Since 1970 the Brain Foundation has supported hundreds of research projects. Brain Foundation grants have helped to discover:
- a new treatment for migraine based on the discovery of the relationship of a chemical transmitter serotonin to migraine
- new surgical methods of stopping tremor and other involuntary movements
- a serum which contains ApoE4, a risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease
- a method of detecting and correcting blood vessel spasms following strokes, injuries and operations
- a procedure which enables brain tumours to be identified more readily and provide a check on complete removal of tumours using ultrasound
- the location of the gene for a common form of inherited neuropathy causing weakness of the hands and legs (on chromosome 17)
- a method of analysing the tremor of Parkinson’s disease to distinguish it from other causes of trembling
- the gene responsible for compression paralysis in families with sensitivity of peripheral nerves to pressure.
During the past seven years, neuroscientists funded by the Brain Foundation (over $1,500,000) have researched:
- Alzheimer’s Disease and other forms of dementia
- Brain Tumour
- Deafness
- Epilepsy (affects more 45,000 Australians)
- Head Injury
- Hydrocephalus
- Migraine (affects more than two million Australians)
- Motor Neurone Disease
- Muscle Disease
- Muscular Dystrophy
- Various aspects of neurosurgery
- Parkinson’s Disease (affects more than 35,000 Australians)
- Peripheral Nerve Disease
- Renal failure
- Stroke (40,000 Australians annually suffer a stroke)
- Vertigo, balance and Meniere’s Disease.
These disorders alone affect more than 2.5 million Australians, ranging from the very young to the very old.
Brain Foundation grants have been awarded to researchers working in many institutions including:
Concord Hospital
Flinders University
Garvan Institute
John Hunter Hospital, Newcastle
New Children’s Hospital
NHMRC Clinical Trials Centre
Prince Henry & Prince of Wales Hospitals
Prince of Wales Medical Research Institute
Royal Hobart Hospital
Royal North Shore Hospital
Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
St Vincent’s Hospital, Sydney
Sydney Children’s Hospital
University of Adelaide
University of Melbourne
University of Sydney
University of Tasmania
University of Western Australia
Westmead Hospital NSW
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