Brain Awareness Week 2022 Resources
Patient support & other resources
Healthy Brain
Find information about how to maintain brain health, with downloadable worksheets for ‘brain training’.
Patient resources & support
Find patient stories, advice about accessing support services, and information about clinical trials.
Meet the experts
Dr Remika Mito, The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health
Remika is a postdoctoral researcher in the Imaging and Epilepsy Group. She received her Honours degree (First Class Honours and University Medal) from the University of Sydney in 2014, and PhD from the University of Melbourne in 2019. Her publications include an editor’s choice publication in Brain, a renowned scientific journal, and she has received multiple awards, including awards from the International Society for Magnetic Resonance in Medicine and Epilepsy Society of Australia. She received a Brain Foundation research grant in 2021 for concussion research. Currently, there is no device that allows medical practitioners to diagnose concussion. Dr Mito’s research seeks to change this by using a new type of imaging technology, which could allow clinicians to quickly detect concussion in the brain.
Dr Felix Ng, Austin Health
Dr Felix Ng is a stroke neurologist at the Royal Melbourne and Austin Hospitals. He serves on the Melbourne Mobile Stroke Unit and provides acute stroke care to regional Victoria through the Victorian Stroke Telemedicine service. He graduated from the University of Melbourne in 2006 and completed his specialty training in Melbourne. He has a strong interest in research, and has received multiple awards for his work (Australian and New Zealand Association of Neurologists Jim Mcleod Award; Stroke Society of Australasia Peter Bladin New Investigator Award). He is currently undertaking a PhD in stroke neuroimaging, focusing on the post-stroke complications and recovery. Dr Ng received a Brain Foundation grant in 2017 for this research.
Dr Rebecca San Gil, Queensland Brain Institute
Dr San Gil is the current Fight MND Early Career Research Fellow based at the Queensland Brain Institute. She has over 6 years’ experience researching the cellular and molecular pathologies associated with motor neuron disease (MND) in Australia and the UK. Currently, she is working in the Neurodegeneration Pathobiology Laboratory researching the causes of MND and frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and developing effective therapies to slow, stop, or cure disease. She received a Brain Foundation research grant in 2019 to investigate TDP-43 toxicity to identify genes that might be targets for treatment.
Dr Vivien Li, Royal Melbourne Hospital
Vivien is a specialist neurologist. She completed her Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery at the University of Melbourne in 2011 and received the Australian Medical Association Prize for achieving the highest score in her cohort. Vivien has published in a number of international journals and is currently a PhD candidate at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health researching multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuroimmunology. She received a Brain Foundation research grant in 2021 to examine disease activity in MS patients. Her work will use advanced imaging technology to look for subtle signs of MS activity in people with MS who need to stop or switch their treatment. This would provide clinicians and patients more information to make treatment decisions and help distinguish between people who could safely stop treatment versus those who may still be benefiting from ongoing therapy.
Dr Heidi Beadnall, Royal Prince Alfred Hospital & Brain and Mind Centre, University of Sydney
Dr Heidi Beadnall is a Staff Specialist Neurologist at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital and Clinical Lecturer at the Brain and Mind Centre, the University of Sydney. She is also an investigator in the Multiple Sclerosis Clinical Trials Unit based at the Brain and Mind Centre. Her main areas of subspecialty interest are multiple sclerosis (MS) and neuroimmunology, and she has authored over 20 publications in peer-reviewed journals in these fields. In 2019 she was awarded a PhD in the use of quantitative MRI brain atrophy measurement techniques in real-world MS patients, with regard to clinical correlations and use in clinical practice. She received a Brain Foundation Research Grant in 2018 for a project which used MRI to look at changes in brain volume over time to see if this could accurately measure neurodegeneration in MS. She was awarded the MSBase Fellowship in 2019 to work on the development of the MSBase Imaging Repository (MSBIR), a project she continues to contribute towards.
A/Prof Greg Sutherland, University of Sydney
Dr Sutherland is the director of the NSW Brain Tissue Research Centre and an Associate Professor of Pathology at The University of Sydney. He also leads the ‘Brain and Body’ research node at the Charles Perkins Centre, which aims to understand the bidirectional relationships between the brain and systemic chronic disorders (i.e. obesity, diabetes). His research interests include neuropathology, transcriptomics and genetic epidemiology of neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and alcohol-related brain damage. Dr Sutherland spoke to us in 2021 about brain banking in Australia and discussed the future of our neurological research landscape. You can read this article via the link below.
Researcher profile | Everything you need to know about brain banking [interview/article]
About the Brain Foundation
The Brain Foundation is a registered charity established in 1970 by neurologists and neurosurgeons. We are dedicated to funding the highest quality Australian research into neurological disorders, diseases, and injuries, with the ultimate goal of advancing diagnoses, treatments, and patient outcomes.
Our work involves:
- Our annual grants program. Read more about our funding process here.
- Raising awareness about the prevalence and impact of brain disorders, diseases & injuries.
- Educating patients & clinicians through webinar events and medically reviewed articles.
- Community support & advocacy (for migraine and headache particularly).
- Keeping our supporters up to date on the latest medical news through our newsletters & social media.
Our research grants receive no government funding, relying on the generosity of individuals, corporate donors and bequests. Your support will make a difference – now and for generations to come.
The Brain Foundation is the largest, independent funder of brain and spinal injury research in Australia. We believe research is the pathway to recovery.PLEASE HELP US BY DONATING TO OUR RESEARCH PROGRAM.