A Grey Matter

Antipsychotic drugs, like clozapine, can stabilise some schizophrenia symptoms, but they do not cure the illness and can cause severe side effects. At UQ, a neuroscientist, a chemist and a psychiatrist have hit on a formulation that may revolutionise the treatment of schizophrenia. The research team, led by Professor Darryl Eyles and Dr Xiaoying Cui , are investigating a new delivery mode for cloz...

In neurodegenerative diseases, about 99% are associated with protein molecules aggregating together. In recent years, super-resolution microscopy has revolutionised how scientists view these minute molecules aggregating, along with other cellular events.  QBI’s Professor Fred Meunier advocated that The University of Queensland invest in super-resolution microscopy; this had paid dividends, reveali...

Despite its everyday use in hospitals, scientists have yet to fully understand how general anaesthesia works. Professor Bruno van Swinderen began studying general anaesthesia using the tiny worm C.elegans in the 1990s. Now in his lab at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, Bruno and Dr Drew Cylinder are studying general anaesthesia reversal agents, which could shorten patients’ recovery time and poten...

Mitochondria are known as the powerhouses of our cells, but research is revealing their wide role in brain health and links to rare genetic diseases that affect the brain. At UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, Professor Steven Zuryn , a leading researcher in this field, and PhD student Tessa Onraet are investigating how keeping mitochondria healthy may help brain function. By studying tiny but exper...

Exercise has many health benefits, including for our brains. Recent discoveries at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute offer new clues about the mechanisms that generate exercise’s positive effects. In their labs, Dr Tara Walker and Professor Jana Vukovic investigate how exercise enhances cognitive capacity from different angles. They study various mechanisms that can improve learning, memory, and neu...

Virtual reality (VR) is changing how scientists study memory, and it involves exploring virtual mazes. At UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, cognitive neuroscience leader Professor Jason Mattingley, PhD student Richard Ronayne, and research assistant Jayce Rushton are conducting VR experiments that they hope will be adopted in clinical settings to test people’s navigational and spatial memory.   In...

Virtual reality (VR) is more than just a video game tool — it’s helping advance our understanding of memory. At UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, cognitive neuroscientist Professor Jason Mattingley , PhD student Richard Ronayne, and research assistant Jayce Rushton are using VR to immerse people in a world they can explore to test their navigational and spatial memory.   In part one of this two-par...

Professor Massimo Hilliard and Dr Ramon Martinez-Marmol grew up far from Queensland – Massimo in Naples, Italy, and Ramon in Catalonia, Spain. Their passion for biology led them both overseas as postdoctoral researchers: Massimo to the United States, and then Ramon to Australia. In 2015, they met at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, where Ramon joined the Meunier lab before moving to the Hilliard l...

In this special World Stroke Day edition, three remarkable women open up about stroke from every angle — surviving it, treating it, and fighting it in the lab. Letishia Living was just 35 when her life changed overnight; today, she’s a powerful voice for young stroke survivors. Tennille Rowland, an occupational therapist on the frontlines of recovery, reveals the strategies behind rebuilding lives...

In this episode, Dr Margreet Ridder — whose project was ranked the top FightMND-funded study in 2024 — reflects on her journey to becoming a researcher at the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI) with her group leader, Professor Pankaj Sah . She shares how her fascination with neuronal communication led her to electrophysiology and ultimately to pursue gene therapy as a potential treatment for motor n...

Please note that this episode contains discussions about suicidal ideation, which some listeners may find distressing. If you or someone you know is affected by these kinds of issues, we encourage you to seek support from professional services.  Heather Cruickshank was pursuing a lifelong dream to become a medical doctor when bipolar disorder, a complex mental health condition, stopped her in her...

While countless supplements and products promise to reverse aging without scientific proof, the real secret to defying age may be found in the study of epigenetics. This field of study explores how our behaviours and environment can lead to changes that influence how our genes function.  Dr Anne Hahn from the Zuryn laboratory has recently discovered a mechanism in the DNA of genes that regulates h...

