Queensland’s top 400 privately owned companies and today headed by his son Jeff Maclean AM – is committed to continue supporting the Ross Maclean Senior Research Fellowship for MND Research.

To his enduring credit, Mr Maclean conceived the idea to create a MND Fellowship after meeting with QBI’s inaugural Director, Professor Perry Bartlett.

Professor Bartlett is an internationally renowned neuroscientist, who has set about to continue his groundbreaking research into the fundamental mechanisms that underpin brain function.

This unique fellowship is one of the few research positions in Australia dedicated to fundamental research of the underlying neurological factors behind motor neuron disease.

The inaugural Ross Maclean Senior Research Fellow was Dr Robyn Wallace. The current incumbent is Dr Adam Walker who joined QBI in 2018, moving here from Macquarie University.