Health

03 Jul 09

Oxford and McGill are joining forces to broaden our understanding of the brain, from individual nerve cells to clinical studies of new treatments.

Two of the world’s leading centres in neuroscience, the University of Oxford and McGill University in Canada, have established a partnership to broaden understanding of the human brain.

The two universities will collaborate in neuroscience research and training, creating a framework for regular academic exchanges and encouraging joint research grant applications.

'The partnership will bring together the world-class research expertise of Oxford and McGill Universities in one of the great challenges of this century: understanding how the brain works,' said the Vice-Chancellor of Oxford University, Dr John Hood. 'By working together, we can increase the scope of our research and teaching and look forward to new advances in a wide range of conditions, from autism to Alzheimer’s.'

'I am absolutely delighted to formalize this historic collaboration between our two great centres of learning in this important field,' McGill Principal and Vice-Chancellor Heather Munroe-Blum said. 'Our respective distinguished records in neuroscience research on both sides of the Atlantic suggest that, in joining forces, we can have a powerful impact. Together, we will attract new funding, accelerate the pace of research and, most important, the delivery of results.'

Oxford University’s research in neuroscience provides opportunities for leading researchers and clinicians to show how individual neurons acquire their specific properties and assemble into complex interactive circuits, how defects in these circuits lead to neurological and psychiatric illness, and perhaps even how brains generate consciousness.

Oxford’s strengths in preclinical studies are coupled with rapidly expanding clinical research and translational medicine, where the aim is to take new treatments from the bench to the bedside. This means research spans every level, from molecules and cells, through cognitive science and the genetic basis of common diseases, to the neurobiology of psychiatric disorders and the prevention and management of stroke. The Centre for Functional MRI for the Brain also offers the latest developments in brain imaging.

McGill has long been known as a leader in neurosciences research and has taken this field as one of its top institutional priorities, building on the distinguished history and current strengths of its Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) and the Douglas Mental Health University Institute.

McGill’s integrated program in neurosciences is one of the largest contemporary neuroscience graduate programs in North America. Research, conducted in laboratories throughout the greater Montreal area and on campus, covers such thematic areas as molecular, cellular, systems, behavioural and cognitive neuroscience.