the NeuRA blog

In Part Two of Richard Schweizer’s blog, entitled ‘The Road to Wellness’, he takes us into the Sydney Clinic where he was admitted not long after his schizophrenia diagnosis. I spent about 3 months in the Sydney Clinic; a private mental health facility in Sydney’s Eastern Suburbs. My time there was not that bad. I have good things to say about the […]

Richard Schweizer has schizophrenia. In this three part blog series he walks us through his journey from his initial symptoms to how he feels about the future… I want to suggest to you an idea that may be a little confronting. It’s an idea that may take you a while to get your head around. And the idea is this: Schizophrenia […]

by Dr Kylie Radford and Prof Tony Broe AM Research lead by Prof Tony Broe
 and Dr Kylie Radford has highlighted the high prevalence of dementia, particularly Alzheimer’s disease,
 in Aboriginal communities. We are now working towards understanding the causes of cognitive decline and dementia, building capacity in dementia care and supporting Aboriginal family carers, and developing culturally appropriate strategies to promote […]

PhD student and physiotherapist Edel O’Hagan is currently working on a study that investigates whether using a medication, normally used for sleep disturbances, can help people with acute back pain – that is, pain which has lasted less than three months. Back pain researchers at NeuRA know that there is a shared relationship between sleep and pain. Typically, the higher the pain intensity the worse a person sleeps. Conversely, after […]

Chronic pain is a significant problem worldwide and locally, impacting one in three Australians. It results in enormous suffering and costs to the individual, as well as their loved ones and society in general. Despite the availability of pain medications and other pain therapies, there is still no ideal treatment which benefits the majority of sufferers, and most of the available therapies have significant side effects or risks of serious adverse events. […]

Pain provides a warning of threat to body tissue. This protective mechanism is critical for survival as it motivates defensive actions to remove the source of the threat. Unfortunately for many people, pain can become ‘stuck’, persisting long past the time when it has served any useful purpose of warning of harm. These people have chronic pain, a disabling and highly distressing condition. Dr James McAuley’s research is focused on low […]

By: Dr Claire Shepherd The Sydney Brain Bank at NeuRA aims to facilitate world class research and break throughs in ageing and neurodegenerative disorders. Globally it supplies tissue to 30-40 research projects a year, with many of these projects a collaborative effort between external research institutions. Lead by Dr Claire Shepherd, recently appointed to the position of Director of the Sydney Brain Bank, the team has developed a […]