Annual Report 2009 - Florey Neuroscience Institutes

1 IN 7 AUSTRALIANS
EXPERIENCE A MAJOR
BRAIN DISORDER
EVERY YEAR

ADDICTION
CARDIOVASCULAR
DISEASE
DEPRESSION
EPILEPSY
HUNTINGTON’S
DISEASE
MOTOR NEURON
DISEASE
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
PARKINSON’S
DISEASE
SCHIZOPHRENIA
STROKE
TRAUMATIC BRAIN AND
SPINAL CORD INJURY
OUR MISSION
IMPROVING LIFE THROUGH
BRAIN RESEARCH
OUR VISION
TO BE RECOGNISED AS A
LEADING INTERNATIONAL
BRAIN RESEARCH INSITUTE
OUR VALUES
INNOVATION AND EXCELLENCE
COMMITMENT AND PASSION
INTEGRITY AND RIGOUR
COLLABORATION AND
TEAMWORK

05 CONTENTS
CHAIRMAN’S REPORT 07
DIRECTOR’S REPORT 09
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER’S REPORT 11
BOARD OF DIRECTORS 13
DIVISION HEADS 21
RESEARCH 29-50
COMMERCIALISATION 51
COUNCIL OF GOVERNORS AND MEMBERS AT LARGE 53
COMPOSITION OF BOARD COMMITTEES 55
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 57
FUNDRAISING AND MARKETING 59
DONORS 61

07 CHAIRMAN’S REPORT
Two and a half years ago the Boards
of the Howard Florey Institute (HFI),
the National Stroke Research Institute
(NSRI) and the Brain Research Institute
(BRI) committed their organisations to
amalgamate with the aim of becoming
a major international research force in
neuroscience.
Florey Neuroscience Institutes, which was
born out of this agreement, is now half
way through that five year amalgamation
process. Coupled with the amalgamation
and underpinned by substantial financial
support from the State and Federal
Governments and philanthropic
donations, FNI as Lead Agent embarked
on the major task of building two new
facilities, one in Parkville on land provided
by the University, and one at the Austin
Hospital. This will lead to the expansion
of FNI science in the context of a
collabrative environment.
RESTRUCTURE OF
THE SCIENCE
In January 2009, Professor Geoffrey
Donnan took over as Director of the
Institutes following the retirement of
Professor Frederick Mendelsohn AO at
the end of 2008. Professor Mendelsohn
wisely steered the Florey and FNI
towards neuroscience for more than a
decade of committed service.
In consultation with FNI’s scientific
leaders, Professor Donnan has reshaped
the research teams into 12 Divisions
across the Group. The new streamlined
hierarchy represents improvements
in reporting and uniformity across the
organisation, and the structure was
approved by the Board.
Complementing these changes Professor
Donnan convened a ‘Science Vision
Workshop’ where the science leadership
group mapped-out FNI’s direction in
the areas of research, people and
collaboration for the next five years.
The results were presented to the
FNI Board late in 2009 and they have
highlighted the organisation’s desire to
reinforce its existing areas of scientific
strength as well as to expand into new
areas of research if we can find and recruit
the appropriate outstanding scientists.
In August we broke the soil
at the Austin, and this was
celebrated with the Premier
of Victoria, Federal and
State Ministers and a
number of dignitaries.
Although such changes may require
additional equipment and support, we
will benefit greatly from the interaction
and co-operation which the co-location
with the partners will have created.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
In last year’s annual report I outlined the
establishment of the Brain Appeal and its
Committee led by Mr Harrison Young,
which had the challenge of raising the
remaining $50m needed to complete
the building projects and provide FNI
with an endowment to enable the initial
recruitment of exceptional new
scientific teams.
With a shortfall at that time of
approximately $39m and in the midst
of the Global Financial Crisis this seemed
an almost impossible task. Fortunately
our successful application to the $5
billion Federal Government’s Health and
Hospitals Fund (HHF) which was granted
in the 2009 budget, allowed us to award
the contacts for the two buildings at very
competitive prices.
EMERGING NEUROSCIENCE
FACILITIES IN PARKVILLE
AND THE AUSTIN
From an external observer’s perspective
the greatest impact of the FNI
amalgamation has been our participation
in the Melbourne Neuroscience Project.
FNI are partners with The University
of Melbourne, Mental Health Research
Institute and Austin Health in the building
of the two dedicated neuroscience
facilities at Parkville and at the Austin
Hospital.
In August 2009 we broke the soil at the
Austin, and this was celebrated with the
Premier of Victoria, Federal and State
Ministers and a number of dignitaries.
In a short six months, the Austin project
has risen two storeys out of the ground.
The Parkville project is now four storeys
above Royal Parade in Parkville with a
multi-level car park completed beneath
the complex. This imposing building on the
grounds of The University of Melbourne
certainly heralds a new collaborative
approach to neuroscience in Australia.
The construction of these facilities means
that we have provided an important
stimulus to the local economy during the
difficult period of the Global Financial Crisis.
BOARD MATTERS
During the year we have been very sorry
to lose the services of Mr Martyn Myer
AO, Dr Alan Finkel AM and Mr John
Wylie AM.
Martyn Myer was President of the Howard
Florey Institute and joined the FNI Board
on its formation. Martyn was for many
years the driving force of the “Project
Committee”, the committee charged with
bringing the Parkville and Austin projects to
completion. Martyn dedicated many years
of service to HFI and FNI and has been a
significant donor to both. We will miss his
many skills and leadership.
John Wylie also joined the FNI Board after
being a Director of the Howard Florey
Institute where he took on the role of
Honorary Treasurer. John carried on this
role for FNI, where his extensive business
experience and foresight have been of the
greatest value.
Alan Finkel brought significant scientific
expertise to the Board, and particularly
in the area of neuroscience. Alan’s role as
Chancellor of Monash University provided
FNI with insight into the operation of the
university sector. He and his wife still
have a strong connection to FNI through
the ‘Alan & Elizabeth Finkel Award for
Neuroscience’, which assists post-graduate
students top-up existing scholarships.
We have been very fortunate to have
some outstanding Directors join the
Board. Mr Craig Drummond formerly
with Goldman Sachs and presently Chief
Executive Officer & Country Head of Bank
of America Merrill Lynch Australia, and Mr
Mark Jones, a Partner and member of the
executive team for the Advisory Services
Division of KPMG, joined the Board in June
and May 2009 respectively.
In October Professor Richard Larkins,
formerly Vice Chancellor of Monash
University and Professor Andrea Hull
formerly Director and CEO of the Victorian
College of the Arts, joined the Board.
We thank all those who have contributed
over the years and look forward to
working together with the new Directors.
FNI’s science continues to thrive.
Our researchers have been very successful
in their research grant applications and
awards, and I would like to thank them
and all the staff for their enormous
contribution’s over the past year.
2010 will see FNI move into the second
half of its amalgamation process.
Much still needs to be done but solid
ground work has already been laid, and
I am confident that we will move forward
with vigour and resourcefulness.
CHARLES K ALLEN AO
CHAIRMAN

09 DIRECTOR’S REPORT
RESTRUCTURING
FOR GROWTH
During my first year as Director,
much of our focus has been on
our participation in the Melbourne
Neuroscience Project, where we
are partners with The University of
Melbourne, Mental Health Research
Institute and Austin Health in the
building of two dedicated neuroscience
facilities at Parkville and at the Austin
Hospital. Nevertheless, my attention
has been on scientific team building and
on improving communication between
our campuses.
Our decision to create 12 scientific
divisions across the FNI group has
enabled us to build on unique strengths
in basic and translational research.
Wherever applicable, divisions are
co-headed to facilitate collaboration
between the cross-campus teams.
This strategy is already paying
dividends in the sharing of information
and resources, and in new funding
opportunities becoming available.
Our restructuring has also extended to
the development of an Executive group
for the Institutes. Individual members
are responsible for various portfolios
which include areas such as external
relationships, awards and prizes and
women in science.
FINANCIAL SUPPORT
During 2009, FNI was successful in
securing $7.88m in National Health and
Medical Research Council (NHMRC)
research grants for the next three years.
Over the past several years, FNI has
regularly outperformed other research
organisations with about 40 per cent of
its applications funded. This year’s 44 per
cent compares very favourably against
the national average of approximately
20 per cent, and is a confirmation of the
quality of our research. Our success also
reflects our ongoing commitment to
teaming with other institutes, universities
and hospitals on larger scale projects
where each organisation brings specific
expertise to solve a broader scientific
problem.
The Science Vision
Workshop in October was
the forum where the FNI
science leadership group
set our direction for the
forthcoming five years
in the areas of research,
people and collaboration.
We were also fortunate to complete
our capital fundraising campaign with a
grant of $39.8 million from the Federal
Government’s Health and Hospitals
Fund (HHF). This grant was the final
piece of our $205+ million building
project, and allowed us to award the
contracts for the two buildings at very
competitive prices. To raise this amount
in such a short time frame is a massive
achievement, and we are delighted to
see the Federal and State Governments
so strongly supportive of neuroscience
in Australia.
Despite the effects of the global
financial crisis, philanthropic
contributions continued to be strong
this year, and supported the work of
our scientific teams in many different
ways. FNI is indeed fortunate to be able
to partner with a number of trusts and
foundations which are committed to
our mission and research achievements,
and to receive support from so many
individuals who share our commitment
to finding better treatments and a cure
for brain disease.
PLANNING FOR
THE FUTURE
Our Science Vision Workshop in October
was the forum where the FNI science
leadership group set our direction for the
forthcoming five years in the areas of
research, people and collaboration.
The group wished to reinforce existing
core areas of scientific strength, and
to expand into new areas of research
we see as important in the future.
We looked at the number and skill
sets of our scientists to identify the
professionals we need to recruit, and
retain. Finally, we scoped the parties
with whom FNI could work together
to further brain and mind research.
The new areas we identified include
translational research, computational
neuroscience, stem cells and the
genetics of neurological disease.
The expansion and development of our
facilities to support this will include new
state-of-the-art equipment in imaging
and microscopy, and this will provide
unique opportunities for collaboration
with existing and new scientific teams.
During 2010, we will undertake
workshops to promote collaborative
initiatives which will exploit the
synergies made possible by our scientific
direction, and take advantage of our
advancements in scientific technology.
To continue our upward scientific
trajectory, we are also beginning to
recruit new scientific teams who will
be able to take advantage of the
opportunities we can offer for
innovative research.
Essential to our future expansion is the
education and mentoring of talented
students and young researchers at
FNI. With over 70 honours and post
graduate students FNI has a vibrant and
enthusiastic group of young scientists.
The post doctoral researchers at FNI
are the Institutes’ developing breed of
bright stars and I thank them and the
students for their fine work. Both groups
have been ably represented in 2009
by the Student Of Florey Neuroscience
Institutes (SOFI) organisation and
Florey Post Doctoral Association (FPA)
respectively.
EXECUTIVE SUPPORT
AND BOARD
During the year we have been very
sorry to lose the services of Mr Martyn
Myer AO, Dr Alan Finkel AM and
Mr John Wylie AM from the Board.
I want to personally thank them for
contributing their valuable time and
expertise over the years, and I look
forward to working together with
the new Directors.
I have been extremely fortunate
in having a dedicated Executive as
mentioned earlier. Each has contributed
significantly to the amalgamation process
and level of scientific achievement.
As we move into the second half of
our amalgamation process, I am also
deeply grateful for the hard work and
commitment of our administrative
teams. They raise vital funds to
support our scientific research, they
make sure the books are balanced
and we are meeting our compliance
requirements, and they communicate
our achievements to the wider
community and the world.
Finally, I would like to thank all of FNI’s
supporters over the past 12 months.
This has been a period of unparalleled
change and development, both in terms
of the organisation’s structure and
the construction of our exciting new
facilities. Without your ongoing financial
and in-kind support these projects
would not have been possible.
GEOFFREY A DONNAN
DIRECTOR

11 CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER’S REPORT
Florey Neuroscience Institutes is half
way through its amalgamation, a
challenging process requiring flexibility
and strong forms of collaboration.
What drives the organisation is an
excitement for science and the desire
to improve the quality of human life
through the excellence and innovation
of our research. At the same time, the
buildings currently under construction
will help us to fulfil our mission, vision
and values.
BUILDING AN
ORGANISATION
Supporting our science is an emphasis
on strong management. Building
on structural reviews, our group
focus and staff departures have led
to a number of changes in senior
appointments.
These changes include a restructure
of the team coordinating the
construction of the new buildings.
David Foxley has been appointed
Director, Project Commissioning
and Building Development with line
accountability for others assigned to
the project. This has been followed by
Alison Smith’s appointment as Senior
Project Manager. Other existing staff
positions have been reviewed and
amended to support the project.
Similarly, a review of the finance
department resulted in Christine
Corbett’s appointment as FNI’s
inaugural Group Director of Finance.
Christine’s role includes creation
of a consolidated general ledger,
management of all banking services,
and financial reporting. This will
necessitate an upgrade to financial
software, and eventually a single
payroll system with human resource
management modules.
During the year the Board approved
Charters for its Finance and Audit
Committees, the establishment of
a FNI Foundation Council and its
terms of reference, assessed its own
performance, and initiated a risk
management review.
The last two and half years
have not been easy for
anyone. Good planning and
management are a necessity,
but ultimately it is staff effort
and the extra yard they go
that makes the difference.
COLLABORATION
IN DELIVERY
Collaboration in science is a core
strength which leads to discovery.
We have seen an increasing focus upon
collaboration in the management of
shared scientific platforms because our
new buildings will be occupied by staff
from FNI, The University of Melbourne
and the Mental Health Research
Institute (MHRI). The challenge is not
only in how shared scientific platforms
will be delivered, but how the delivery
model will be applied across the
scientific platforms housed in retained
premises. This is a complex issue, and
we have been working through its
many ramifications.
A Director’s Co-ordination Forum,
established in 2008, has turned its
attention to this issue in order to
facilitate decision making. The Forum
has three core members: Director FNI,
Director MHRI, and a representative
nominated by the University of
Melbourne.
The Forum will develop agreements
relating to collaboration in the delivery of
shared platforms, ongoing management
of facilities and coordination of scientific
effort.
THE NEW BUILDINGS
Whilst the Global Financial Crisis has had
a negative impact upon so many aspects
of our lives and business, it resulted in a
very competitive tendering process for
the construction of the new building.
Consequently, contracts have been
signed that are within our capacity to fund.
Both projects are currently on time and
within budget. The Austin Neuroscience
Facility is scheduled for completion
December 2010, and the Parkville
Neuroscience Facility scheduled for
completion June 2011.
A more recent development is the
potential fit-out of existing space within
the Royal Melbourne Hospital to create
a Centre for Translational Neuroscience.
Melbourne Health is leading the planning
process with FNI, MHRI and University
of Melbourne active partners in the
venture.
FINANCING THE FUTURE
Exciting as the future may be, there
is a need to prioritise and manage risk
so that we find ourselves leaders as
opposed to observers in neuroscience
discovery and translation.
FNI intends to increase its staff numbers
to occupy the new space. We will have
the capacity to recruit 100+ new
scientists, and have initiated a major
international and national recruitment
strategy. The recruitment strategy
was approved by the Board in light of a
marginal cash flow projection from 2011
to the year ending 2019. That is how
long we have stretched our thinking to
fully understand the risks and to develop
mitigating initiatives to overcome
anticipated gaps.
Our strategy, together with other new
commitments, will result in an outflow
of many millions of dollars every year
until the new teams can obtain their
own research grants. However, we
are confident in our future and the
assistance we will receive from our
supporters.
We acknowledge the Victorian
Government’s strong support,
particularly through the funding from
the Operational Infrastructure Support
Grant. All funding received through the
Department of Business and Innovation
and other Government agencies are
expended on our research activities and
services to support the science.
APPRECIATION TO STAFF
The last two and half years have not
been easy for anyone. Good planning
and management are a necessity, but
ultimately it is staff effort and the extra
yard they go that makes the difference.
Our momentum is improving steadily
as we are working towards the same
objectives.
On behalf of the Board and the Director,
I sincerely thank our staff for their
support during 2009 and in anticipation
of their contribution to the journey
ahead.
GARY GRAY
CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

