Jane Prentice (Ryan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Brain Injury Awareness Week is held every year in March. With more than 700,000 Australians living with a brain injury it is vital that we give as much support as possible to those working on treatments and cures. I thank the member for Shortland for bringing this motion to the House, as it gives me the opportunity to again highlight the outstanding researchers at the University of Queensland's Queensland Brain Institute, who are working day and night to find better ways of looking after our brains and to find treatment and cures for trauma and injury. I spoke last week about their most recent breakthrough in Alzheimer's research, but there is so much more being achieved at the institute.

For more than a decade, the founding director, Professor Perry Bartlett, and his team have achieved remarkable results, with major scientific discoveries. The institute comprises three research centres designed to specialise in different aspects of brain research: the Science of Learning Centre, which identifies and researches effective teaching; the Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research, which is entirely for research into the prevention and treatment of dementia; and the Centre for Neurogenetics and Statistical Genomics, which looks at the genetic basis of psychiatric disorders, motor neurone disease and cognitive ageing. The researchers work in collaboration with clinicians and commercial partners also to develop therapeutic approaches to alleviate the effects of brain diseases.

Brain injuries can be caused in many ways, sometimes through brain diseases such as Parkinson's disease, sometimes by alcohol and drug use, sometimes by a stroke or sometimes by trauma. Brain injury caused by trauma such as motor vehicle accidents is too common an occurrence in Australia. That is why there is a major need for more research into what happens to the brain after this type of injury is experienced. The Motor Accident Insurance Commission recognises this and is committed to provide funding to the Queensland Brain Institute, which will allow them to employ a full-time researcher in the field of trauma. Currently, there is no precise way to assess the level of brain damage after an injury nor is there a way to track changes or the effectiveness of treatment. This research area is a field in which the Queensland Brain Institute is hoping to expand, and this extra funding will be of huge assistance.

Another brain injury that is a major cause of disability is stroke. They also happen far too frequently, with one person suffering a stroke every 10 minutes in Australia. Researchers at the Queensland Brain Institute have had some major success in recent times in the study of brain damage caused by strokes. They have found that the worst damage to the brain is often caused not by the stroke itself but by what happens to the brain afterwards, when it is trying to repair itself. When clots form in the brain after a stroke they cause inflammation, which is very damaging. Scientists have found that a molecule called CAL-101 has proven to stop this inflammation. Using this molecule for a first-response treatment and continuing to promote current public health messages to identify the signs of stroke could be a huge step forward in lowering the rate of strokes.

The estimated economic burden of strokes in Australia is $49.3 billion and they contribute to around 40 per cent of dementias. At the end of last year, the Stafford Fox Medical Research Foundation donated $2.5 million to the Queensland Brain Institute to fight stroke induced dementia, known as vascular dementia. This is another example of the impressive reputation of the institute and the research being conducted.

During Brain Injury Awareness Week, we think about all those affected by brain injury and their families. Considering that three out of every four of the people living with brain injuries are under the age of 65 and that two out of three acquired the injury before the age of 25, it is important to get answers about how our brains work and it is important that we do it sooner rather than later.

We should all be proud of Professor Perry Bartlett and his remarkable team at the Queensland Brain Institute for their dedication and commitment to finding treatments and cures for these injuries. They are continuing to have great success, and it is important that we support their funding and promote the institute so that we may have a future where brain injuries become a thing of the past.

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