MRC Brain Banks: Joint Application to Underpin Neuroscience Research

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This application plans to support research into the causes and potential treatment of a range of diseases affecting thebrain, some of which have been identified as priorities for research, such as dementia. The UK has a network ofestablished Brain Banks that provide human tissue samples to a wide range of researchers. Human tissue samples haveallowed a better understanding of the mechanisms operating in these complex disorders and have already aided thedevelopment of treatments for Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease.This application will support four Brain Banks in Edinburgh, London, Newcastle and Oxford. These banks each have areasof particular interest, Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and motor neurone disease. However, in addition to thecollection of tissues samples from patients with brain disorders, it is also essential to collect normal tissue samples for useas controls in research. Two of the Banks have a major focus in this area, so this application will support the collection ofboth disease and normal tissue samples.The banks will support scientific research by providing human tissue samples in an efficient and cost effective manner,while ensuring the samples provided are of the high quality required by researchers. The banks have worked to improvetheir efficiency, reducing the time required to provide the samples to researchers. Details of the samples available in eachof the banks are included in a database, which is accessible through the internet. This allows researchers to see whatsamples are available and how to request these samples for their research in an easy way that will save time and speed upprogress.All four Brain Banks in this application have approval form an Ethics Committee, to ensure that their working practices meetnationally agreed standards that apply to work with human tissue samples. The work of each Bank is overseen by a localsteering committee that includes members of the public and ethics experts as well as scientists and pathologists. BrainBanking is expensive, but the operating costs of these four banks are far less than their equivalents in Europe and in theUSA.The challenges of developing treatments for complex diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson's disease areconsiderable, but the Brain Banks in this application will play an important role in underpinning the scientific research in these national priority areas.