13 BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Mr Charles Allen was born and educated in
England. His working career was in the oil and gas
industry, initially as an exploration geophysicist
with Shell in various parts of the world, and later
in production and general management.
He was posted to Australia in 1979 as Executive
Director of Woodside Petroleum Ltd. and
Chairman of the North West Shelf LNG project,
the largest undertaking by a non-government
organisation in Australia at that time.
He became Managing Director of Woodside in
1982 and retired in 1996 when the project was
complete. He was appointed AO in 1990.
He has been a Director and Chairman of
CSIRO, National Australia Bank and Air Liquide
Australia. He has also been a Director of Metals
Manufactures, Amcor and AGL.
Director of FNI, Professor Geoffrey Donnan
was previously Director of the National Stroke
Research Institute and Professor of Neurology,
University of Melbourne, Austin Hospital campus.
His research interest is clinical stroke
management and he was co-founder of the
Australian Stroke Trials Network.
He is immediate Past-President of the World
Stroke Organisation. He received the American
Stroke Association William Feinberg Award for
Excellence in Clinical Stroke Research in 2007
and the 2008 Bethlehem Griffiths Research
Foundation Medal for outstanding contributions
to research in stroke.
MR CHARLES K ALLEN AO
PROFESSOR GEOFFREY DONNAN
(CHAIRMAN)
MA MSc
(FNI DIRECTOR)
MBBS MD FRACP FRCP (Edin)
MR CRAIG DRUMMOND
B.COMM (MELB) ACA SFFIN
(FROM JUNE 2009)
EMERITUS PROFESSOR ANDREA HULL AO
BA Dip Ed (University of Sydney) MBA
(MBS, University of Melbourne) FAICD FAIM
(From October 2009)
Mr Craig Drummond is Chief Executive Officer
and Country Head of Bank of America Merrill
Lynch Australia, and brings with him more than
20 years of banking experience.
Prior to this, Mr Drummond was Executive
Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer at
Goldman Sachs where he repositioned the
company to a top three participant in each of its
major market segments. In 2007 Mr Drummond
was appointed Deputy Chairman of the Australian
Financial Markets Association, and retains strong
working relationships with major regulators.
Mr Drummond is a fully accredited member of
the Securities & Derivatives Industry Association,
a Senior Fellow of FINSIA and is a Chartered
Accountant. He is a Director of Scotch College,
the Australian Davos Connection and Australian
Financial Markets Association (AFMA).
Professor Andrea Hull has had a distinguished
career in CEO and executive roles, and also as
a non-executive Board member in government
and not-for-profit organisations.
She has been a Director at the Australia Council,
the CEO of the WA Ministry for the Arts and the
Director and CEO of the Victorian College of the
Arts. She is an Emeritus Professor at the University
of Melbourne, and sits on the Boards of the National
Museum of Australia, the National Gallery of Victoria,
and the Breast Cancer Network of Australia.
She was a founding Board member of the WA Health
Promotion Foundation, a Trustee of the Victorian
Arts Centre and a part time Commissioner of the
Commonwealth Tertiary Education Commission.
Professor Hull has undertaken numerous international
and national assignments, and served on many
international, federal and state bodies to advance
the integration of economic, social and
cultural agendas.
14

15 BOARD OF DIRECTORS (continued)
Professor Graeme Jackson is the founding
Director of the Brain Research Institute and
a Neurologist at the Austin Hospital. He is
internationally recognised for his work in
new MR technologies, particularly in the
field of epilepsy.
He is a Professorial Fellow of the Department
of Medicine and Adjunct Professor in the
Department of Radiology, The University of
Melbourne; an Honorary Neurologist at the
Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and
a Board member of Neurosciences Victoria.
Professor Jackson recently won a highly
prestigious 2008 NHMRC Excellence Award.
Mark Jones is a Partner in KPMG’s Advisory
Services practice, with national responsibility
for corporate governance and internal risk
management. He has previously provided
external audit, internal audit, and accounting
and advisory services to clients.
He is a member of the Australian executive
team for the Advisory Services practice, with
responsibility for internal risk management.
Mr Jones is a Fellow of both the Institute of
Chartered Accountants in England and Wales
and the Institute of Chartered Accountants in
Australia, and is a member of both CPA Australia
and the Australian Institute of Company Directors
PROFESSOR GRAEME JACKSON
MR MARK JONES
(BRI SCIENTIFIC DIRECTOR)
BSc (Hons) MBBS FRACP MD
BA (Hons) (Sheff) MBA (MBS)
(From alternate to permanent Director from May 2009)
EMERITUS PROFESSOR RICHARD LARKINS AO
MR ROBERT TRENBETH
MDBS LLD (hon) PhD (University of Lonodn) FTSE
(From October 2009)
BEng (Melb) MA Sc (Waterloo, Canada) MBA (Harvard) FAICD
Richard Larkins is an Emeritus Professor at
Monash University, where he was Vice-
Chancellor and President from 2003 to 2009.
From 1998 to 2003 he was Dean of the Faculty
of Medicine, Dentistry and Health Sciences at
the University of Melbourne, and the James
Stewart Professor of Medicine of the University
of Melbourne at the Royal Melbourne Hospital
from 1984 to 1997.
He has also held a number of senior academic
and clinical positions at the Royal Melbourne
Hospital and at the Austin, Repatriation Medical
Centre, with clinical and research interests in
diabetes, endocrinology and general medicine.
Professor Larkins’ past positions include
Chair of Universities Australia, Chair of the
National Health and Medical Research
Council of Australia, President of the
Royal Australasian College of Physicians,
President of the Endocrine Society
of Australia.
Mr Robert Trenberth began his professional
career as a structural engineer and now serves
as Chairman and Director in a number of
companies and not-for-profit organisations.
His corporate business career includes consulting
with McKinsey & Company, followed by senior
executive appointments with Carlton and
United Breweries Ltd and McPherson’s Ltd.
In 1991 Mr Trenberth was appointed Deputy
Secretary of the Federal Department of Industry
Science and Technology, returning to the private
sector in 1996 as a non-executive director.
His current company appointments include
Chairman of Riviera Properties Ltd and
of Upstream Print Solutions and Director
of the CRC for Polymers.
16

17 BOARD OF DIRECTORS (continued)
Mr Allan Myers is a Queen’s Counsel and has practised as a barrister, principally in Victoria,
although his professional work has led to appearances in all jurisdictions within Australia.
He has lectured in law at universities in Melbourne, England and Canada, published legal
articles in Australia and elsewhere, andregularly presented papers at legal, business
and educational conventions.
He is currently the President of the Council of Trustees of the National Gallery of Victoria.
Dr Brendan Murphy was appointed Chief Executive Officer of Austin Health in January
2005. Prior to this appointment he was Chief Medical Officer and Medical Program Director
at St. Vincent’s Health, Melbourne, and Professor/Director of Nephrology at St Vincent’s
from 1992-2005. Dr Murphy was previously a Board Member of the Royal Victorian Eye
and Ear Hospital, a Director of the Kidney Health Australia and President of the Australian
and New Zealand Society of Nephrology.
He is currently a member of the Board of Health Workforce Australia, Chair of the Victorian
Health Department Management Innovation Council and a Professorial Fellow with the title
of Professor at Melbourne University.
Professor Peter Rathjen is currently the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Research) at the University
of Melbourne. Prior to taking up this position, he was Dean of Science at the University of
Melbourne from 2006 - 2008. He was previously Chair of Biochemistry at the University of
Adelaide in 1995, foundation Head of the Department of Molecular Biosciences in 2000, and
in 2002 was appointed Executive Dean of the Faculty of Sciences.
In 2005 he received the inaugural Premier’s Award for Scientific Excellence (Research Leadership)
in South Australia. Professor Rathjen was a founding member of the ARC Special Research Centre
for the Molecular Genetics of Development, and the Australian Stem Cell Centre (ASSC).
Dr Thomas Schneider is the President and CEO of Restructuring Associates Inc. in
Washington, DC, and the Chairman and CEO of Schneider (Australia) Consulting Pty Ltd in
Melbourne. He is Of-Counsel to the law firm of O’Connor & Hannan in Washington, DC.
Dr Schneider is a Board member of the J Venter Institute and the American Australian
Educational Leadership Foundation.
He was a member of the US Secretary of Energy’s Advisory Board from 1994-2000, and
was the Science and Technology Policy Advisor for Presidential candidate Bill Clinton in
1992 and for General Wes Clark in 2004.
MR ALLAN MYERS AO QC
BRENDAN MURPHY
MBBS PhD FRACP FAICD
PROFESSOR
PETER RATHJEN
BSc (Hons) Adel) D Phil (Oxon)
DR THOMAS SCHNEIDER
AB magna cum laude with
highest hons (IHarvard)
D Phil (Oxon) JD (Harvard)
Hin D Laws (Deakin)
MR HARRISON YOUNG
DR ALAN FINKEL AM
MR MARTYN MYER AO
MR JOHN WHYLIE AM
AB magna cum laude (IHarvard)
PhD
(Retired October 2009)
BEng MEngSc MScM (MIT)
(Retired May 2009)
BCom (Hons) (UQ) M Phil
(Oxon)
(Retired May 2009)
After a 32-year investment banking career based in New York, London, Bahrain, Hong
Kong, Beijing and Melbourne, Mr Harrison Young became the Chairman of the FNI
Foundation Council in 2009.
Dr Alan Finkel was the founder and CEO of Axon Instruments, an ASX-listed, US biotech
company. He was also a co-founder of the ASX-listed company Optiscan Imaging and
served as a Director until 2002. After Axon was acquired in 2004, Dr Finkel co-founded
and currently serves as Chairman of Luna Media, the publisher of Cosmos Magazine and
G Magazine.
18
He retired in 2007 as Chairman of Morgan Stanley Australia and is now Chairman of
Better Place Australia Pty Ltd., a Director of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, Deputy
Chairman of the Asia Society AustralAsia Centre and of Asialink, and a Director of the
Financial Services Volunteer Corps in New York.
Dr Finkel is Chairman of the Child Abuse Prevention Research Australia Centre, a Governor
of the Clunies Ross Foundation, and Chairman of the Australian Course in Advanced
Neuroscience. He is also the Chancellor of Monash University.
Mr Myer is Vice President of the Myer Foundation and holds a number of non-executive
commercial and not-for-profit board positions including SP AusNet Group and Diversified
United Investments Ltd, and he is Chair of Cogstate Ltd, a listed health services software
company working in the neuroscience arena.
He has founded and run an equity funds management company and has also been involved
in product development and marketing for hi-tech, export focused manufacturing
companies.
Mr John Wylie is a former Rhodes scholar educated at the University of Queensland and
Oxford University.
He is Chief Executive Officer at Lazard Carnegie Wylie and is Chairman of the Melbourne
Cricket Ground Trust.

