Lumen Summer 2016 - Flipbook - Page 27
Novel treatment brings
hope for stroke sufferers
NRF Director of Neurosurgical
Research and South Australian 2015
Young Tall Poppy Science Award
winner, Dr Renée Turner, is passionate
about science communication. She fell
in love with research in her honours
year and decided to pursue a PhD
and a career in research.
Since setting out on that path, Renée
has won over $1.6 million in research
funding with regular support from the
National Health and Medical Research
Council since 2004. She also has a
long-standing affiliation with the NeuroSurgical Research Foundation (NRF).
Her research involves developing
new therapies to treat brain swelling
and elevated intracranial pressure
within the brain following stroke. New
therapies are urgently required to treat
complications of stroke which carry a
mortality rate of up to 80 per cent and
are associated with extremely poor
outcomes in survivors.
Dr Brian North and Professor Robert Vink
Photo: Jo-Anna Robinson
to the University to fund research
in paediatrics and aims to promote
collaborative paediatric neurosurgical
research with other national and
international research groups.
The NRF had the foresight to set
up an administrative support fund
which means that every cent of all
donations given to the foundation
goes straight to research.
“There are a lot of charities that take
a high percentage for overheads and
administration – but we don’t. We
are in the fortunate position of having
sufficient investments that enable us to
ensure every funding dollar goes into
research,” said Bob.
A promising drug intervention
developed with seed funding from the
foundation is substance P antagonists.
It is hoped this will reduce brain swelling
and reduce pressure on the brain that
occurs when a head injury is sustained.
Clinical trials will begin next year.
Frustrated with the poor clinical
translation of therapeutic agents
developed in the laboratory, Renée has
developed a new approach to screen
them prior to clinical assessment.
NRF equipment
donations
Funding from the NeuroSurgical
Research Foundation has allowed the
University to invest in the latest scientific
equipment to support research:
2006 Stereotaxic digital injector
($30,000) that allows the automated
and accurate injection of drugs into the
brain in small volumes. The instrument
can be used in neurosurgical studies
of traumatic brain injury, stroke and
Parkinson’s disease.
2007 Nanophotometer ($15,000)
which has a wide range of applications,
including the analysis of gene and protein
changes following acute and chronic
brain injury. It is widely used by students
undertaking various neurosurgical
research projects.
Dr Renée Turner (Photo: Jo-Anna Robinson)
She says by using relevant pre-clinical
models and rigorous pre-clinical research,
the likelihood of therapies translating
into effective treatments will be improved.
“It’s been a long road, I have been
working on unravelling the mechanisms
of brain swelling and assessing this novel
treatment since 2004,” says Renée. “I’m
currently undertaking the final pre-clinical
studies, after which clinical assessment
will be possible. This treatment will
begin testing in early 2016.”
For more information about the
NRF visit www.nrf.com.au
2007 Agilent bioanalyzer ($25,000)
for the study of brain tissue to support
world-leading research in stroke,
Parkinson’s disease and brain swelling.
2010 Nanozoomer ($160,000) is a
high-powered scanner which converts
microscope slides of tissue into digital
pictures, making the extraction of data
much easier. Previously tissue sections
had to be counted individually. Funds are
now being raised for a larger version of
the machine.
2010 Dean Bowman Brain Tumour
Research Lab ($50,000) to help find
cures and treatments for brain tumours.
The research is focused on preventing
the entry of cancer cells into the brain.
2015 A bio-plex magpix multiplex reader
($54,500) and automated bio-plex pro
wash station to detect and measure
inflammation and markers in tissue samples.
The University of Adelaide | Alumni Magazine 25
