News
NSV is very pleased to be working with the Victorian Government to assist the Department of Health in administering the Mental Illness Research Fund. This is a $10million initiative over 4 years aimed at supporting collaborative research targeting better outcomes for Victorians with mental illness and their families/ carers. Such initiatives are critical for the development of new knowledge across Victoria’s research, treatment and support sectors which can be applied to improve treatment and recovery outcomes for people with mental illness.
NSV has partnered with Austin Health to obtain funding from the Transport Accident Commission to establish the Spinal Research Institute. The Institute is based at Austin Health, with Associate Professor Doug Brown as Director. The Spinal Research Institute aims to develop infrastructure and build capacity for research into spinal injury to improve the welfare of spinal cord injury patients, their families and carers, for the long term benefit of the Victorian community. The Institute will ensure the viability of spinal cord injury (SCI) research and provide infrastructure for research involving patients with spinal injuries. This will maximise translation of research output and bring the latest advances to clinical practice and patient care.
NSV continues to be successful in generating partnerships and licensing activities for our Members with both the private and public sectors. NSV is particularly well placed to facilitate major cross-institute, multi-disciplinary programs. Major initiatives in sports injury, computational neuroscience, imaging and psychiatric illness are underway. NSV is also increasing its focus on marketing the neuroscience cluster through expert delegations to Asia, particularly Japan and India. It is clear from these initiatives that Melbourne has the critical mass and scientific leadership to justify its position at the forefront of neuroscience.
Brain and Mind Scholarships have been awarded by NSV to encourage graduate research as a viable option in clinical neuroscience and related disciplines by providing support to clinical researchers and allied health professionals at Victorian institutions. The awards are biased towards original discovery research to encourage connectivity between the basic and clinical sciences.