2009 SAW THE OUTER
CONCRETE STRUCTURE
OF THE PARKVILLE
AND AUSTIN BUILDINGS
COMPLETED - THE
BUILDINGS ARE A BOLD
STATEMENT OF THE
EMERGING NEUROSCIENCE
REVOLUTION IN
MELBOURNE

21 DIVISION HEADS
Dr Robin McAllen is an NHMRC Principal Research
Fellow. He trained in Physiology in London and
Birmingham and in Medicine at Birmingham (UK)
before moving to the Florey in 1988.
He is a neurophysiologist with an interest in the
central nervous regulation of cardiovascular
and autonomic functions, and has published
extensively of this topic. More recently he has
collaborated with FNI colleagues in neuroimaging
experiments that aim to translate lessons learned
from animal studies to the human brain.
He currently serves on the editorial board of
the American Journal of Physiology, is a section
editor for Clinical and Experimental Pharmacology
and Physiology andis a member of the Faculty
of 1000.
Associate Professor Brodtmann is a Senior Postdoctoral
Research Fellow, as well as holding joint
appointments as a neurologist at Austin Health
and Box Hill Hospital.
Her research focuses on novel uses of fMRIin
patients with cerebrovascular disease, correlating
BOLD signal changes with perfusion data and
clinical parameters. Other interests are in the
neural basis of neglect, and the diagnosis of focal
onset dementias.
She is a current recipient of a NHMRC Training
Research Fellowship, and was recently appointed
as the National Brain School Co-ordinator,
overseeing post-graduate education for
neurology trainees.
DR ROBIN MCALLEN
- SYSTEMS NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR AMY BRODTMANN
- COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
BSc PhD MB ChB
MBBS FRACP PhD
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR ROSS BATHGATE
- NEUROPEPTIDES
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR LEONID CHURILOV
- STATISTICS & INFORMATICS
BSc(Hons) PhD
BSC(HONS), PHD
Associate Professor Ross Bathgate is a NHMRC
Senior Research Fellow and an Honorary
Principal Research Fellow in the Department
of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology at The
University of Melbourne.
His work focuses on the relaxin family of peptides
and their G-protein coupled receptors. He has
published over 165 papers including numerous
invited reviews on relaxin peptides and their
receptors, with a total of over 2500 career
citations.
His work has attracted substantial funding from
the NHMRC and other Australian funding bodies
as well as pharmaceutical companies.
Associate Professor Leonid Churilov is Adjunct
Associate Professor at the Department of
Mathematics and Statistics, The University of
Melbourne. He is an internationally recognized
expert in using statistical, data, and knowledge
modelling for decision support in clinical and
health care delivery systems, with specific focus
on stroke and neurology care.
He won a 2000 Victoria Fellowship for his
contribution to the area of interactive decision
modelling for Victorian Health Care, and an award
from the Japanese Operational Research Society
for research on iso-resource grouping in acute
health care in Australia.
He serves on the Editorial Boards of the Journal
of Decision Systems and International Journal
of Decision Technologies.
22

23 DIVISION HEADS (continued)
Until August 2005, Alan Connelly was a
Professor of Biophysics at University College
London, with a particular interest in the
development of magnetic resonance techniques
and their application to significant clinical and
neuroscientific problems.
He then relocated with his research group to
FNI, where he has been instrumental in setting
up new MR facilities at the Austin Campus. His
work has covered a range of MR methods, with
current focus primarily on diffusion and perfusion
MRI and their application to the investigation of
epilepsy, stroke, and cognitive function.
Professor Connelly has published widely in
magnetic resonance, general scientific, and
neuroscientific journals.
Associate Professor Helen Dewey is Deputy
Director of Neurology and Head, Stroke
Services, Austin Health; and Associate Professor,
Department of Medicine, The University of
Melbourne.
Her research interests include the epidemiology,
rehabilitation, health economics and service
delivery for stroke. Helen is a chief investigator
for the ‘North East Melbourne Stroke Incidence
Study’ (NEMESIS) and ‘A multi-centre,
randomised controlled trial of very early
rehabilitation after stroke’ (AVERT).
She is a current member of the Editorial Boards
for the journals ‘Stroke’ and ‘International Journal
of Stroke’ and is a member of the committee for
the Stroke Clinical Network in Victoria.
PROFESSOR ALAN CONNELLY
- IMAGING
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR HELEN DEWEY
- STROKE
MBBS, PhD, FRACP, FAFRM(RACP)
PROFESSOR GEOFFREY DONNAN
- CLINICAL TRIALS
PROFESSOR GARY EGAN
- IMAGING
BMedSci (Hons), MBBS (Hons), PhD, FRACP (Edin)
BSc (Hons), PhD, MBA
Director of FNI, Professor Geoffrey Donnan
was previously Director of the National Stroke
Research Institute and Professor of Neurology,
University of Melbourne, Austin Hospital
campus. His research interest is clinical stroke
management and he was co-founder of the
Australian Stroke Trials Network.
He is immediate Past-President of the World
Stroke Organisation. He received the American
Stroke Association William Feinberg Award for
Excellence in Clinical Stroke Research in 2007
and the 2008 Bethlehem Griffiths Research
Foundation Medal for outstanding contributions
to research in stroke.
Professor Egan is NHMRC Principal Research
Fellow at FNI and Head of the Neuroimaging
and Neuroinformatics Group which includes the
animal MR imaging and spectroscopy facility.
He is also Associate Director of the Centre for
Neuroscience, University of Melbourne and
Deputy Director of the NCRIS National Imaging
Facility. He has developed in vivo MR imaging and
analysis methods using high resolution structural
MRI to study cortical lamination patterns, as
well as innovative MRI acquisition and analysis
techniques for the detection of iron pathologies
related to neurodegenerative diseases.
He has received substantial national and
international recognition for his research, and
is currently associate editor of Human Brain
Mapping and a member of the editorial board
of Neuroimage.
24

25 DIVISION HEADS (continued)
Professor Horne is Deputy Director of Florey
Neuroscience Institutes, Consultant Neurologist
at St Vincent’s Hospital, Fitzroy, and Conjoint
Professor, Centre for Neurosciences at the
University of Melbourne.
He is a member of The Australian Society for
Neurosciences, The Australian Association of
Neurologists, The Royal Australasian College
of Physicians and The American Society for
Neurosciences.
Associate Professor Howells began his career
investigating the biochemical and genetic basis
of dopamine and serotonin deficits in children.
He went on to describe a new population of
dopaminergic neurons, demonstrated that BDNF
depletion can cause parkinsonism and that
Parkinson’s disease patients are deficient in BDNF.
His other research interest is in stroke: his studies
of neuroprotection in stroke have led to improved
modelling of stroke in animals, the development
of new methods of imaging, and development
of systematic review and analysis as tools for
rigorously evaluating basic science literature.
The latter have led three leading stroke journals
to publish guidelines for Good Laboratory
Practice.
PROFESSOR MALCOLM HORNE
- NEURODEGENERATION
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR DAVID W HOWELL
- STROKE
BMedSci (Hons), MBBS (Hons), PhD, FRACP
PhD
PROFESSOR GRAEME JACKSON
- EPILEPSY
PROFESSOR TREVOR KILPATRICK
- MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
BSc (Hons) MBBS FRACP MD
MBBS PhD FRACP
Professor Graeme Jackson is the founding
Director of the Brain Research Institute and a
Neurologist at the Austin Hospital. He receives
international recognition for his work in new MRI
technologies, particularly in the field of epilepsy.
He is a Professorial Fellow of the Department
of Medicine and Adjunct Professor in the
Department of Radiology, University of
Melbourne; an Honorary Neurologist at the
Royal Children’s Hospital in Melbourne and
a Board member of Neurosciences Victoria.
Professor Jackson recently won a highly
prestigious 2008 NHMRC Excellence Award.
Trevor Kilpatrick leads the MS Division at FNI and
is a neurologist and Head of the MS Unit at the
Royal Melbourne Hospital, in addition to being
Director of the Centre for Neuroscience at
The University of Melbourne.
His research interests include the neurobiology
of multiple sclerosis, neural precursor cell biology
and the study of genetic and environmental
factors that contribute to MS as well as the
translation of basic research discoveries to
the clinic.
Professor Kilpatrick has been the recipient of the
Sunderland Award, AMRAD Postdoctoral Award
and the inaugural Leonard Cox Award. More
recently, Professor Kilpatrick and his Group were
awarded the Australian Museum’s Jamie Callachor
Eureka Prize for Medical Research (2008) in
recognition of their extraordinary contribution
to medical research into multiple sclerosis.
26

27 DIVISION HEADS (continued)
Professor Lawrence is a Professorial Research
Fellow within the Behavioural Neuroscience
division at FNI, and head of the Addiction
Neuroscience laboratory. His primary research
interest is in the development of robust animal
models of drug-seeking, drug-taking and
drug-induced neural adaptation. In addition, his
group use these models to define new potential
therapeutic targets for drug and alcohol abuse
disorders.
He has published over 150 original articles and
reviews. Andrew Lawrence is currently Senior
Editor of The British Journal of Pharmacology and
also sits on the editorial boards of Neurochemical
Research & Addiction Biology.
In 2009, Professor Lawrence was awarded the
Australian Neuroscience Society medallion for
services to the society. In his spare time, Andrew
is a keen cyclist and a surf life guard.
Professor Richard Macdonell is Director of
Neurology at Austin Health and an Honorary
Professorial Fellow at FNI.
He trained in Neurology and Clinical
Neurophysiology at Austin Health, Massachusetts
General and the London Hospitals and has
been in charge of the Neurophysiology and
Neuroimmunology services at Austin Health
since 1991.
His research interests include multiple sclerosis,
peripheral nerve and muscle disorders and using
transcranial magnetic stimulation to study the
pathophysiology of epilepsy.
PROFESSOR ANDREW LAWRENCE
- BEHAVIOURAL NEUROSCIENCE
PROFESSOR RICHARD MACDONELL
- SYSTEMS NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
BSc (Hons) PhD (Loughborough)
MD, FRACP, FAFRM(RACP)
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR STEVEN PETROU
- EPILEPSY
BSci(Hons) PhD
PROFESSOR SEONG-SENG TAN
- BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
& REGENERATION
ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR
SARAH WILSON
- COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
BDS (Mal), MDS (Adel), DPhil
(Oxon), FRACDS
Bsc(Hons) PhD, MAPS, CCN
Associate Professor Petrou is an Associate
Director and Head of the Florey Neuroscience
Institutes’ Division of Epilepsy, and heads the
Laboratory of Ion Channels and Human Disease,
a multidisciplinary team of researchers with a
focus on revealing fundamental mechanisms of
disease genesis in the central nervous system.
Current major areas of investigation are centred
around the development and characterisation
of genetically engineered mice models for the
study of human familial epilepsy. He works
closely with industry and has several patents
for his discoveries.
In addition to his many roles within the Florey
Neuroscience Institutes and the University of
Melbourne, he serves on the editorial board
of the Journal Neurobiology of Disease and
the Investigators Workshop Committee
for the American Epilepsy Society.
28
Professor Tan is NH&MRC Senior Principal Research Fellow, and Adjunct Professor at
The University of Melbourne Centre for Neuroscience, and University of Queensland Brain
Institute. He is interested in understanding how the brain is assembled during development,
and what mechanisms protect brain cells from death following brain injury such as trauma
and stroke.
Professor Tan has published over 100 papers and was awarded the Amgen Australia Medical
Research Award (1997). He is on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Neuroscience (USA)
and Experimental Neurology. Professor Tan is a keen swimmer and a member of the
Brighton Iceburgers.
Sarah Wilson is an Associate Professor and Reader in Psychological Sciences and an Adjunct
Senior Fellow in the Department of Medicine at The University of Melbourne. She also holds
the position of Co-Head of the Cognitive Neuroscience Division in the Florey Neuroscience
Institutes and is the Director of Neuropsychological Research at Austin Health.
Associate Professor Wilson is the leader of two successful research programs that advance
the study of brain and behaviour. She is one of a small number of international researchers
with expertise both in cognitive neuroscience and music research, and the only specialist
music neuropsychologist in Australia.

29 BEHAVIOURAL NEUROSCIENCE
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• ADDICTION
• SCHIZOPHRENIA
• HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE
• RETT SYNDROME
• WILLIAMS SYNDROME
ADDICTION
Chronic alcohol and drug use can
lead to a cycle of addiction which has
serious implications for our society
and the families and friends of the
drug affected person. FNI’s Addiction
group is investigating how alcohol and
drugs change the brain’s structure,
chemistry and function.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The Addiction group, headed by
Professor Andrew Lawrence, is
examining the neural pathways
implicated in drug-seeking behaviour.
To achieve this they are using genetic
approaches in combination with
animal models of drug-seeking and
relapse. This latter aspect is of critical
importance, as the defining feature of
addiction is the chronic and relapsing
nature of the disorder.
Projects currently underway involve
self-administration of opiates,
cocaine and nicotine in genetically
modified animals. This has led to the
identification of a receptor in the
brain that is directly involved in the
motivational drive to self-administer
opiates, and a transcription factor that
acts within the cortex to govern the
motivational properties of cocaine.
The group also has a longstanding
interest in defining novel therapeutic
targets for drug and alcohol abuse.
They have recently demonstrated a
powerful interaction between two
receptors for brain transmitters that
regulates alcohol consumption and
relapse to alcohol-seeking.
SCHIZOPHRENIA,
RETT SYNDROME
AND WILLIAMS
SYNDROME
Many brain disorders, including
schizophrenia, mental retardation and
autism, involve abnormal development
and function of the brain. In a condition
like schizophrenia, the experience of
loss of contact with reality for sufferers
can be intolerable, and also devastating
for family and friends.
The Neural Plasticity group, headed by
Associate Professor Anthony Hannan,
is interested in the mechanisms
whereby the genes underlying
maturation of the brain in conditions
like schizophrenia, Rett syndrome
(an autistic spectrum disorder) and
Williams syndrome (another disorder
of brain development) are regulated
by interaction with the environment.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The group is studying the effects of
mental and physical activity on these
brain disorders, which may provide
information that will guide development
of future treatments. Using animal
models of both schizophrenia and Rett
syndrome, it has shown that enhanced
mental and physical activity can
ameliorate behavioural symptoms
and exert beneficial effects in specific
areas of the brain. Identification of
specific molecules that are modulated
by environmental stimulation has
paved the way for future development
of new therapeutic approaches.
In collaboration with scientists at
the University of New South Wales,
the Neural Plasticity group has also
characterised a new model of Williams
syndrome, providing new insights into
how brain development is disrupted
in this disorder.
HUNTINGTON’S
DISEASE
Huntington’s disease (HD) is an
inherited single-gene abnormality
that causes neurons in the brain
to become dysfunctional and
eventually die. The condition involves
cognitive deficits (culminating in
dementia), psychiatric symptoms
(e.g. depression) and movement
disorders (eg. chorea). HD is one of
an increasing number of fatal brain
diseases known to be caused by
expanding DNA (a ‘genetic stutter’)
in the disease genes.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Previous work done in collaboration
with colleagues at Oxford University
demonstrated that environmental
stimulation delays disease onset and
progression in a model of HD.
Building on this research, Associate
Professor Anthony Hannan’s group is
currently identifying molecular targets
for ‘enviromimetics’: novel drugs
which would mimic or enhance the
beneficial effects of environmental
stimulation.
Furthermore, they have been able
to show for the first time that
depression in HD can be modelled,
and ameliorated by enhanced mental
and physical activity. They have
also identified key molecules
involved in this psychiatric disorder.
This will have implications not only
for HD, but for depression in the
wider community.
Further study of gene-environment
interactions and experiencedependent
changes in the nervous
system may lead to new therapeutic
approaches for HD and other brain
disorders.
MODELS
OF NEURO-
DEGENERATIVE
DISEASE
Disorders such as Parkinson’s disease,
Huntington’s disease and Alzheimer’s
disease are characterized by the
progressive death of brain cells.
The death of neurons results in a
significant burden of psychological,
cognitive and motor disability.
The Molecular Neurobiology diseases
group headed by Associate Professor
John Drago aims to exploit the tools
of genetic engineering to understand
this spectrum of neurodegenerative
diseases.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The group has generated a
number of animal models relevant
to neurodegenerative diseases.
These animals are important in
understanding how the adult brain
responds to focal injury of specific
cell populations. The models will
also provide information on the
precise function of discrete brain
cell populations. The surprising
findings are that dystonia, a
condition characterized by involuntary
twisting of the body or limbs,
results not from disease of the basal
ganglia (a discrete population of cells
within the brain) but from damage
to cortical brain structures. Other
aspects of neurodegenerative disease
such as disturbances of gait and
orofacial function do indeed reside
in the basal ganglia. Our model of
focal death of basal ganglia cells
had a classic gait disturbance typically
seen in Parkinsonian syndromes.
The models are also providing insight
into the anatomical seat for anxiety.