Dr Matt Kenna is fascinated by the science of memory. As a researcher at UQ’s Queensland Brain Institute, Matt is tasked with challenging prominent theories centred around one of the biggest unknowns in the world of neuroscience. Memory is fundamental to our identity, shaping who we are. As a member of the Sah lab, Matt studies synaptic plasticity to explore how memories are formed, retrieved, and...

Professor John McGrath, a distinguished clinician and researcher at UQ's Queensland Brain Institute, is at the forefront of global mental health research. Growing up in Brisbane, John initially pursued a career as a psychiatrist before transitioning to groundbreaking research aimed at unraveling the complexities of mental health disorders. Co-leading a major international study in collaborati...

Mr Mehershad Wadia has written numerous scripts for short comedies screened at international film festivals like Mumbai and San Francisco, joined the writing team for the third season of The Office India and published a children’s book. Matching his passion for entertainment is Mehershad’s commitment to brain research. He is adamant there is no reason to choose between the two. At UQ’s Queensland...

Professor Gail Robinson has developed a new diagnostic tool to assess cognitive function in post-stroke patients called The Brief Executive Language Screening Test (BELS). This brief 20-minute test, can predict how much a stroke patient will recover to function independently in their first year. In this informative podcast, Professor Robinson discusses: Stroke symptoms and causes Warning signs of...

We know exercise is beneficial for our body and mind. Research has shown that neurogenesis – the production of neurons in the brain – continues throughout our lives and is key to improving cognition.  At the Queensland Brain Institute, Dr Daniel Blackmore, has been captivated by this process of neurogenesis. Alongside colleagues from The University of Queensland, he completed a comprehensive study...

Dr Bonnie Searle is passionate about getting children to eat. In her past life as a paediatric dietitian for children with food aversions, she experienced first-hand the power of changing how we feed children.  She is currently working on a special research project at the Queensland Brain Institute, called Mealtimes Matter, which suggests that there are some serious nutritional deficiencies in som...

What do Wally Lewis AM and Nic Berry have in common? Quite a lot, it turns out. Wally started playing rugby union before switching codes to rugby league, becoming a legend of the game. Nic kicked off in rugby league before his professional career in rugby union, first as a player and now as an international match official. Both have also experienced significant head knocks in rugby and, with the b...

Last year, neuroengineer Dr Clarissa Whitmire joined the Queensland Brain Institute as a senior research fellow and is the Institute’s newest group leader. Originally from the United States, Clarissa arrived at UQ following a postdoctoral appointment at the Max Dellbruck Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin.   In a joint appointment with UQ’s School of Electrical Engineering and Computer Scienc...

As a Research Fellow in Neuroeconomics, Dr Dragan Rangelov investigates human sensory perception, decision-making and memory. His work explores how the brain processes and stores information that leads us to make decisions in all aspects of life. He does this by using techniques designed to measure and record brain activity, such as electroencephalography (EEG) and functional magnetic resonance im...

Robyn Hilton and Allison Scifleet may never have become firm friends had it not been for their involvement in fundraising for dementia research. Both women understand what it is like to care for a loved one with dementia. With more than 421,000 Australians living with dementia and no cure (yet), Robyn and Allison are determined to raise awareness in the community and vital funds for research. All...

What inspired the creation of the Queensland Brain Institute (QBI)? And how did QBI become one of the leading neuroscience research centres in the world? On our 20th anniversary, QBI’s inaugural Director, Emeritus Professor Perry Bartlett, and its current Executive Director, Professor Pankaj Sah, take us back to 2003, an exciting and optimistic time for Australian neuroscience, when it all began....

Stroke is one of Australia’s biggest killers, with more than 445,000 Australians living with its impacts. Stroke is common, is not always preventable and can happen to anyone at any age. QBI’s Dr Matilde Balbi and her team combine multiple approaches, including in vivo imaging, brain stimulation and AI-driven, individually tailored recovery paradigms, to study the brain’s recovery from stroke. The...