| This
is a request for funds to support a new initiative at the
Institute of Psychiatry, the Centre for the Cellular Basis
of Behaviour (CCBB).
The Institute of Psychiatry is an internationally-renown centre
for brain research, with proven excellence in a range of disciplines
including Psychiatry, Neurology, Clinical Genetics, Neuroimaging,
and Epidemiology. Basic and Clinical Neurosciences are part
of that research portfolio, and the Departments of Neuroscience,
Neurology, and Neuropathology have an outstanding reputation
in these fields.
In 2001, the Institute adopted an expansion plan for Neuroscience
Research. This plan envisaged the substantial expansion in
both the range and capacity of Neuroscience research. As part
of that expansion, the Institute is inaugurating a new research
centre, the CCBB.
The Impact on Mental Health
Recent years have seen remarkable progress in the field of
Neuroscience. We now understand substantially more about the
brain: its development, its normal physiology, and its reaction
to damage. As a consequence, we now see opportunities for
diagnosis and therapy in brain disorders-in both psychiatry
and neurology-which previously were thought intractable. The
Institute of Psychiatry has long been at the forefront of
research and treatment of such disorders, and we are eager
to grasp opportunities as they emerge from Neuroscience and
incorporate them into our research programs, for the ultimate
benefit of our patients. We are committed to bringing cutting
edge research into mental health care.
This commitment underlies the PRT's decision to give the CCBB
its highest priority. We are convinced that our greatest opportunity
to impact on the diagnosis and treatment of diseases of the
brain in the medium term lies in identifying aspects of fundamental
neuroscience research that are likely to have the highest
impact on mental health, then driving those areas of research
forward. In founding the CCBB, we have identified three principle
areas where we anticipate this type of impact and where we
also see an opportunity to build on the skills and expertise
already existing at the Institute.
1. Neural Stem Cells.
Neural stem cells have the remarkable property that they are
able to restore function to the damaged brain. Few agents
have this ability, and hopes have been raised that neural
stem cells could be applied to the treatment of patients suffering
from neurodegenerative disorders such as Huntington's disease
and Stroke. The Institute has been at the forefront on Neural
Stem Cell research for some years. Indeed, our programs now
include plans for clinical trials of neural stem cell therapies
beginning in 2006. We currently have research programs into:
" Molecular and cellular studies of the mechanisms of
neural stem cell repair;
" Neuroimaging studies on engrafted neural stem cells
in models of Huntington's Disease and Stroke;
" The application of neural stem cells to storage disorders
such as Batten's disease;
" The generation of neural stem cells for the treatment
of motorneurone disease.
2. The Neurobiology of Mental Health
Studies into neurobiological mechanisms underlying the major
psychiatric diseases have generally been viewed as among the
most difficult in Neuroscience. These diseases-schizophrenia,
depression, autism, bipolar disorder-are complex and their
aetiology is unclear. Nonetheless, there is cause for optimism.
Advances in genetics, developmental neurobiology, and molecular
biology have given rise to new opportunities: new pathogenic
mechanisms identified; new experimental models; new therapeutic
opportunities.
3. Molecular Neurobiology
The Institute already has demonstrable excellence in Molecular
Neurobiology. We wish to increase this capacity for two principle
reasons. First, some of the most exciting developments in
our understanding of brain function in health and disease
have come from this area. We need to increase our capacity
in this area if we are to move forward. Second, molecular
neuroscience fundamentally underpins modern neuroscience.
We need critical mass in this area of research if the CCBB
is to be successful in understanding mechanisms of disease
and potentials for therapy.
The CCBB-The Funding Challenge
The CCBB will only succeed if we are able to build the necessary
infrastructure to support the excellent team of scientists
we are attracting to the CCBB. This represents a major challenge.
Funding has been awarded to cover the major building work
and equipment for the CCBB.
Nonetheless, we currently have no means to fund the following
pieces of equipment that are essential in order to build functional
laboratories.
For Tissue Culture
Stereo Dissection Microscope plus fibre optics £2,000 (required
for tissue dissection in the production of cell cultures)
Cold Cabinet £2,000 (to hold tissue culture media and reagents)
Tissue Culture inverted microscope £3,000 (to monitor living
cells)
CO2 Incubator £3,700 (to grow cells in a controlled environment)
Molecular Biology
Hybridisation oven £2,000 (required to set constant temperatures
for nucleic acid bindings studies)
High speed centrifuge and rotors £7,000 (to separate cellular
components as part of biochemical studies)
-70 C Freezer £7,000 (a high quality deep-freeze for the storage
of biochemical samples and tissues)
PCR Thermocycler £8,000 (this is a device for amplifying DNA,
an absolute requirement for identifying and analyzing genes)
Nikon Eclipse Epiflourescent microscope £45,000 (this is a
'workhorse' microscope. Capable of providing a team of researchers
with a broad range of standard techniques for the visualization
of brain tissue)
If you would like to donate
to this project please either click here
or visit the contacts page |
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