Enhancing translational research is one of the key objectives of Bristol Neuroscience, which has worked alongside the Institute for Advanced Studies to establish this unique funding scheme to enable BN neuroscientists to spend time with doctors and patients in the clinic. Here they can observe medical practice, establish contacts, and make informed future plans for their research – a crucial but often insurmountable first step towards translational clinical neuroscience.
The prize winners – Professor Richard Apps and Dr Emma Robinson (both based in the School of Physiology and Pharmacology), and Dr Ute Leonards and Professor Marcus Munafo (both in the School of Experimental Psychology) – will use their fellowships to tackle childhood brain cancer, aggressive behaviour, psychiatric disorders and brain injury (see below for more details).
The fellowships are being funded by a legacy of £30,000 donated by the late Cassie Squance through the University Centenary Campaign.
BN Director, Professor Richard Apps, said: ‘TNRFs have great potential for making a real-life impact. We hope that the scheme will continue for many years to come, and facilitate more vital interaction between hospital bedside and laboratory bench.’
2011/12 TNRFs: projects awarded
Professor Richard Apps and Mr Richard Edwards
Cerebellar tumours are the second most common cancer in children. Richard Apps, an expert in cerebellar physiology, is using the TNRF to spend time with Richard Edwards and other paediatric neurosurgeons in the Institute for Clinical Neurosciences at Frenchay Hospital.
Professor Marcus Munafo and Dr Julian Walker
Marcus Munafo has established how someone’s perception of another’s emotional state can be altered through training. He is working with forensic clinical psychologists at the Fromeside Medium Secure Unit to assess whether such training is applicable to aggressive behaviour in a psychopathological context.
Dr Emma Robinson and colleagues in Psychiatry and Experimental Psychology
By observing patients in a clinical setting, Emma Robinson is looking to see how her research into memory translates into real life. She has found emotions change the way that experiences are remembered and will use the TNRF to investigate how this relates to the treatment of clinical depression.
Dr Ute Leonards and colleagues at Frenchay Hospital and the Bristol Royal Infirmary
Cognitive, attention-related disorders are highly common in children who have suffered head injury, for example from a road accident, and often last for years after the incident has taken place. Ute Leonards is seeing the effects first hand by spending time with clinical specialists as they care for patients suffering from traumatic brain injury.