Dundee joins brain imaging 'virtual laboratory'

Dundee researchers led by Dr Richard Lerski (Medical Physics) and Dr Astrid Schloerscheidt (Psychology) will play a key role in a new Scottish imaging network breaking new research ground into conditions like strokes, Alzheimer's disease, schizophrenia and cancer.

SINAPSE (The Scottish Imaging Network: A Platform for Scientific Excellence) will bring together experts from the universities of Dundee, Aberdeen, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Stirling, and St Andrews to form the world's first virtual clinical imaging laboratory.

The £40m initiative will focus primarily on imaging of the brain, using state-of-the-art technology that includes magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and positron emission tomography (PET).

Pooling these resources across Scotland, the partnership will combine the collection of different types of brain information such as structure, function and brain waves, and develop new radioactive tracers for different diseases. This data will further research into strokes, dementia, diabetes, cancer, and mental health.

Dr Richard Lerski and Dr Astrid Schloerscheidt are coordinating the University of Dundee's involvement and are excited by the possibilities the network can provide.

"The SINAPSE collaboration, which brings together experts in brain imaging from universities across Scotland, opens up new and exciting possibilities to further our understanding of the mind and the diseases that affect the mind," said Dr Lerksi.

Dr Schloerscheidt added, "Partnerships such as SINAPSE are essential to push forward new discoveries aimed to support the development of treatments which will be of great benefit to patients in Scotland and beyond."

The SINAPSE collaboration will:

• Facilitate the recruitment of international leading researchers to Scotland, and retain the best young graduates from Scottish universities
• Enhance research by enabling wider patient participation in clinical trials, and strategic leadership in the dissemination of best research practice
• Fund five new chairs, 17 mid-level posts, 24 PhDs, and assorted equipment to enhance research and graduate training

SINAPSE has secured £6.3m from the Scottish Funding Council (including £700k support from the Chief Scientist Office), and £35m investment from the partner universities. It will initially run for the next five years.

It is the first alliance of its kind in Scottish medicine and will pool the different areas of expertise from each of the Universities and maintain a long-held Scottish tradition of exploring new ground in medical imaging.

Scottish Funding Council Chief Executive, Roger McClure said: "The Council is delighted to be able to support this latest example of Scotland's universities becoming world leaders in research by working together. The potential benefits to individuals and their families of understanding better these distressing conditions are enormous."