Welcome to the Florey Annual.

From the Chairman

Welcome to this, the Florey’s latest Annual. While the science that happens at this extraordinary institute is at the cutting edge of global neuroscience, so is our reporting to our supporters. This journal aims to inspire and surprise with highlights from the last 12 months.

As the Chairman, I am constantly amazed by the breadth of research happening at the Florey. More than 600 people work together to delve into the mysteries of the brain. And progress is being made in our efforts to reveal the secrets of the most complex supercomputer on the planet. The Florey Board has excelled and I thank each member for the service they have provided in time, wisdom and expertise. We are on-track to meet our ambitious goals, ensuring the Florey’s robust independence. At the same time, we welcome the opportunity to collaborate with clinical and academic partners.

This year we have invested, with the University of Melbourne, to retain several of our world-class researchers. We are determined to ensure great Australian medical researchers are offered a secure future while leading the way from the Florey laboratories.

As we move into our 54th year, the Board is undertaking a major fundraising campaign which aims to further strengthen the Florey’s future into the next century. I will be contributing to our campaign and I invite you to join me.

Diseases of the brain and mind are so common – one in four of us will be directly affected – and for this reason, can think of no better organisation to support. I spend a lot of time talking to a wide range of people, and one recurring theme is the struggle so many of us face as age-related illnesses impact on individuals and their families. Alzheimer’s disease is particularly common and the cause of so much sadness.

Having lost my dearly-loved Dad recently to a stroke, I feel more committed than ever to the task at hand.

Thank you for your interest in the work of the Florey and thank you to our researchers who are committed to finding answers to the greatest medical challenge of our time – understanding the brain.

From the Director

Iam a great optimist and firmly believe that if we provide a rich and fertile environment, great science will flourish and lives of people living with brain diseases will improve. While we are studying some of the most intractable diseases facing medicine today, I am immensely proud of the researchers at the Florey who are chipping away, determinedly contributing to international understanding of the brain. Their work will have profound societal and economic benefits for people around the world.

As I walk the corridors of each of our buildings, I regularly witness the sparks of ingenuity as our scientists work together in the lab and in the clinical setting. The extremely high quality of their science is measured both by publication rates and by the numbers of fellow scientists referencing our work.

Our clinical year started with the release of new stroke trial results from the co-head of our stroke division, Professor Vincent Thijs. Vincent’s trial group released new data from the CRYSTAL AF trial which provided two predictors for atrial fibrillation (irregular pulse) in people with stroke. Atrial fibrillation is a major risk factor for stroke, and subsequent strokes, after a transient ischemic attack (TIA/minor stroke).

Professor Anthony Hannan continued his laboratory’s very interesting pre-clinical work examining how a father’s environment can affect the behaviour of his offspring, focusing on stress and enrichment. This work will have political and social consequences well beyond the laboratory.

Dr Gawain McColl contributed to some exciting work showing that amyloid beta, known to be involved in Alzheimer’s disease, also possesses anti-microbial properties. It may turn out that amyloid production is the brain’s attempt to fight off either a real or perceived infection, opening up new treatment pathways to explore.

Returning to the clinic, Professor Graeme Jackson continued his successful work using advanced imaging to diagnose, find and guide the removal of tiny brain lesions causing focal epileptic seizures in young children and teenagers. Also highlighting the real-world potential of our basic research, Dr Tom Oxley’s ‘stentrode’ breakthrough, published early in the year, has continued to attract major support in the hope of helping quadriplegics to walk. Having finished its first round of funding in the US, it has attracted $US10 million to underwrite human trials scheduled to begin next year.

Finally, would like to thank the Chairman and the Florey Board for their support and enormous interest in the scientific endeavour of the Institute. This group of dedicated supporters performs a vital function, ensuring the Florey’s researchers have a stable and dynamic workplace.

Diabetes insulin breakthrough

Whether kids are in Durban or Dubbo, they could soon have access to a much cheaper and longer-lasting form of insulin to manage their juvenile diabetes.

This new type of “thermos-stable” insulin doesn't require an expensive, carefully managed cold-storage chain. The Florey's Dr Akhter Hossain and Dr John Karas developed the new insulin as a by-product of their world-leading research into relaxin.

Beyond the bedside

Dr Amit Lotan is working with Florey researchers while on a two-year sabbatical from Jerusalem, Israel. Under the guidance of Professor Ashley Bush, Amit wants to develop improved drugs for patients living with psychiatric illnesses.

As a psychiatrist, Dr Amit Lotan has long been frustrated by the slow evolution of medications for brain disorders. While drugs treating cancers and other major illnesses have progressed dramatically in recent years, drugs for psychiatric conditions haven’t shifted in design for decades.

“Basically the drugs that we use to treat depression, anxiety and psychosis rely on the same mechanism of action as their ancestors which were discovered in the 1950s and ‘60s. Many patients still are very symptomatic, despite the best medical treatment.”

Amit travelled from Israel to join the Florey’s Oxidation Biology Unit, led by Professor Ashley Bush, who is a world-leader in the exploration of a potential link between Alzheimer’s disease and metals in the brain (See story page 4).

Amit plans to continue collaborating with the Florey after returning to Israel, while also drawing on Israeli expertise at HadassahHebrew University.