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Information for researchers
Supporting brain research both nationally and internationally
We're dedicated to providing the highest quality human postmortem brain tissue to researchers who are working towards discovering the causes and consequences of different brain disorders.
Requesting tissue
The NSW Brain Tissue Resource Centre (NSW BTRC) oversees the application process for all enquiries including tissue requests, letters of support for grant application, or tissue access for trial/pilot studies.
The National Institutes of Health (NIAAA) Scientific Advisory Board or NSW BTRC Scientific Review Committee will review tissue requests. Samples will be made available based on the validity of the research project and tissue availability.
Please note, as of the 31 December 2020, the agreement between the NSW Brain Banks will cease. Please contact the NSW BTRC directly with any new enquiries or queries that you may have.
- The NSW BTRC processes formalin-fixed and fresh-frozen brain and spinal cord tissue for research projects. Samples will be made available based on the validity of the research project and tissue availability.
- Complete our online enquiry form if you wish to apply for tissue or require a letter of support for a funding application.
- Our centre has ethics approval from the University of Sydney. Host institution ethics approval is required from research groups when requesting tissue.
- The NSW BTRC operates inline with the Australian brain banks national access policy. A service fee for access is determined for each application and freight charges are the responsibility of the recipient.
- A tissue transfer agreement must be completed following the approval and before the samples are transported.
- The NSW BTRC is supported by the US Government under the National Institutes of Health (R28AA012725).
- In addition to basic demographic data, the NSWBTRC has collated a wide variety of clinical data points available for researchers to utilise, including psychosocial histories, family histories and substance use. Please contact us if you are interested.
- If you have used NSWBTRC tissue in a project, please use the following statement to acknowledge the NSWBTRC “Tissues were received from the New South Wales Brain Tissue Resource Centre at the University of Sydney which is supported by the University of Sydney. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Institute of Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism of the National Institutes of Health under Award Number R28AA012725 The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
- The NSWBTRC can potentially provide some fee-for-service tissue processing (eg. DNA/RNA isolation, IHC). If you are interested, please include this in your enquiry.
Research areas
The tissues provided by the NSW Brain Tissue Resource Centre to the neuroscientific research community have contributed to understanding the framework, composition and functioning of the human brain and the nature of neurological and neurodegenerative diseases.
The NSW Brain Tissue Resource Centre has users of tissue both nationally and internationally. Some of the major research areas that utilise our collections include:
- Professor Adron Harris leads of large research group at the Waggoner Center for Alcohol & Addiction Research at The University of Texas at Austin. They are investigating the molecular actions of drugs of abuse on brain signaling systems and the genetics of alcohol susceptibility. Along with his associates Dayne Mayfield and Igor Ponomarev are applying new genomic tools for profiling alcohol use disorders.
- Professor Fulton Crews, the director of the UNC Bowles Center for Alcohol Studies heads a dynamic group investigating how the impact of chronic drinking induces structural and functional changes associated with binge drinking. Recent studies have suggested that neuroinflammation may contribute to degeneration and loss of neurogenesis during binge drinking. They have also found that heavy alcohol use damages cortical brain regions associated with impulse control and planning capabilities.
- Professor Georgy Bakalkin’s group at the Department of Pharmaceutical Biosciences, Uppsala University are researching the endogenous opioid system (EOS) that has been strongly implicated in the positive and negative reinforcing effects of alcohol.
- Dr Greg Sutherland from The University of Sydney, in collaboration with Professor Jillian Kril, is investigating neurogenesis in the alcoholic brain. Evidence from rodents suggests that chronic alcohol consumption impairs brain neurogenesis, but it is unclear whether this is the case in humans, or indeed whether significant neurogenesis occurs in older adult brains.
- Dr Kelly Newell is based at The University of Wollongong. Her research focuses on the molecular mechanisms underlying psychiatric disorders including schizophrenia and depression as well as identify and investigate the potential of novel therapeutic targets for the treatment of psychiatric disorders. Dr Newell's research aims to understand Dr Newell has a strong interest in the glutamatergic system and its relevance to psychiatric illness and the implication of the metabotropic glutamate system in particular, in both the pathology and treatment of psychiatric illness.