31
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
• TRAUMATIC BRAIN INJURY
• STROKE
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
AND REGENERATION
• TRAUMATIC BRAIN & STROKE
The Traumatic Brain and Stroke group
is actively engaged in exploiting
pre-existing protective mechanisms
to prevent neurons from dying after
injury. We are interested in identifying
drugs that will upregulate the
concentrations of Ndfip1, a naturally
occurring protein that is present in
low concentrations in brain cells, but
is massively increased in surviving
neurons after brain injury.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
We have made significant progress
in understanding how Ndfip1 is
capable of improving the survival
of brain cells after injury. We have
shown that artificially increasing the
concentrations of Ndfip1 in cells is
protective against metal poisoning.
In animal models, we have shown
that Ndfip1 is increased in surviving
neurons after experimentally-induced
stroke. To study the consequences
of removing Ndfip1 from neurons,
we have deleted the Ndfip1 gene
in mice by knock-out technology.
These animals demonstrate a greater
sensitivity to brain damage from
stroke, compared to animals that are
still harbouring the Ndfip1 gene.
The group has intensified its
efforts to increase the mechanism
of neuroprotection by Ndfip1.
Understanding the mechanisms will
allow the appropriate drug designs
to boost Ndfip1 activity in neurons
without deleterious consequences.
These efforts have been successful
in identifying target proteins of
Ndfip1, including the divalent metal
transporter DMT1. Together, these
studies are extremely promising in
manipulating Ndfip1 to save brain
cells from dying following injury.
We have conducted a drug screening
protocol to identify bioactive
compounds that are capable of
increasing Ndfip1 in cells. Of the
5000 compound classes, we have
identified 18 compounds that
are capable of increasing Ndfip1
content in cells. These compounds
will be further investigated for their
mechanisms of action to allow design
and manufacture of lead compounds
for therapeutic use.
BRAIN
DEVELOPMENT
Work in the Brain Development group
is directed at discovering how newlyborn
neurons are properly assembled,
interconnected and electrically
activated. In particular, they are
interested in how immature brain cells
in the embryonic brain know where to
go, what to become, and what other
cells they should be connected to.
In addition, the group is interested
in learning the identities of genes
that drive these processes by testing
the functions of these genes in cell
culture, the intact brain, and in live
animals through direct imaging of live
brain cells. For instance, how does
adding or subtracting these genes
alter the way cells are born, change
shape, migrate and adopt
cellular identities?
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
We have conducted studies to track
the movement and destinations of
cortical interneurons. This class of
neurons comprises only 20% of the
cortex, yet their inhibitory activity is
essential to prevent excessive firing,
and to coordinate the firing of
projection neurons. Using videoimaging
and mathematical modelling,
we have uncovered the rules of
interneuron migration taking into
account their branching activity and
growth cone positions.
We have performed experiments to
understand how much Reelin (is a
protein that helps regulate processes
of neuronal migration and positioning
in the developing brain) is required for
ensuring that a 6-layered cortex is
constructed. Using mouse chimeras,
we have been able to create mice
with different ‘Reelin-strengths’.
We found that Reelin activity is dosedependent,
and that aberrant Reelin
concentrations result in the formation
of a 12-layered cortex.
We have continued to study the
genetic regulators of cortical
development. Building on our previous
discovery of Rnd genes, we have now
discovered that RP58 is a negative
regulator of Neurogenin, a master
regulator of cortical neurons.
CLINICAL TRIALS
The Clinical Trials division, led by
Professor Geoffrey Donnan,
oversees about 30 trials being
conducted at any one time.
These include investigator initiated
studies as well as those initiated
by commercial partners.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
In the area of stroke prevention,
ARCH is an investigator-driven trial
on patients who are likely to suffer
a stroke as a result of thickening
of the wall of the aorta, the main
blood vessel that carries blood from
the heart to the body. Patients are
randomised to receive either a novel
or the more traditional blood thinning
therapy. This will be completed
during 2010.
Acute stroke therapy is still a major
focus of our research. EPITHET, a
Phase II trial using brain imaging,
has recently been completed and
published in the prestigious jourmal,
Lancet Neurology. New evidence from
the EPITHET trial has revealed that
extending the time window in using
clot dissolving drugs from 3 to 6
hours is safe, feasible and biologically
plausible. A new trial (EXTEND) to
further test this hypothesis will start
in 2009 (see also Stroke division).
A Very Early Rehabilitation Trial
(AVERT) led by Associate Professor
Julie Bernhardt is in Phase III trials.
In this innovative study, the idea
that earlier and more intensive out
of bed activity of stroke patients
will improve outcomes and be cost
effective, is being tested on 2,104
subjects. Recruitment now sits at
600 patients from 30 hospitals in
Australia, New Zealand, Scotland,
Northern Ireland, Wales, Singapore,
Malaysia and Canada.
32

33 COGNITIVE NEUROSCIENCE
Since establishment of the division
in June 2008 there have been many
exciting developments, particularly
with Dr Amy Brodtmann joining the
team as Co-head. The division
collaborates with a large number
of national and international
research bodies, and we have a
vibrant graduate research program
investigating disorders of the
brain arising from epilepsy, stroke,
Neurobiological models
of sound
- pitch processing
Neurocognitive basis of
language & music
- functional neuroanatomy of discourse
& singing
- the basis of expertise
Neurocognitive models of memory
- recent & autobiographical memory
The attentional network & neglect
- representational neglect
dementia and autism. Our goals
remain to understand the cognitive
and behavioural manifestations of
these conditions, to shed light on
neurobiological mechanisms, and to
identify factors affecting improved
patient outcomes.
We continue our basic research into
the mechanisms underlying sound
perception and how these map
The broader autism phenotype (BAP)
onto the higher cortical functions
of language and music and interact
more broadly with cognitive systems
underpinning decision making, spatial
processing, mathematics, memory
and our emotions. The links between
our research endeavours have
continued to strengthen to form an
integrated set of related research
themes:
- objective behavioural & neurobiological markers
- emotional expression & empathy
Social Neuroscience & Neuroeconomics
- decison making in individual & social contexts
- predicting economic market &
consumer behaviour
Predicting health outcomes
- epilepsy, acquired brain injury
Diagnosis & treatment of
focal onset dementias
- establishment of registry
- empathy, theory of mind &
executive function
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
In expanding our profi le, the division
has supported the development
of a new Social Neuroscience and
Neuroeconomic (SNN) research hub
to examine leading-edge research
issues in social, affective and
cognitive neuroscience informed by
the theory and practice of economics
and commerce. This research hub
brings inter-disciplinary research
expertise to extend FNI’s presence
in the burgeoning fi elds of applied
neuroscience.
Other highlights include the award
of substantial funding from the
National Health & Medical Research
Council (NHMRC) for our research
investigating the genetic basis of
autism spectrum disorders. Recently,
we have also received funding from
the Academy of the Social Sciences
in Australia (ASSA) to support a
signifi cant new international research
collaboration investigating the use of
music to facilitate language recovery
after stroke. In addition to providing
insights into the optimisation of
language rehabilitation strategies,
this project will directly contribute to
our knowledge of the organisation
of higher cortical functions and their
interactions. Part of this research is
being undertaken at the International
Laboratory of Brain, Music and
Sound Research (BRAMS), which
is a multi-university consortium
jointly affi liated to McGill University
and the University of Montréal,
Canada. It houses state-of-the-art
facilities dedicated to the study of
brain organisation and the cognitive
processes supporting music
behaviour, and provides new and
exciting graduate and postdoctoral
exchange opportunities between
Australia and Canada for junior
researchers at FNI.
34

35 EPILEPSY
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• EPILEPSY IMAGING
• HUMAN BRAIN STRUCTURE
AND FUNCTION
• ION CHANNELS AND DISEASE
• NEUROBIOLOGY OF EPILEPSY
Epilepsy is the most common serious
neurological disorder of children,
and one of the major neurological
conditions affecting the general
population. Up to 10% of people will
seizure at some time in their life.
As one of the world leading centres
for epilepsy research, FNI’s Epilepsy
division specialises in imaging and
molecular neurobiology in both
humans and animal models. It
is integrated with other leading
researchers as a core part of the
internationally recognised NHMRC
Epilepsy program led by Professor
Samuel Berkovic, AM.
The epilepsy division has almost 50
full time staff and more than 20
students and honorary fellows. It has
four of nine Chief Investigator’s in
the recently announced $16.45M
epilepsy program grant renewal. At FNI
Austin campus, researchers have been
undertaking high impact research using
Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI)
for more than 15 years to understand
the structural and functional basis of
human epilepsy. The FNI Parkville team
has revealed many of the fundamental
neurobiological mechanisms by which
genetic abnormalities give rise to
epilepsy. Together with our colleagues
from The University of Melbourne
and across Australia, we are working
towards finding a cure for epilepsy.
EPILEPSY IMAGING
Through the use of advanced MRI
methods, major advances continue
to be achieved in understanding
epilepsy. These advances are rapidly
translated to improved patient care
through Victorian Epilepsy Centres’
comprehensive epilepsy programs,
like at the Austin Hospital in Heidelberg
where the FNI imaging team is an
integral part of the investigation and
treatment of epilepsy in patients.
Three of the core scientific aims of
our research are:
• To characterise structural and
functional effects of genes involved
in human epilepsy.
• To develop advanced MRI
techniques able to detect subtle
structural and functional brain
abnormalities not previously possible
through human imaging methods.
• To identify abnormal brain networks
by defining structural network
abnormalities and functional
networks in the resting state and
during EEG-defined events.
HUMAN BRAIN
STRUCTURE AND
FUNCTION
In order to better understand the
effect of epilepsy on cognition, we
are using advanced neuroimaging
techniques to map the functional
effect of epilepsy in several cognitive
domains. One of the key questions
when considering brain surgery to
remove an epileptic focus is: will this
damage the normal functioning of the
patient? To answer this question, one
needs a good understanding of how
normal brain function is organised,
and how this may be perturbed in
a person with epilepsy. We have
mapped disease-related changes in
brain regions responsible for language,
memory and music (singing), and we
are also examining changes in these
domains post-surgery.
We have discovered that language
lateralization (a measure obtained
from functional MRI indicating the
degree to which a particular side of
the brain dominates one’s language
function) correlates with verbal
memory performance in children with
focal epilepsy. Our findings indicate
that unusually lateralised language
is advantageous for verbal memory
performance, presumably as a result
of transfer of verbal memory.
Our findings also reveal that verbal
memory performance provides
a better indication of language
lateralisation than handedness, side
of epilepsy or side of lesion.
In a study of children with Rolandic
epilepsy, a condition thought to be
benign, we have discovered subtle
deficits in particular domains of
language function, and have localised
these to anterior brain regions.
Little is known about specific brain
networks involved in musical ability
and how these may be perturbed
by epilepsy, but this information is
crucial when treating patients who are
musicians. In the process of mapping
brain areas responsible for singing in
healthy individuals, we have discovered
that expert singers appear to use less
of their language regions when singing
than non-expert singers.
Our research includes methodological
development in addition to application
of advanced neuroimaging methods
to map brain changes in epilepsy.
We recently developed a new method
for detecting atypical lateralisation
of language function with fMRI that
is more reliable and objective than
current techniques. We have explored
how accurate one needs to be when
identifying subtle epileptiform activity
in EEG when analysing simultaneously
acquired EEG and fMRI, and have
determined and published guidelines
for this analysis.
In structural imaging, we have
established and validated methods
that remove the requirement for
group morphometry studies to have
all imaging performed on one scanner
at a single site. Our multi-site analysis
methods open up the possibility of
detecting more subtle changes
by studying larger populations than
would otherwise be practical.
We have also developed a method
that permits automated quantitative
detection of subtle changes between
groups of routine clinical Tesla2-
weighted MRI scans. Such scans are
usually only qualitatively assessed on
an individual basis by a radiologist,
but our method opens new
possibilities for studying the neuro
anatomical changes present in
patient populations. Finally, we
have systematically evaluated
automated methods for identifying
the boundaries of the hippocampus,
and found these methods remain
inferior when compared to manual
segmentation by an expert.
The hippocampus a critically
important deep brain structure that
is affected in many epilepsy patients,
and identifying volume loss in
this structure, even if subtle, has
important consequences for patient
management.
For more than ten years we have
been studying the electrical features
that are associated with different
types of epilepsy, we have found
that symptoms relate to the brain
networks activated. This is a major
advance in trying to understand the
basis of epilepsy and what treatment
is appropriate for each form of epilepsy.
A project funded by The National
Institutes of Health, ‘Long-term
outcomes in childhood-onset
epilepsy’ is an ongoing prospective
cohort of 613 children recruited
when first diagnosed with epilepsy.
FNI’s role in the project is to apply
advanced image analysis techniques
to structural MRI scans acquired from
a large subset of the original group.
These methods provide insight into
the links between brain structure and
social, educational, and health-related
outcomes in patients with childhoodonset
epilepsy.
ION CHANNELS
AND DISEASE
Genetics plays a major role in
epilepsy. In particular, subtle changes
in the properties of mutated ion
channel proteins have been identified
as the cause of many cases of
human epilepsy. Through the use
of advanced electrophysiological
and biophysical tools, the group’s
efforts are focussed on exposing the
fundamental physiological changes
that predispose to epilepsy and to
reveal novel methods and approaches
for diagnosis and therapy.
The Ion Channels and Disease
group, led by Associate Professor
Steven Petrou, made two
major advancements in 2009
that significantly increase our
understanding of why ion channel
mutations cause epilepsy:
• Using state-of-the-art high
throughput, high content analysis
methodology, they developed a new
approach for revealing small changes
in ion channel function in epilepsy
patients, and showed for the first
time that mutations in a new type
of ion channel are the likely cause of
fever-related seizures.
• Using computational methods,
they went on to provide theoretical
evidence that small changes in ion
channel function can cause network
level changes consistent with the
development of epilepsy.
NEUROBIOLOGY
OF EPILEPSY
The goal of the Neurobiology of
Epilepsy group is to use an integrative,
systems level approach to reveal
the neural mechanisms that cause
epilepsy. Genetic engineering, seizure
threshold analysis, EEG analysis,
quantitative morphology, physiology
and computation are combined by a
diverse and multi-disciplinary group
to achieve this goal.
The Neurobiology of Epilepsy group,
led by Associate Professor Steven
Petrou and Dr Christopher Reid,
made two major advances in 2009.
• Using mouse models harbouring
human genetic mutations, they
revealed the fundamental changes
in discrete parts of individual nerves
that are the probable cause of the
increase in brain excitability seen
in epilepsy.
• They then went on the develop
a novel mouse model of Dravet
Syndrome (a debilitating human
infant epilepsy) that reveals
fundamental neurophysiological
changes responsible for the seizures
and movement disorders seen
in patients.

