December 2013
The CRC for Mental Health was established to create impact. It commenced life with a bold vision for translating research into products and methods of practice that can drive transformational changes in the diagnosis and treatment of mental illnesses.
The CRC has made impressive progress towards these goals. For example, we have made discoveries that may prove to be the basis of a reliable blood test to diagnose Alzheimer’s disease. Importantly, our findings point towards implementation using a relatively simple and robust apporach which could be rolled out in existing diagnostic laboratories. We look forward to reporting similar progress in our pursuit of biomarkers for other types of mental illnesses.
A critical aspect of our research is its use of data and biological materials collected from hundreds of volunteers, both affected and unaffected by mental illness. The CRC has benefited enormously from pre-existing biobanks such as the Australian Imaging, Biomarker and Lifestyle Study of Ageing (AIBL), the Geelong Health Study and the West Australian Family Study of Schizophrenia. We are developing our own schizophrenia and Parkinson’s disease biobanks and working to ensure these resources endure well beyond the remaining five years of the CRC’s initial term of Commonwealth funding.
We have been fortunate to attract a group of very capable PhD students who along with our postdoctoral researchers have opportunities to interact broadly with the scientific community. We have conducted workshops to broaden their perspectives and foster a proactive apporach to career planning. Our research students have also met with people with mental illness and their carers – an interaction which greatly benefitted all parties.
We have continued to engage with our participants, stakeholders and the wider community. We have developed an education program for primary carers in the aged care system to assist them in understanding the causes and consequences of dementia. We have also conducted a number of highly successful community education events, most notably “Science and Dementia” held during National Science Week.
Next year is a critical time for the CRC. In early 2015, our performance will be reviewed by the Commonwealth. We must be able to demonstrate substantial progress towards creating impact from our research. We are on the verge of such success. Next year, we should drive some of our innovative technology into the commercial domain and involve at least one new commercial enduser organisation in our work. We should also expand our educational activities. Most importantly, we should be confident that our current participants can clearly identify the benefits the CRC has brought to them already, and those we will realise in the future.
The CRC’s successes to date are due to a large number of people across organisations, disciplines and geographic areas working collectively. I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all those in the CRC community for their hard work and enthusiasm this year.
Dr Ian Cooke, CEO CRC for Mental Health