- Professor Kril is a chief investigator in a program of research led by Professor Glenda Halliday on the pathogenesis of frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and motor neurodegenerative syndromes, investigating the associated proteinopathies and clinicopathological correlations. The ultimate goal of this research program is to develop a platform for therapeutic intervention with disease-modifying therapies. This requires an understanding of the pathogenesis of the protein abnormalities to be treated, as well as the ability to clinically identify the patients with the various proteinopathies.
- Ashton, M. K., et al. (2022). Sex differences in GABAA receptor subunit transcript expression are mediated by genotype in subjects with alcohol-related cirrhosis of the liver. Genes Brain Behav., 21(4), e12785. https://doi.org/10.1111/gbb.12785
- Bitar, M., et al. (2022). Identifying gene expression profiles associated with neurogenesis and inflammation in the human subependymal zone from development through aging. Sci. Rep., 12(1), 40. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-03976-4
- Clark, S. L., et al. (2022). Dual methylation and hydroxymethylation study of alcohol use disorder. Addict. Biol., 27(2), e13114. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13114
- Cuzon Carlson, V. C., et al. (2022). Neurobeachin, a promising target for use in the treatment of alcohol use disorder. Addict. Biol., 27(1), e13107. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13107
- Deschaine, S. L., et al. (2022). A closer look at alcohol-induced changes in the ghrelin system: novel insights from preclinical and clinical data. Addict. Biol., 27(1), e13033. https://doi.org/10.1111/adb.13033
- Farokhnia, M., et al. (2022). The glucagon-like peptide-1 system is modulated by acute and chronic alcohol exposure: Findings from human laboratory experiments and a post-mortem brain study. Addict. Biol., 27(5). https://doi.org/ARTN e1321110.1111/adb.13211
- Grima, N., et al. (2022). Simultaneous Isolation of High-Quality RNA and DNA From Postmortem Human Central Nervous System Tissues for Omics Studies. J Neuropathol Exp Neurol, 81(2), 135-145. https://doi.org/10.1093/jnen/nlab129
- Hancock, S. E., et al. (2022). Changes in Phospholipid Composition of the Human Cerebellum and Motor Cortex during Normal Ageing. Nutrients, 14(12). https://doi.org/10.3390/nu14122495
- Lekhraj, R., et al. (2022). Altered abundances of human immunoglobulin M and immunoglobulin G subclasses in Alzheimer's disease frontal cortex. Sci. Rep., 12(1), 6934. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-022-10793-w
- Liu, Y., et al. (2022). RNA m6A Modification Changes in Postmortem Nucleus Accumbens of Subjects with Alcohol Use Disorder: A Pilot Study. Genes (Basel), 13(6). https://doi.org/10.3390/genes13060958
- North, H. F., et al. (2022). Increased immune cell and altered microglia and neurogenesis transcripts in an Australian schizophrenia subgroup with elevated inflammation. Schizophr. Res., 248, 208-218. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.schres.2022.08.025
- Petty, A., et al. (2022). Increased levels of a pro-inflammatory IgG receptor in the midbrain of people with schizophrenia. J. Neuroinflammation, 19(1), 188. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12974-022-02541-8
- Rayner, S. L., et al. (2022). TDP-43 is a ubiquitylation substrate of the SCF(cyclin F) complex. Neurobiol. Dis., 167, 105673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.nbd.2022.105673
- Schrimpf, A., et al. (2022). Hyperammonemia-induced changes in the cerebral transcriptome and proteome. Anal. Biochem., 641, 114548. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ab.2022.114548
- Smith, C. C., et al. (2022). Lipidome changes in alcohol-related brain damage. J. Neurochem., 160(2), 271-282. https://doi.org/10.1111/jnc.15530
- Varodayan, F. P., et al. (2022). The Amygdala Noradrenergic System Is Compromised With Alcohol Use Disorder. Biol. Psychiatry, 91(12), 1008-1018. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2022.02.006
- Whitfield, J. B., et al. (2022). A genetic risk score and diabetes predict development of alcohol-related cirrhosis in drinkers. J. Hepatol., 76(2), 275-282. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhep.2021.10.005
- Zillich, L., et al. (2022). Epigenome-wide association study of alcohol use disorder in five brain regions. Neuropsychopharmacology, 47(4), 832-839. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41386-021-01228-7
- Zillich, L., et al. (2022). Multi-omics signatures of alcohol use disorder in the dorsal and ventral striatum. Transl Psychiatry, 12(1), 190. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41398-022-01959-1