37
OVERVIEW
GENOMIC DISORDERS
RESEARCH CENTRE
The Genomic Disorders Research
Centre (GDRC) was formed to
lead the world in genetic research
focussing on mutation and its
effects on human well-being.
It was the first and remains the
only Centre to focus on gene
mutation, its cause, documentation,
collection and consequences.
The Centre coordinates numerous
national and international activities
such as courses, workshops, and
the high profile genetics journal
Human Mutation. GDRC also and
hosts the office of the Human
Genome Variation Society.
PURPOSE
The Human Variome Project (HVP),
developed by the GDRC, is the global
community effort to collect, curate
and make accessible information on
all genetic variations affecting human
health. The project has evolved and
matured to become a partnership of
countries and organisations working
to create the systems necessary to
fulfil this task.
The GDRC hosts the International
Coordinating Office of the Human
Variome Project; this develops global
standards systems and collaborators
for gene variation data collection,
specifically those causing inherited
disease. One of its major initiatives is
the HVP Neurogenetics Consortium
which is working towards the
collection of genetic data implicated
in many neurological disorders.
ACHIEVEMENTS
AUSTRALIAN NODE – HUMAN
VARIOME PROJECT
During 2009 the GDRC was granted
funding from the Federal Government
NeAT grant scheme to develop
software and systems for the HVP
Australian Node. This will enable
gene variation data to be collected
from Australian laboratories, allowing
enhanced diagnostic abilities for
Australian clinicians treating patients
with inherited cancers and other
debilitating disorders. This is intended
to form a model for the establishment
of data collections elsewhere.
2009 - 2010 MEETINGS
In 2009 we held the 10th International
Mutation Detection Symposium,
Cyprus,and two HVP Fora one on
Standards and Nomenclature, Vienna
and a Neurogenetics forum in Hawaii
which initiated a consortium to collect
gene variation data on neurological
disease along with two Human Genome
Variation Society meetings.
We also are organising the third Human
Variome Project meeting to be held
on 10-14 May 2010 at the UNESCO
Headquarters, Paris and the Australasian
Mutation Detection meeting to be held
in Tasmania, August, 2010, among
others.
PHD STUDENT STUDY
Tim Smith has embarked on a PhD
project to examine the role of the
database curator in the construction,
maintenance and operation of genetic
variation databases. These databases
provide vital information to clinicians and
diagnostic specialists on the frequency,
clinical effect and genetic consequences
of numerous variations in our genetic
makeup, and are frequently used as
clinical tools for the management and
treatment of patients. However, despite
their importance and frequent use, data
management and preservation strategies
have never been fully explored in this
particular field. This project attempts to
define a standard methodology for the
curation of these vital resources.
38

39 IMAGING
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• NEUROIMAGING
• MRI DEVELOPMENT
• NEUROINFORMATICS
NEUROIMAGING
AND MRI
DEVELOPMENT
The MRI Development group has a
long-standing interest in translational
research, linking the development of
MRI techniques to important clinical
and neuroscientific applications.
The group, led by Professor Alan
Connelly, is internationally recognised
as a leader in the measurement of
water diffusion and blood flow in the
brain using MRI, and the application
of these methods to solve important
neuroscientific problems.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
During 2009, the group continued
to develop and implement novel
methods for blood flow and diffusion
imaging. It has achieved some of the
most accurate and robust measures
of cerebral haemodynamics and white
matter fibre tracking (ie visualising
how the brain is inter-connected via a
network of white matter fibre tracts).
In particular, the group has devised
a novel solution to fibre tracking
throughout the brain known as
Constrained Spherical Deconvolution
(CSD), and has developed a software
package (MRtrix) to apply this method.
The technology has been made
freely available to the neuroimaging
research community and has been
downloaded more than 1000 times
since its release, indicating the
significant international impact of CSD
as a method and the MRtrix software
package as an image processing tool.
The group is investigating a range
of neurological and neuroscientific
problems primarily in the areas
of epilepsy and stroke. The MRI
development and application work
forms a core part of a current $12m
NHMRC Epilepsy Program grant, and
of the 2009 application to renew this
program (aimed to start in 2011).
Many of the major advances in
understanding the basis of the
epilepsies have arisen from the
ability to image the whole brain and
detect underlying pathology with
ever- increasing sophistication.
The methodology that the group
is developing allows the study of
families with well-characterised
genetic syndromes, thereby enabling
the identification and understanding
of the effects on the brain of genetic
mutations related to epilepsy.
The group is also part of a $4m CSIRO
Flagship Collaboration Fund grant in
stroke. This work is aimed at extending
the time after symptom onset during
which treatment by thrombolysis (to
dissolve blood clots) might be used to
prevent more extensive brain damage.
NEUROIMAGING
AND NEURO-
INFORMATICS
Neuroimaging is an extraordinarily
important neuroscience discipline,
and is unique in being able to provide
direct in vivo measurements of
the human brain. This is of crucial
importance in research into the
causes of brain and mind diseases.
Under the leadership of Professor
Gary Egan, the Neuroimaging and
Neuroinformatics group utilises MRI
in four major neuroscience research
areas, including:
1. Assessment of the structural
and functional integrity of
neural pathways in neurological
disorders including Multiple
Sclerosis, Huntington’s disease and
Friedreich’s ataxia;
2. Investigation of brain function
including the neural base of thirst,
pain and cough in normal human
subjects;
3. Development of advanced
neuroimaging methodologies to
enable novel in vivo measurements,
such as quantification of iron
metabolism in neurodegenerative
diseases, and
4. Implementation of neuroimaging
informatics and data management
systems for high throughput
analyses, and the federation
of imaging databases from the
National Imaging Facility.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
39
Novel MRI techniques are being
used to quantify axonal and myelin
pathology in patients with multiple
sclerosis (MS), thereby demonstrating
that after unilateral optic neuritis,
MRI structural and diffusion measures
of the optic nerve can predict visual
dysfunction in MS patients.
Diffusion tensor MR imaging is
being used to investigate striatal
pathology in Huntington’s disease
and demonstrated microstructural
changes in HD patients that
correlated with the patients’ cognitive
status.
Ultra-high field MRI images are
used to measure brain iron uptake
for possible use as an imaging
biomarker for the investigation of
neurodegenerative diseases such as
Huntington’s and Parkinson’s disease.
The division also collaborates in
ultra-high field MRI research at the
Neuroscience Research Institute,
Korea. This project is being funded
by an ARC Linkage International
project entitled “e-Research in the
Neurosciences: building collaborations
in Asia”.
Finally, the Neuroimaging group
led submissions to the Federal and
Victorian State Governments from
a consortium of universities and
institutes to fund the establishment of
an ultra-high field MR and advanced
PET imaging facility in Melbourne.

41 MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is the most
common neurodegenerative disease
of young adults in our community,
unfortunately striking people who
are otherwise in the prime of their
life. The MS division, led by Professor
Trevor Kilpatrick, aims to make
fundamental discoveries that will
improve our capacity to treat and
ultimately prevent this debilitating
disease.
RESEARCH
HIGHLIGHTS
EXPLORING THE
CAUSE OF MS
The group’s genetics work has
received wide scientific and media
attention in 2009. As principal
members of the ANZgene
consortium, we published data in
Nature Genetics that reported two
novel genetic associations for MS.
The first region encompasses a
number of genes, a prime candidate
of which is a molecule responsible for
the conversion of inactive Vitamin
D to its active form. The second
association is for a gene that modifies
immune cell activation. Interestingly,
this same gene has already been
identified as associated with other
autoimmune conditions including
rheumatoid arthritis and Grave’s
disease, although its influence appears
to vary in a disease-specific way.
This indicates that further study of
this molecule is likely to provide us
with fundamental insights into how
autoimmune diseases develop.
NOVEL THERAPIES
Dr Holly Cate and her PhD student,
Jennifer Sabo, have established that a
family of molecules known as BMPs
are critically important in regulating
how the nervous system regenerates
in response to demyelination (cellular
layers stripped from the nerve
sheath). BMP signalling induces an
increase in precursor cells in the brain
of mice with demyelinating disease,
but inhibition of this signalling is
required for these cells to mature
into oligodendrocytes, the cells
responsible for inducing repair and
remyelination. This work provides
important and novel perspectives on
how regeneration can be enhanced
in multiple sclerosis.
Dr Simon Murray and co-workers
within the division published data
in the Journal of Neuroscience to
indicate that an important signalling
molecule known as BDNF influences
the ability of neurons to modulate
their own myelination by the cells that
ensheath them. The BDNF molecules
signal via two receptors, one of
which promotes myelination and the
other which inhibits it. It is probable
that the relative expression profile
of these receptors is important in
regulating how the nervous system is
myelinated within both the peripheral
nerves and the brain. Dr Murray and
his collaborators are now exploring
ways in which BDNF signalling might
be promoted for therapeutic benefit.
It has recently been appreciated that
resident immune cells within the brain
known as microglia have an important
role to play in MS. Vilija Jokubaitis,
working with Associate Professor
Helmut Butzkueven and Professor
Trevor Kilpatrick, has discovered
that the protein disabled-2 (Dab2)
is expressed by microglia during
demyelinating disease and that
depletion of Dab2 in mice diminishes
disease severity. In ongoing
research, we are now assessing the
mechanism by which Dab2 increases
microglial-mediated tissue damage.
This research ultimately aims to
identify potential ways of modulating
microglia in order to reduce brain
damage (in particular axonal injury)
in MS.
NOVEL MEASURES
OF DISEASE ACTIVITY
Most MS disability is thought to
be caused by nerve cell and, in
particular, axonal process injury
within and surrounding inflammatory
demyelinating lesions. Although this
pathological process is not currently
directly targeted by protective
therapies, such potential drugs are,
in fact, in advanced pre-clinical
development. Unfortunately, the lack
of a reliable and validated biomarker
of axonal injury is preventing the
clinical testing of these therapies.
We have been attempting to identify
a suite of markers that can be
used to test the efficacy of novel
neuroprotective agents that we
and others believe could be useful
treatments for MS. At present there
is no way to accurately quantify the
degree of nervous system damage
in clinical studies. To address this
need, we have undertaken two
complementary approaches, the
first involving neuroimaging and the
second developing a blood-based
biomarker.
Dr Anneke van der Walt and Dr Scott
Kolbe have undertaken a detailed
prospective study of patients with
acute optic neuritis, a common
problem in MS. Unlike other regions
of the central nervous system, the
optic nerve is a relatively simple
structure that is amenable to
detailed study using MRI measures
of retinal nerve thickness, and
by electrophysiological studies
measuring the efficiency of electrical
conduction from the eye to the
visual cortex. We have used a new
MRI technique that measures the
efficiency of water diffusion along
nerves, which is compromised when
they become damaged. Our preliminary
results indicate that early abnormality
in this measure is useful in predicting
subsequent damage, and this could
have a role both in selecting appropriate
patients for clinical study and in efficient
monitoring of the response to novel
therapies in clinical trials.
Associate Professor Helmut
Butzkueven and Dr Melissa Gresle
are assessing the utility of recently
described blood-based markers of
axonal injury in MS. In particular, we
are concentrating on the detection
of the protein phosphorylated
Figure 1: Around 15% of patients with relapsing remitting MS (RRMS) have
detectable levels of pNF-H in their blood, whereas this is not found
in healthy controls. Only a few patients with primary progressive
MS (PPMS) have been included to date.
42
Neurofilament Heavy Chain (pNF-H),
which is produced by neurons and
which leaks into the blood after
damage. We have previously validated
this assay as a marker of axonal
injury in a mouse model of MS. In
preliminary results (see Figure 1),
we have established that around
15% of MS patients have detectable
blood levels of pNF-H. We are now
exploring the relationship of this
finding to MS disability levels and
MRI measures of disease severity to
determine whether pNF-H is a useful
marker in clinical research.

