Trans-Atlantic agreement a boost to neuroscience research

Neurological research and clinical care received a significant boost today as Imperial College London and McGill University of Montreal entered an agreement enabling them to work more closely together in this field. Sir Keith O'Nions, Rector of Imperial, and Heather Munroe-Bloom, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of McGill, met in London to sign the partnership documents, which will consolidate existing scientific collaborations and provide new support for creating a framework for regular academic interactions.

"McGill and Imperial share common interests and strengths in such important fields of transformational research as brain imaging, motor neuron diseases, movement disorders and neuroimmunology," Munroe-Blum said. "I am delighted that the long-standing collaboration between these two leading institutions has been broadened, offering us the opportunity to strengthen and expand our research programs and eventually achieve major advances in our understanding of human neurological disorders."

"The neurosciences are an extremely important and interdisciplinary field of research focused on some of the major health challenges we face today," said Sir Keith. "We are making great strides in understanding how the brain works physically and biochemically, and this work is key to improving mental health. We at Imperial are delighted to have as our partner a leading institution that shares our appetite to carry out excellent research and move it quickly out of the lab to create new therapies for the people who need it."

Neurosciences research is one of McGill's 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. At Imperial, neurosciences research focuses particularly on mechanisms of brain degeneration and restoration of function, systems neuroscience, brain development, pain, anaesthesia, muscular dystrophy, neuroinflammatory disorders such as multiple sclerosis, addiction, molecular neuroimaging, cognitive neuroscience, neurogenetics and various aspects of mental health. Research achievements at the College include the first demonstration that variant CJD is caused by the same prion as BSE.

Provided by McGill University