More of the best minds will be attracted to the Sunshine Coast when the region’s world-leading mental health institute undergoes an $18 million expansion that will include an Australian-first ‘brain bank’.
The USC Thompson Institute at Birtinya is preparing to turn the first sod in October on construction to double in size and create new laboratories, research facilities and extra clinical services focussed specifically on post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).
Part of the substantial transformation will be Australia’s first PTSD ‘brain bank’ — a collection of brains donated to science to unlock the secrets of how to treat and perhaps even prevent the debilitating anxiety condition.
There will also be a unique research laboratory dedicated to studying zebrafish to unravel the roles genes play in causing and passing on PTSD and how to combat that.
The USC Thompson Institute, which opened in 2018, is already a leader in Australia and this doubling in size will ensure it holds its place alongside the best in the world for studies on the mysterious of the mind.
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This multi-million-dollar next phase will include extra clinical services for treating people on the Sunshine Coast and more research facilities and capabilities, both of which would require bringing in extra staff and researchers.
Institute director Professor Jim Lagopoulos said the Sunshine Coast would soon have Australia’s first research centre of its kind focussed on treating and researching particular aspects of PTSD.
This would require a “significant increase in staff” including clinicians, research assistants, and people with special skills in research methodology, he said.
Professor Lagopoulos said the project had already received regulatory approvals and had gone to tender, with a builder identified.
After the first sod is turned in October, it is expected to be completed by November 2022.
The first part of the expansion is being funded by philanthropists Roy and Nola Thompson ($6 million) while talks are underway with governments and other sources for the remainder.
Zebrafish and a ‘brain bank’
On the research side, Prof Lagopoulos said many more dedicated studies would soon be done to find a cure or better treatments for PTSD in two exciting new facilities — a brain bank and a zebra fish lab.
He said the Sunshine Coast would have Australia’s first ‘brain bank’ dedicated to PTSD which would be collection of brains that have been donated to science to be sliced, stained and studied.
“I don’t want to give the impression there are brains in jars, that’s not how it works,” explained Prof Lagopoulos.
“They’re actually stored in anatomical pathology laboratories…and they are basically sectioned, looked at under microscopes and stored in appropriate freezers and what not, so we don’t have brains sitting in jars like you might see in one of these B-rate horror movies.”
Prof Lagopoulos said having a collection of brains enabled much more research to be undertaken rather than relying solely on living human participants.
“One good example; when we do MRI scans on people with PTSD, when we put them in the scanner, the longest I can leave them in the scanner is one hour because after that people start to move and get uncomfortable.
“However when you are talking about biological tissue, you don’t have problems with them moving, you don’t have problems with them being uncomfortable and I can leave biological tissue in the scanner and scan away for days and days and days.
“For example, I could put a brain in the MRI scanner and scan it for a week and what it would give me would be so much more powerful than if I put a living human being in an MRI scanner and scanned them for one hour.”
Another of the new research facilities would be a genomics laboratory studying zebrafish to look at the genetic components of PTSD and how some people may be predisposed to developing the condition if they are exposed to a trauma.
“It’s a very important area because if we know that someone has a predisposition to developing PTSD, of course we could take that into account for example when they’re going for a job,” he said.
“The military is a classic example of this and even first responders like police, ambulance officers and firies.
“We know they have an almost double chance of developing PTSD following a traumatic event when you compare that to the general population.
“So, if you’ve got a double than the normal chance of developing PTSD, it would be really helpful to know if you’re also predisposed to it because…that could very strongly influence your decision to go into the armed forces.”
Also part of that research would exploring how trauma can affect our genes and whether that can be reversed with gene therapy.
Treatment for people with PTSD
The USC Thompson Institute is already a unique facility because it offers clinical services to people in the community while also operating as a research centre.
The expansion would build on that by broadening access to treatments and allowing people with PTSD to be part of “new and exciting trials” and research projects such as using MRI scanning to understand what goes in their brains to help develop a cure.
Best brains in the world
Professor Lagopoulos said the Thompson Institute was a “tremendous coup for the Sunshine Coast” which was putting the region on the global map.
“When you look at similar sites across the world we will be on par with some of the best worldwide doing this type of research,” he said.
All of the treatments, trials and studies at the centre were devoted to understanding the intricate workings of the brain and using those insights to develop better treatments and cures.
To find out more about how you can receive treatment or be part of different trials at The Thompson Institute click here.