43 NEURODEGENERATION
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• PARKINSON’S DISEASE
• MOTOR NEURON DISEASE
• NEUROPHARMACOLOGY
• STEROID NEUROBIOLOGY
• STEM CELL THERAPIES
PARKINSON’S
DISEASE
Parkinson’s Disease (PD) affects
around 80,000 people in Australia.
PD is a progressive and degenerative
condition that impairs the control
of movement. On average, 25
Australians are diagnosed every day,
and one in seven of those will be
under 50 years of age. Patients in the
advanced stages depend on 24-hour
care from loved ones or professionals.
Symptoms result from the progressive
degeneration of nerve cells, including
those that make dopamine, a
chemical messenger necessary for
smooth, controlled movements.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The PD research group, led by
Professor Malcolm Horne, has found
that a key protein that accumulates in
brain cells of people with PD is also at
high level in the blood in people with
PD. This protein (called a-synuclein)
is made by blood cells, and so the
team is actively investigating whether
blood cells can be used as model
of how a-synuclein damages and
destroys brain cells. The levels of
a-synuclein is a measure of risk
of PD, and they are also using this
to study how genetic variations in
PD subjects influence a-synuclein
levels. The team has developed mice
that accumulate a-synuclein in the
brain and are using cell cultures to
gain a better understanding of how
a-synuclein damages cells, and
why its secretion is associated with
increased cell death. They have also
found novel ways of converting
cells in the adult brain into becoming
dopamine cells, as a new therapy
for PD.
MOTOR NEURON
DISEASE
Motor Neuron Disease (MND) is
a debilitating disease striking 400
Australians each year. MND often
begins with weakness of the muscles
in the hands or feet and eventually
leads to generalised paralysis,
including an inability to speak or
swallow. The MND research group
led by Professor Malcolm Horne,
Professor Philip Beart and Dr Brad
Turner is investigating the events
that lead to MND with a view to
creating ways to block the disease’s
progression.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The group has identified the temporal
sequence of key events leading to the
death of the affected cells. They have
found that stress of the compartment
that makes proteins (the Endoplasmic
Reticulum or ER) is a key step.
One molecule in the ER in particular
seems very important; known as
Protein Disulphide Isomerase (PDI),
this molecule is elevated in all forms
of the disease. Augmenting this
molecule in cell models of the disease
affords considerable protection, and
they are now examining the possibility
that small molecules mimicking PDI
could be used as a therapy.
They have also found high levels
of PDI in the spinal cord of people
with MND, suggesting that it could
be used to monitor the effect of
therapies. As well, they have found
that processes which remove PDI and
other key molecules associated with
MND are disrupted in this disease,
providing clues to causes and therapy
for this condition.
NEURO-
PHARMACOLOGY
Astrocytes are the most abundant
non-neuronal cells in the brain, and
they possess remarkable capacities
to modulate neuron-to-neuron
signalling, to nourish and to protect
neurons, and to contribute to
their death in neurodegenerative
conditions.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The neuropharmacology group,
led by Professor Philip Beart, has
found that under conditions which
mirror perinatal and stroke injury,
a number of events are triggered
within astrocytes that act to
preserve neuronal function when
there is a lack of oxygen to the brain.
One component of this defence
mechanism is a transporter that
controls the levels of the brain’s
positive chemical response.
The group identified a remarkable
capacity of astrocytes to maintain
the activity of this transporter when
under severe stress, but continued
stress forces astrocytes to actually
contribute to the toxic environment.
These events comprise part of
the brain’s inflammatory response,
and recent insights into the genes
involved offer possibilities to
minimize neuronal injury and
promote regeneration.
STEROID
NEUROBIOLOGY
Everyday experience tells us that
sex hormones influence behaviour,
but how well do we understand the
mechanism? To demonstrate the
effects of sex hormones on brain
functions and behaviour, we are
studying a knockout mouse model
which is completely estrogendeficient,
including the brain.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The steroid neurobiology group, led by
Dr Wah Chin Boon, has demonstrated
that in the complete absence of
estrogens, the pyramidal neurons
in the mouse female frontal cortex
die, even when there is no external
assault such as neurotoxin treatment.
By one year of age, female knockout
mice have 33% less cortical neurons
than mice that make estrogen
normally (the wild-type mouse). This
process begins some time during the
mouse’s adult life and demonstrates
that estrogens protect nerve cells
from normal physiological stress.
Curiously, male knockouts do not
suffer the same fate. We are currently
investigating the mechanisms
underpinning the vulnerability of
female neurons in the absence of
estrogen.
STEM CELL
THERAPIES
Replacing damaged or injured neurons
by transplanted stem cells is an
exciting prospect for a future therapy.
Stem cells can divide, and are thus
a potentially limitless source of new
cells. They can also be instructed to
become a particular cell type, such as
a dopamine neuron (the degenerating
cells in PD). We aim to use these two
capabilities to produce cells that can
partially restore function after disease
or trauma.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
44
The Stem Cell Research team, led
by Dr Clare Parish, is developing
new strategies to improve cell
transplantation in neurodegenerative
disease models, including PD, MND
and HD. In this context, they are
examining both rodent and human
neural stem cells and embryonic
stem cells. They are also focussing on
understanding the events that result
in the maturation of selected neurons
during early development. Replicating
these events in stem cells will be
critical in ensuring that appropriate
neurons and neural connections are
made upon eventual transplantation
into the diseased brain.

45 NEUROPEPTIDES
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• NEUROPEPTIDES IN HEALTH
AND DISEASE
The Neuropeptides division has two
main areas of research:
• Broad-ranging studies on the
relaxin family of peptides/hormones
and their receptors focussed on
determining the role of the peptides
in cardiac physiology, tissue fibrosis,
and brain and behaviour, and
developing therapeutics based on
these peptides to treat numerous
diseases;
• Studies of the role of the enzyme
insulin-regulated aminopeptidase
(IRAP) in normal brain physiology,
and particularly in relation to
cognitive disease.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
A study of the neuronal roles of
IRAP has opened the way for the
development of new strategies for
the treatment of memory disorders.
We have discovered a series of
small molecule IRAP inhibitors with
memory-enhancing properties in
animals that have exciting potential
for alleviating memory deficits in a
range of patient groups.
The group’s long-standing research
focus on relaxins and their receptors
continued in 2009, with significant
advances in understanding the
structure and biological activity
of relaxin peptide analogues, the
potential use of relaxin to treat
fibrosis, and receptor function and
signalling. Studies of the brain relaxin
peptide relaxin-3 have uncovered
important roles in the regulation of
circadian activity and of spatial and
emotional memory. This research has
continued to receive support from
Johnson & Johnson Pharmaceutical
Research and Development LLC
(San Diego, USA).
A highly significant milestone was
reached in 2009 with the acquisition
by Novartis of our commercial
partner, Corthera Inc. San Mateo, CA
(formerly known as BAS Medical),
following the successful completion
of a Phase II clinical trial of relaxin
in acute heart failure. This is the
culmination of many years of research
by FNI scientists in investigating the
biological role of the relaxin peptide
family, and is underpinned by a strong
portfolio of international patents.
The clinical trial demonstrated strong,
unequivocal improvement in heart
function. A Phase III clinical trial in
acute decompensated heart failure
commenced in late 2009, and the US
Food and Drug Administration (FDA)
has granted “Fast Track¨ designation
to relaxin - this expedites the review
of new drugs intended to treat
serious or life-threatening conditions
that can potentially address unmet
medical needs.
STATISTICS AND INFORMATICS
Statistics and Informatics division
provides research and teaching
expertise in the study design,
protocol development, data
collection and statistical analysis
aspects of research projects.
An important source of that
expertise is our methodological
research that promotes the use of
high-standard, rigorous quantitative
methods to facilitate effective
evidence generation, accumulation,
and re-use in basic and clinical
neurosciences.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
• Statistics and Informatics division
during 2009 provided statistical
and data management support
to a number of large international
clinical trials including AVERTand
EXTEND. In collaboration with
Neuroscience Trials Australia,
the division also provided statistical
support for SCIPA, a unique,
multi-disciplinary, multi-centre
research program which aims to
promote neurological recovery,
maintain health and wellness, and
optimise independence following
spinal cord injury.
• In the area of Medical Informatics,
the division led a research project
that successfully applied multiplecriteria
decision analysis to choose
the most appropriate computer
software for imaging the ischaemic
penumbra in acute stroke patients.
• Novel application of case-based
reasoning paradigms has secured
the success of the study of factors
influencing specialists’ decisions to
mobilize patients after treatment
with rtPA agent.
• I n the area of health services
research and in collaboration
with CSIRO Mathematics and IS
Division and The University of
Melbourne, the division has built
a process model of rtPA delivery
to acute ischaemic stroke patients
in emergency departments.
Effective decision support models
for fast and appropriate rtPA
delivery means more saved lives
and less disability because this
crucially important treatment
can only be administered within
a relatively short time window.
46
• We further extended this work as a
part of our on-going collaboration
with Swinburne University of
Technology, with the aim to create
a simulation model for a complete
Stroke Chain of Survival and
Recovery. A decision support tool
that allows simulation of various
complex scenarios resulting from
the interactions between prehospital,
acute, and rehabilitation
stroke care processes will provide
necessary insights into better
delivery of stroke care.

47 STROKE
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• BASIC SCIENCES
• IMAGING AND ULTRASOUND
• PUBLIC HEALTH AND
EPIDEMIOLOGY
• REHABILITATION AND RECOVERY
• AVERT - EARLY INTERVENTION
BASIC SCIENCES
Basic Sciences focuses on
neuroprotection and neuroregeneration
after stroke, with particular emphasis
on drug treatments.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Basic Sciences, led by Dr David
Howells, has recently re-analysed
data in what appeared to be effective
animal studies of neuroprotective
agents, which then went on to fail
in further clinical trials. The research
revealed that some of the apparent
positive effects were the result of poor
experiment design. This has led to a
set of guidelines that now ensure that
the design of experiments is consistent
and rigorous, and therefore avoids the
waste of valuable resources.
The current preferred stroke therapy
is thrombolysis (clot dissolving) which
can only be done within the first 3-6
hours of a stroke, and carries the risk
of bleeding. Biological markers that
could help determine the exact time
the stroke occurred and markers that
identify patients at risk of bleeding are
being identified, making this therapy
safer and more accessible to patients.
Another area of interest is the
ability of the brain to repair itself.
Experiments are being conducted to
determine to what extent and over
what time period the brain can grow
new connections, or use other parts
to perform the same function.
IMAGING AND
ULTRASOUND
Research led by Professor Geoffrey
Donnan and Associate Professor Brian
Chambers is developing methods to
obtain a view into the brain and blood
vessels before and after stroke. This
involves state-of-the-art technology
such as positron emission tomography
(PET), magnetic resonance imaging
(MRI) and ultrasound.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
The ischaemic (oxygen-starved)
penumbra is brain tissue which, while
damaged, continues to live after
the onset of the stroke process.
In collaboration with colleagues at the
Royal Melbourne and Austin Hospitals,
our research group was able to show
that using MRI to identify patients
with potentially viable brain tissue after
stroke onset may be clinically useful.
A Phase II study, led by Professors
Stephen Davis and Geoffrey Donnan
and published in the journal Lancet
Neurology, showed that selection
of patients using this approach for
therapy with the clot dissolving agent
tPA could be safely extended out to
6 hours after stroke.They are now
leading a Phase III trial to apply this
same principle up to 9 hours post
stroke.
The use of PET with a novel agent
linked to brain changes seen in
Alzheimer’s disease provides an image
of chemical changes associated with
dementia in patients with recent
onset of stroke. Interesting links
between vascular dementia, stroke
and Alzheimer’s disease may be in part
unravelled by this technique.
The clinical significance of a newly
appreciated ultrasound sign referred
to as ‘small vessel knock’ is currently
being investigated. FNI is collaborating
with Compumedics DWL and
Dr Paul Syme in Edinburgh to
determine whether ‘knock’ is useful
in the diagnosis of stroke.
Finally, Dr Udommongkol, in
collaboration with CSIRO and a group
in Leicester UK, has created a benchtop,
scaled-up model of a vessel
branch which allows modelling of
blood flow. This will enable the study
of ultrasound signals under different
conditions such as those occuring in
the brain during a stroke.
PUBLIC
HEALTH AND
EPIDEMIOLOGY
Research led by Dr Dominique Cadilhac
in Public Health and Associate Professor
Helen Dewey in Epidemiology centres
around understanding the costs and
burden of stroke on the community.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
In 2009, five major projects focused
on the assessment of the quality
of care for stroke patients in public
hospitals. Partners included the
Australian Commission of Safety and
Quality in Health Care, the National
Stroke Foundation, State Government
of Victoria, New South Wales Health,
Austin Health and St Olav’s Hospital in
Trondheim, Norway.
The impact of stroke on patients has
been under investigation over the last
12 years through a major epidemiological
study (NEMESIS). More than 1,600
patients have had their health tracked
for 10 years after suffering stroke.
The most recent information collected
from NEMESIS estimates lifetime costs
for all cases of first ischaemic and
haemorrhagic stroke at approximately
$2 billion per annum. This data will
be useful for planning health service
requirements to meet the needs of our
ageing society.
Research continues into the health
and economic benefits of reducing risk
factors for stroke and cardiovascular
disease in the community. Expertise
developed at FNI underpins many of
the disease prevention and health
services audit programs led by the
National Stroke Foundation.
NEURO-
REHABILITATION
AND RECOVERY
Neurorehabilitation and Recovery
research, led by Professor Leeanne
Carey, focuses on the scientific
foundations of rehabilitation.
Three complementary streams of
research investigate:
• Mechanisms of recovery after stroke,
using brain imaging techniques
• New rehabilitation approaches,
using clinical trials
• The relationships between loss of
sensations and movement after
a stroke, and functionality.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Two major projects were completed
in 2009. ’IN_Touch‘ (Imaging
Neuroplasticity of Touch) has involved
taking brain images of stroke survivors
who have lost the ability to feel
everyday objects.
Studies were conducted during the
period of early recovery, following
training, and after 12 months. Findings
to date indicate differences in regions of
the brain that were activated in stroke
survivors with sensory loss relative to
healthy controls, as well as identifying
specific brain regions that were
associated with better touch sensation
and recovery. These findings suggest
that optimal recovery may require
different rehabilitative strategies to
target specific brain regions.
’SENSe‘ (Study of the Effectivenes of
Neurorehabilitation on Sensation), is
a randomised control clinical trial of a
novel approach to rehabilitate loss of
sensation and hand function after stroke.
We found that sensations (such as ability
to feel everyday textures and objects
through touch) and hand function
improved when patients underwent
the specific sensory retraining program.
This approach to rehabilitation aims to
improve lost abilities rather than focus
on compensation alone. The findings
of these two projects may be used
to improve rehabilitation, and predict
who may best benefit from specific
rehabilitation programs.
Other project highlights are:
• The National Institute of Health (NIH)
Toolbox. We developed tools to assess
sensation and tested these in children,
adults, older individuals and stroke
survivors.
• The James S Macdonnell collaborative
project, Cognitive Neuroscience
Principles for Rehabilitation, will
develop a text on translation of
core principles from cognitive
neurosciences to clinical practice.
• Investigation of the relationship
between sensation, thinking abilities
and mood on quality of life and return
to participation after stroke. We
found that mild cognitive impairment
impacts on activity participation in an
Australian cohort after stroke
AVERT – EARLY
INTERVENTION
Research led by Associate Professor
Julie Bernhardt is focussed on the
development, testing and
implementation of early physical
activity/exercise-based interventions
for people with stroke, and
on understanding how these
interventions affect muscle, bone,
mood and thinking.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
AVERT is the largest clinical trial of
stroke rehabilitation in the world.
It is an international, multi-centre
study testing whether commencing
frequent out of bed activity within
24 hours of stroke onset reduces
death and disability compared
with current stroke care. A costeffectiveness
study sits beside the
trial, involving approximately 450
physiotherapy and nursing clinical
leaders and other acute stroke
clinicians. Funding was secured from
Singapore, Malaysia and Northern
Ireland to expand the study to these
countries. The study is expected to be
completed in 2012.
In 2009, the first Physical Activity
Forum was held at FNI, bringing
together researchers with an interest
in the use of exercise to promote
health and well being in able-bodied
and disabled populations. New
collaborative projects examining
cardiovascular fitness changes early
following stroke are planned.
Since 2002 we have regularly
measured the physical activity of
people early after stroke using a
range of tools. This year, collaborative
projects with the Karolinska Hospital
(Sweden) and St Olavs Hospital
(Norway) were completed, and
activity data from a further 200
patients were added to our database.

