An Australian Brain Bank: a critical investment with a high return!

Research into neuropsychiatric disorders, including alcohol-related problems, is limited in part by the lack of appropriate animal models. However, the development of new technologies in pathology and molecular biology means that many more questions can be addressed using appropriately stored human brain tissues. The New South Wales Tissue Resource Centre (TRC) in the University of Sydney (Australia) is a human brain bank that can provide tissues to the neuroscience research community studying alcohol-related brain disorders, schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorders. Carefully standardised operational protocols and integrated information systems means that the TRC can provide high quality, accurately characterised, tissues for research. A recent initiative, the pre-mortem donor program called Using our Brains, encourages individuals without neuropsychiatric illness to register as control donors, a critical group for all research. Community support for this program is strong with over 2,000 people registering their interest. Discussed herein are the protocols pertaining to this multifaceted facility and the benefits of investment, both scientific and financial, to neuroscience researchers and the community at large.