Mental Health Research Institute
The Mental Health Research Institute of Victoria (MHRI) engages in research which improves the lives of people affected by psychiatric/mental illness and dementia. The Institute, led by the Director, Professor Colin Masters, focuses its work in two major research programs; Neurodegeneration and Neuropsychiatry. Links to clinical services ensures research remains relevant and allows translation of research findings into clinical practice.
Neurodegeneration
- Alzheimer’s disease - mechanism of neurotoxicity of A-beta amyloid protein, Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP), APP processing and reagent development.
- Involvement in the Australian Imaging, Biomarkers and Lifestyle (AIBL) study, the largest longitudinal cohort study of its kind in the world, aiming to discern preclinical biomarkers, environmental contributions and treatment strategies for Alzheimer’s disease.
- Endogenous and exogenous factors that predispose to dementia, especially of the Alzheimer type.
- Drug development and clinical trials, screening for dementia and pre-clinical diagnosis.
- Role of oxidative stress in neurodegenerative diseases: Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, motor neurone disease, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease and the fronto-temporal dementias and tauopathies.
- The normal and abnormal function of proteins which aggregate in these diseases and form pathogenic amyloid plaques.
Neuropsychiatry (Schizophrenia, Bipolar Disorder, Depression and related disorders)
- Identification of key genes and proteins through genomics/proteomics.
- Regulation of major molecular therapeutic targets and neurobiological actions of dopamine, serotonin, acetylcholine and GABA.
- Behavioural/phenotypic analysis of effect of pharmacological tools and modulating action of sex steroid hormones and stress.
- Mechanism of action of atypical antipsychotics.
- Cognitive deficits in schizophrenia and mood disorders.
- Generation of delusions and auditory hallucinations (hearing voices).
- Role of oxidative free radicals in schizophrenia – fundamental and clinical studies.
- Impact and mechanism of psychosocial treatment and collaborative therapy for people with a psychiatric illness.
Neuroscience Platforms
MHRI is closely involved in the following neuroscience platforms.
- Australian Brain Bank Network - Lead Organisation
- Neurogenomics and Neuroproteomics - Professor Colin Masters, Professor Brian Dean
- Integrative Neuroscience Facility - Associate Professor Maarten van den Buuse
Planning for the Future
The planned co-location of some of MHRI’s research groups in the new Parkville neuroscience facility and at the Austin Hospital in 2011, with our partners Florey Neuroscience Institutes and the University of Melbourne, will give our researchers access to greater know-how, technologies and equipment. Researchers from each of the participating organisations will form multidisciplinary teams to apply insights to related fields and to translate discoveries into new treatments.