49 SYSTEMS NEUROPHYSIOLOGY
AREAS OF
RESEARCH
• BRAIN REGULATION OF
BODY TEMPERATURE
• SYMPATHETIC NERVES
IN HEART FAILURE
• PHYSIOLOGICAL CHANGES
IN EPILEPSY
Associate Professor Robin McAllen
heads the Systems Neurophysiology
group at Parkville, which researches
brain function in health and disease.
A particular focus is on how the brain
controls basic bodily functions such
as blood pressure, body temperature,
body fluids and breathing. Professor
Richard Macdonell heads the clinical
arm at the Austin Hospital which
researches the physiological changes
underlying epilepsy.
BRAIN
REGULATION
OF BODY
TEMPERATURE
The brain regulates body temperature,
keeping it within a narrow range.
The consequences of failure can be
life-threatening: elderly people with
impaired temperature regulation
frequently die of heat stroke during
heat waves.
The master temperature controller
region in the brain is the pre-optic
area which adjusts the balance
between heat generation and
heat loss from the body, using
nerve connections to regulate
skin blood flow and sweating, and
heat generation by specialized fat
deposits (brown fat). If the body
temperature falls too low, it initiates
shivering. These mechanisms set
body temperature, but not always to
an identical level. Our temperature is
adjusted to about 1 degree lower at
night, for example, and upwards by
one or two degrees if we are sick and
run a fever. In fever, a chemical signal,
prostaglandin E2, acts on cells in the
pre-optic area to cause this upward
shift in body temperature. This year
we have made significant progress in
understanding how this happens.
Cells in the pre-optic area combine
the information on brain temperature
with signals from skin temperature,
and compute the correct adjustments
for the body’s heat balance. Against all
previous expectations, we found that
the pre-optic area contains at least
two distinct sub-regions that control
blood flow to the skin, and hence heat
loss. The nerve cells in one (called
RMPO) respond to the fever mediator
prostaglandin E2, but those in the
other (called CLPO) do not.
These findings are helping us to
pinpoint the actual nerve cells
performing thermo-regulatory
functions, although these have not
yet been definitively identified.
We do know that nerve cells in the
pre-optic region take account not
only of brain temperature but also
of skin temperature. This combined
information allows them to anticipate
thermal challenges rather than simply
reacting to them. Signals from warm
or cool skin can trigger the pre-optic
area to initiate compensatory changes
before there is any change in deep
body temperature.
This year, we have identified the brain
pathways that tell the pre-optic area
when the skin is warm: a localized
group of neurons in the dorsal
sub-region of the parabrachial
nucleus in the midbrain relay this
information from the skin to the
pre-optic area. It is already known
that a neighbouring group of
parabrachial cells relay information
from cold skin to the pre-optic area.
This is critical information which, with
other findings, will help us track the
complete nerve pathways controlling
skin blood flow to regulate body
temperature.
SYMPATHETIC
NERVES IN
HEART FAILURE
Heart failure is a serious condition
with a high mortality rate. It afflicts
300,000 Australians in any year.
Current treatments can improve
symptoms and delay the course of
the disease, but they cannot cure
it. Australian researchers made the
important discovery some years ago
that in patients with heart failure,
the nerves that stimulate the heart
to beat harder and faster (cardiac
sympathetic nerves) are activated to a
much greater extent than sympathetic
nerves to other parts of the body.
This overactivity exacerbates the
disease process and can trigger
sudden death. The brain is known to
drive these sympathetic nerves; thus,
our aim is to understand why they
are overactive in heart failure, and
why that overactivity is worse in the
cardiac sympathetic nerves than in the
nerves to other organs.
We have developed an animal model
of heart failure in which we can
investigate these questions directly.
We make electrical recordings of the
cardiac sympathetic nerves at the
same time as the nerves supplying
the kidney (renal sympathetic
nerves). We are the only laboratory
in the world currently able to do this.
What we have recently discovered is
that both nerves become overactive
in heart failure compared with
the normal state, but the cardiac
sympathetic nerve increases its
activity by a much greater percentage
than the renal nerve. This fits with
clinical observations made by indirect
measurements on humans. The
major reason for this is that cardiac
sympathetic nerves have a very low
level of activity in the normal state,
but have the capacity to increase their
activity by a much greater percentage
when they are driven hard by the
brain (as occurs transiently in exercise
but all the time in heart failure).
It appears that this unrelenting
overactivity is what does the damage.
We are currently investigating the
brain mechanisms behind it.
PHYSIOLOGICAL
CHANGES IN
EPILEPSY
Based on animal models, it has been
known for some time that hyperexcitability
of neurons in the cerebral
cortex of the brain is a prime cause
of epilepsy. Until recently, it has not
been possible to investigate this
in humans because of an inability
to study cortical excitability noninvasively.
Using a technique known
as Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation
(TMS), it is now possible to stimulate
the brain (in particular the motor
cortex) to determine whether these
cortical neurons are more excitable
in patients who suffer from epilepsy
compared with normal controls.
Our research has been able to
confirm from animal models that
hyperexcitability of cortical neurons
does indeed underlie epilepsy, and
that the pattern of hyperexcitability
in the brain differs depending on
whether the patient suffers from
a generalised epilepsy or a focal
epilepsy (where the epileptic zone is
restricted to one area of the brain).
Our work has also looked at other
factors that can trigger epileptic
seizures, such as lack of sleep and
time in the menstrual cycle for
women. We have been able to
show that one reason lack of sleep
predisposes to seizures is because
it leads to increases in cortical
excitability so that the brain is closer
to the threshold for an epileptic
seizure. Similarly, in women with
epilepsy the brain is hyper-excitable
during the menses compared with
during other phases of the menstrual
cycles. This correlates with the
observed phenomenon that seizures
are more likely to occur at this time in
women who suffer from epilepsy.
We have extended this work to
investigate the mechanism by which
anti-convulsant drugs reduce seizures.
Using TMS, we have shown that
cortical excitability returns to a normal
level in patients whose epilepsy is
well controlled. Conversely, patients
whose seizures are not controlled by
their medication continue to show
cortical hyperexcitability. Changes
in the response to TMS appear to
reflect the pharmacological action of
these drugs in patients, and suggest
that one of the mechanisms by which
anticonvulsants act is by changing
cortical excitability. In addition, using
longitudinal studies, we have been
able to show that measuring cortical
excitability after a first seizure is
predictive of the risk of subsequent
seizures.
Our findings may be translated in
clinical use for the diagnosis and
management of epilepsy. They have
contributed to knowledge about the
patho-physiological mechanisms of
epilepsy and could be utilised in the
assessment of new pharmacological
agents to treat epilepsy.

51 COMMERCIALISATION
Florey Neuroscience Institutes has
continued to work closely with all
scientists and clinicians within the
group to identify intellectual capital
and, where appropriate, to protect and
develop these assets for the benefit of
our people and the wider community.
During 2009, the recommendations
of an Institute - wide review of FNI’s
commercial management processes
were implemented, resulting in the
allocation of additional resources into
the business development group. Dr
Karin Sitte (FNI Austin) and Ms Julie
Anne Quinn (FNI Parkville) are spending
considerable time and effort on new
initiatives across the range of business
development opportunities within FNI.
Exciting developments during
2009 include:
• The successful completion of Phase
II clinical trials for relaxin and the
commencement of a multi-centre
Phase III.
• The successful award of a Victorian
Science Agenda Investment Fund
grant for a stroke telemedicine
initiative in rural Victoria
• The granting of two new patent
families in the USA.
FNI has a range of research programs
at various stages of pre-clinical
development, and two are currently with
the Medical Research Commercialisation
Fund for active investment.
FNI has been privileged to have had
the involvement of Dr Geoff Brooke
from GBS Ventures as a member of the
Institute’s commercialisation committee
for many years. Geoff has now retired
from that committee and we extend our
sincere appreciation to him for his time
and effort. Similarly, we were fortunate
to have our committee, chaired during
2008 and 2009 by Dr Alan Finkel, who
has recently taken up a challenging
and exciting new opportunity in the
commercial sector that has caused his
resignation. We also extend our thanks
to Alan for his generous contributions.
52

53 FNI GOVERNORS
YEAR ENDING
DECEMBER 2009
Mr John D Alexander Jr
Mr Charles K Allen AO
Professor James A Angus
Mr Chris Blake
Mr Graeme Bowker
Mr Tom Buchan
Mr Trevor Clark
Mr Philip Cornish
Mr Charles R Curwen CVO OBE
Mr Tim Daly
Professor Stephen Davis MD FRACP
Mr David de Rothschild
Emeritus Professor
Derek A Denton AC
Mr Craig Drummond
Dr Alan Finkel AM
Mrs Tamie Fraser AO
Professor Peter Fuller
Dr Sandra Hacker AO
Professor Andrea Hull AO
Ms Margaret A Jackson AC
Mr Mark Jones
Mr Peter Jopling QC
Mr Bruce Kean AM
Professor Richard Larkins AO
Dr John Lill OAM
Professor John A McKenzie
Professor Frederick Mendelsohn AO
Ms Naomi Milgrom
Mr Peter Mitchell AM
Dr Brendan Murphy
Mr Martyn K Myer AO
Mr Allan J Myers AO QC
Dr Mark Nelson
Professor Peter Rathjen
Dr Thomas J Schneider
Professor David Scott
Professor Richard Smallwood AO
Professor Liz Sonenberg
(until 7/10/2009)
Mr Boris M Struk
Mr Robert Trenberth
Ms Anne Ward
Mr Brian Watson
Mr John Wylie AM
Mr Harrison Young
MEMBERS AT LARGE
YEAR ENDING
DECEMBER 2009
Miss Helen Alexander
Ms Joanna N Baevski
Professor Etienne Baulieu
Professor Samuel Berkovic
Mrs William McC Blair
The Honourable Dr Neal Blewett AC
Lord Alec Broers
Mr Graham Brooke AM
Mr Malcolm Broomhead
Professor Geoffrey Burnstock
Professor Edward Byrne AO
The Honourable Jim Carlton AO
Sir Roderick H Carnegie AC
Professor Peter Castaldi AO
Professor Jean-Pierre Changeux
The Hon Mr Justice Alex Chernov AO
Dr Bernard Clarke
Mr Robin Clements
Professor John P Coghlan AO
Mrs Caroline Cornish
Dr Andrew Cuthbertson
Professor Glyn Davis AC
Mr Jerry T de la Harpe
Sir Evelyn de Rothschild
Dr David de Souza AM FRCP FRACP
Ms Andrea Dinan
Professor Peter C Doherty AC FAA FRS
Professor Ralph L Doherty AO
Ms Sue Downes
Dr Kenneth W Edmondson
Emeritus Professor John J Finlay-Jones
The Right Honourable
Malcolm Fraser AC CH
Professor John W Funder
Mr C Norman Geschke OBE
Mr Charles Goode AC
The Baroness Susan Greenfield CBE
Mrs Helen K Groves AO
Dr Roger Guillemin
Mrs Emory G Hamilton
Mr Michael S Hamson
Mr J Arnold Hancock OBE
Ms Pamela Hauser
Dr Thomas H Hurley AO OBE
Sir Andrew F Huxley OM FRS
Professor Bevyn Jarrott
The Honourable Mr Barry O Jones AO
Mr Scott Keck
Professor Bruce E Kemp FAA FRS
Ms Janette Kendall
Associate Professor Andrew J Kornberg
Professor Frank P Larkins
Mr Kevin Luscombe AM
Mr Hamish Mackinnon
Dr Raymond D Marginson AM
Ms Lina Marrocco OAM
Professor Colin Masters
Professor Elspeth McLachlan
Professor Frederick Mendelsohn AO
Mrs Pamela Miller
Mr Richard Miller
Dame Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE
Mr Rupert Murdoch AC
Mrs Louise Myer
Mr S Baillieu Myer AC
Mr A H (Buck) Myers Jr
Mrs Maria Myers AO
Dr Hugh D Niall
Emeritus Professor
Sir Gustav JV Nossal AC CBE FRS
Professor Kerin O’Dea
Mr Simon Parker Bowles
Professor Sir W Stanley Peart
Professor David G Penington AC
Mr Robert Pirie
Lady Primrose Potter AC
Professor John R Poynter AO OBE
Mrs Jeanne Pratt AC
Mr Ian A Renard
Mr Geoffrey Ripper
Mrs Eda N S Ritchie
Professor John Rose AO
Professor Sherwood Rowland
Professor Graeme B Ryan AC
Mr Phillip H Scanlan AM
Mrs Loti Smorgon AO
Dr Gad Trevaks AM
Mr Dale Turnbull
Professor James D Watson
The Right Honourable
Gough Whitlam AC QC
Professor Torsten Wiesel FRS
Professor Marelyn Wintour-Coghlan
The Honourable
Dr Michael Wooldridge
Sister Marie Bernadette Wunsch
54

55
DIRECTORS
Mr Charles Allen
(Chairman)
Mr Craig Drummond
(Honorary Treasurer)
Professor Geoffrey Donnan
(Scientific Director)
Professor Andrea Hull
Professor Graeme Jackson
Mr Mark Jones
Professor Richard Larkins
Dr Brendan Murphy
Mr Allan Myers
Professor Peter Rathjen
Dr Thomas Schneider
Mr Robert Trenberth
Mr Harrison Young
COMPOSITION OF
BOARD COMMITTEES
ALTERNATE DIRECTOR
Mr Mark Jones
(for Dr Thomas Schneider)
FNI DEPUTY
DIRECTORS
Dr Henry De Aizpurua
Professor Graeme Jackson
Professor Malcolm Horne
FNI Associate Directors
Professor Alan Connelly
Professor Gary Egan
Associate Professor David Howells
Professor Andrew Lawrence
Associate Professor Steve Petrou
CHIEF OPERATING
OFFICER
Mr Gary Gray
BOARD RESIGNATIONS
YEAR ENDING
DECEMBER 2009
Dr Alan Finkel
(15 October 2009)
Mr Martyn Myer
(21 May 2009)
Mr John Wylie
(21 May 2009)
AUDIT COMMITTEE
Mr Mark Jones
(Chair)
Mr Charles Allen
Professor Geoffrey Donnan
Professor Andrea Hull
Mr Allan Myers
COMMERCIALISATION
COMMITTEE
Mr Robert Trenberth
(Chair)
Professor Geoffrey Donnan
Dr Henry De Aizpurua
Mr Gary Gray
Mr Ross Macdonald
Mr Wayne McMaster
Professor Frederick Mendelsohn
Associate Professor Steve Petrou
FINANCE COMMITTEE
Mr Craig Drummond
(Chair)
Professor Geoffrey Donnan
Professor Andrea Hull
Mr Mark Jones
Dr Mark Nelson
Mr Harrison Young
NOMINATION
COMMITTEE
Mr Charles Allen
(Chair)
Professor Geoffrey Donnan
Professor Graeme Jackson
Professor Richard Larkins
Mr Robert Trenberth
SAFETY AND
COMPLIANCE
COMMITTEE
Mr Charles Allen
(Chair)
Professor Geoffrey Donnan
Professor Graeme Jackson
Mr Mark Jones
Dr Brendan Murphy
Mr Allan Myers
Professor Peter Rathjen
Dr Thomas Schneider
Mr Robert Trenberth
Mr Harrison Young
56

57
STATEMENT OF COMPREHENSIVE INCOME
FOR THE YEAR 1 JANUARY TO 31 DECEMBER 2009
The Florey Neurosciences Institute consolidated group includes: Florey Institutes, Howard Florey Institue,
Brain Research Institute, National Stroke Research Institute, Howard Florey Institue and Genvartec Pty Ltd.
* Includes funding from the Victorian Government’s Operational Infrastructure Support Grant
2009 CONSOLIDATED GROUP
REVENUE SOURCES
FLOREY NEUROSCIENCE CONSOLIDATED
INSTITUTES GROUP
$’000 $’000
INCOME STATEMENT
Revenue from Ordinary Activities 97 26,850*
Salaries and Employee Benefi ts - (19,803)
Raw Materials and Consumables - (3,648)
Conferences and Collaborations - (969)
Building Maintenance - (791)
Research Support Services - (1,392)
General Administration - (1,043)
Other Expenses From Ordinary Activities - (233)
Distribution of Grant Funds - (301)
TOTAL - (28,180)
Net Operating Surplus/(Defi cit) before Depreciation 97 (1,330)
Depreciation (4) (2,654)
Net Operating Surplus/(Defi cit) after Depreciation 93 (3,984)
Revenue Contributed for Future Building Costs 15,878 22,283
Expenses related to Future Building Costs (750) (750)
NET SURPLUS FOR THE YEAR 15,221 17,549
ACTUAL % OF
$’000 TOTAL
Government & Statutory Bodies (67.9%) 18,230 67.9
Other Peer Review Funding (9.1%) 2,445 9.1
Miscellaneous Income (6.9%) 1,855 6.9
Private Donors & Foundations (6.7%) 1,790 6.7
Commercial Collaborations (6.1%) 1,649 6.1
Investment Income (3.3%) 881 3.3
TOTAL 26,850 100
BALANCE SHEET
AS 31 DECEMBER 2009
58
FLOREY NEUROSCIENCE CONSOLIDATED
INSTITUTES GROUP
$’000 $’000
Current Assets
Cash and Cash Equivalents* 53,210 79,608
Trade and Other Receivables 4,642 5,786
Available for Sale Financial Assets - 10,465
Prepayments 79 281
Total Current Assets 57,931 96,140
Non-Current Assets
Property Plant and Equipment 96 6,980
Assets Under Construction 28,935 28,935
Investments in Associates - -
Total Non-Current Assets 29,031 35,915
TOTAL ASSETS 86,962 132,055
Current Liabilities
Trade and Other Payables 3,470 2,202
Provisions - 3,592
Other - Unearned Revenue - 92
Total Current Liabilities 3,470 5,886
Non-Current Liabilities
Provisions - 591
Total Non-Current Liabilities - 591
TOTAL LIABILITIES 3,470 6,477
NET ASSETS 83,492 125,578
Funds
Retained Surplus 83,492 98,828
Unrealised Investment Reserve - 556
Merger/Reorganisation Reserve - 26,194
TOTAL FUNDS 83,492 125,578
* Includes funds contributed for the construction of the new Neuroscience Centre.

59 FUNDRAISING AND MARKETING
The members of the FNI Fundraising
and Marketing Group worked hard
during 2009 with the aim of reducing
the anticipated impact of the Global
Financial Crisis (GFC) on the FNI
fundraising results. Nevertheless,
total funds raised were markedly
down on the previous year.
During the year general fundraising
revenue, excluding capital fundraising,
totalled $1,826,358 from 826
organisations, individuals and families.
CAPITAL FUNDRAISING
At the end of 2008 there was a
shortfall of approx. $40 million in
our quest to raise $205+ million
to support the establishment
of FNI and the expansion of its
scientific activities. This included the
construction of the two new stateof-the-art
facilities for the FNI group
and partners at the Parkville and
Austin Campuses.
In January 2009 work was completed
on a submission to the Federal
Government through its Health
and Hospitals Fund Infrastructure
Grant Program to secure the balance
of funds needed to complete this
vital project. The submission was
successful and in May 2009, during
the Federal Budget announcement,
FNI was advised that the $39.8
million was to be granted.
Pledge payments to the capital
project have continued to flow in
during the year.
TRUSTS AND
FOUNDATIONS
Despite the GFC mentioned above,
philanthropic Trusts and Foundations
have continued to be a significant
source of funding for FNI with a
total of $1,082,777 received this
year. Funding support of this nature
is crucial to the achievement of our
Mission of improving life through
brain research.
It enables the purchase of essential
items of laboratory equipment,
provides seed funding for new
projects, and supports young
scientists in furthering their careers.
We are greatly appreciative of such
contributions.
STROKE ANNUAL
SCIENTIFIC MEETING
The Stroke Annual Scientific Meeting
was again held in 2009 with the
support of Boehringer Ingleheim
Pty Ltd, Novartis Pharmaceuticals
Australia, Sanofi Aventis, Servier
Laboratories Pty Ltd and National
Health & Medical Research
Council. We greatly appreciate and
acknowledge their generous support.
BEQUEST
DEVELOPMENT
Income from realised bequests
during 2009 amounted to just over
$387,690. This was supplemented
by some generous direct gifts
from existing bequestors totalling
$48,000. A program of personal
visits to bequestors was initiated
by Helen Whyte, our new Bequest
Officer who joined us in July.
Helen has been instrumental in
encouraging this trend of “lifetime
giving” amongst this special group
of supporters. Work is continuing
to identify potential bequestors
with the aim of confirming additional
gifts to FNI which currently stand
at 32. We greatly appreciate
the generous legacies of our
bequestors as these will ultimately
make it possible for FNI to build an
endowment for the future of its
scientific pursuits.
COMMUNICATING WITH
OUR SUPPORTERS
Early in 2009 the team engaged in
a branding workshop. We examined
FNI’s existing and possible future
communications channels that
required a distinguishable single
theme. Our supporter newsletter was
redesigned and re-launched as Brain
Matter(s) and the Annual Report
followed in the same visual style.
A suite of bequest materials were
developed under the banner of
‘Think about it’ and all of our
supporter materials used the FNI
mission statement of ‘Improving life
through brain research’ to succinctly
describe the Institutes’ core business.
A temporary FNI website was
established midyear at
www.fni.edu.au, which explains the
amalgamation process, describes
our scientific work and provides a
common link to the websites of the
three amalgamating organisations
until a dedicated FNI website is
developed in 2010.
Our public speaker program was put
on hold and reviewed with the aim
of relaunching it in 2010 under the
Brain Matter(s) theme.
COMMUNITY
FUNDRAISING
A number of external groups and
people arrange their own fundraising
activities of behalf of FNI and we are
most appreciative of their support.
During 2009 FNI was the grateful
recipient of $20,000 from Nerissa
Mapes and her Perspectives on
Parkinson’s fundraising group. Takako
Machida Subocz has continued with
her beautiful floral paintings and held
an exhibition and sale in Japan which
delivered just over $5,000 to FNI.
2009 KENNETH
MYER LECTURE
The 13th Annual Kenneth Myer
Lecture was delivered on Thursday
10 December 2009 by Professor
Fred (Rusty) Gage from the Salk
Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla,
California. Professor Gage has a special
interest in Brain Regeneration and
how the brain can regrow and repair
itself. The audience was enthralled as
he gave a fascinating insight into the
development of the cell, our basic
building block. Then, as he discussed
the discovery that stem cells can be
grown from skin cells and transplanted
to aid brain development, function
and repair, his excitement was truly
infectious. The annual Kenneth Myer
Lecture is an important part of our
community engagement program
that provides opportunities for our
many supporters to learn more about
the mysteries of the brain from world
renowned neuroscientists.
MEDIA AND
PROMOTION
Promotion of FNI continued
throughout 2009 with some highly
interesting media stories on a range
of issues about brain disorders and
diseases. Highlights include a full
page article in The Australian Financial
Review (AFR) about how dehydration
can affect people as they get older
through the mind tricking them that
they have quenched their thirst when
in reality they are still dehydrated.
Another full page article in the AFR
discussed the potential that being
overly sympathetic to a loved-one’s
plight may actually make them feel
worse rather than better.
These are only two of approximately
250 news stories generated by FNI
through the year on a variety of brain
and mind health matters.
OUR SUPPORTERS
In thanking our supporters, we would
be remiss if we did not make very
special mention of the enormous
contributions made to support our
work, on a continuous basis, by the
Ian Potter Foundation and the Myer
Foundation and Family. Their support
over many years for Howard Florey
Institute, and latterly for Florey
Neuroscience Institutes, has been
important to ensuring our progress
towards overcoming neurological
disease.
Florey Neuroscience Institutes is
indebted to the many individuals and
organisations that have provided
financial and gift-in-kind support
during 2009. Each gift is greatly
valued for it enables our scientists to
move closer to their goal of achieving
a healthier future for all Australians.

61 DONORS
WE SINCERELY THANK
ALL OUR SUPPORTERS,
INCLUDING THOSE
WHO WISH TO
REMAIN ANONYMOUS
- YOUR GENEROUS
CONTRIBUTIONS
WILL HELP FUTURE
GENERATIONS
Chris Abbott AM
Charles Allen AO
Angior Family Foundation (managed
by National Australia Trustees Ltd)
William Angliss (Vic) Charitable Fund
ANZ Banking Group Limited
Simon Barrett
Percy Baxter Charitable Trust
(managed by Perpetual Trustees
Australia Ltd)
Bell Charitable Fund
Besen Family Foundation
Graeme Bowker
Harold & Cora Brennen
Benevolent Trust (managed
by Equity Trustees Limited)
William Buckland Foundation
(managed by ANZ Trustees)
Louise Carnegie
L E W Carty Charitable Fund
CASS Foundation Ltd
Charityworks for MS
Diana Cherry
Corthera Inc
Richard Cotton AM
Andrew Darbyshire
Davies Collison Cave
Rebecca L Cooper Medical Research
Foundation Ltd
Geoffrey Donnan
Wendy Dowd
Craig Drummond
Marian & E H Flack Trust
Neilma Gantner
Preston and Loui Geduld Trust Fund
(managed by Equity Trustees Limited)
Janet Gilbertson
Roger Gillespie OAM
Gary Gray
Helen Groves AO
Warwick Hall
James Hancock OBE
Geoff Handbury AO
Richard Harbig
Estate of the late Gwenda Holloway
Margaret Jackson AC
Mark Jones
Peter Jopling QC
Anne Kantor
Mary Kentish
L E K Consulting
Brian Little
Eirene Lucas Foundation
Suzanne Lynch
Scobie & Claire MacKinnon Trust
Helen Macpherson Smith Trust
Nerissa Mapes
Judith Jane Mason & Harold Stannet
Williams Memorial Foundation
(managed by ANZ Trustees)
Colin Masters
Alexander McMillan
Frederick Mendelsohn AO
Miller Foundation
Harold Mitchell Foundation
Graeme Moir
Elisabeth Murdoch AC DBE
Brendan Murphy
Estate of the late Yasuko Myer
Myer Foundation
Dennis Nassau
62
Mark Nelson
John Nevin
Sue O’Neill & Enid Telford
Judith Overbeek
Ian Potter Foundation
Pratt Family Foundation
Margaret Rafferty
John T Reid Charitable Trusts
Ian Renard
Estate of L I Roach
Gavin Rogers
Gwendolen W Sims
Nell & Hermon Slade Trust
Victor Smorgon Charitable Fund
Stephen Spargo
Yvonne Spencer
Gary Stiliano
Takako Subocz
Gregory Taggart
Nicholas Terry
William Thorn
Robert Trenberth
Katrina Tull
Victorian Private Geriatric
Hospitals Ltd
G W Vowell Foundation Ltd
James Wiley
Keith Williams
Peter Williams
Ray and Margaret Wilson Foundation
Harrison Young

63 NOTES

FLOREY
NEUROSCIENCE
INSTITUTES
PARKVILLE CAMPUS
Level 2, Alan Gilbert Building
161 Barry Street
Carlton South Victoria
Australia 3053
Phone: +61 3 8344 1888
Fax: +61 3 9347 0446
AUSTIN CAMPUS
Neuroscience Building
Austin Health
300 Waterdale Road
Heidelberg West Victoria
Australia 3081
Phone: +61 3 9496 4137
Fax: +61 3 9496 4071
www.fni.edu.au
Florey Neuroscience Institutes is
a public company limited by guarantee
under the Corporations Act 2001.
ABN 92 124 762 027