SPEAKERS
Dr Megan Robertson, Irene Kourtis, Chris Reid
Welcome to Country 00:00
We acknowledge the traditional Aboriginal owners of country throughout Victoria, Australia, and their ongoing connection to this land. We pay our respects to their culture and their Elders past, present and future made in Australia by global Victoria. Are you ready to make global possibilities a reality?
Dr Megan Robertson 00:28
Hello, everyone, and welcome to Global Victoria Healthtech Talks, a show that's about healthtech business and opportunities in Melbourne and across Victoria in Australia. Victoria has a unique and globally competitive healthtech ecosystem. That thriving and open for business in this podcast series will provide insights into the strengths within our ecosystem that are attracting global attention. Want to explore the expertise, engage with experts, identify markets or learn about how you can team up with top Aussie healthtech companies, then you're in the right place. I'm your host, Dr. Megan Robertson. And today on Global Victoria Healthtech Talks were covering the fascinating topic of neuroscience.
Dr Megan Robertson 01:24
I have two wonderful guests today that I'm excited to introduce to you. First up, I will be talking with Dr. Irene Kourtis, Chief Executive Officer at Neuroscience Trials Australia (NTA). My second guest is Professor Chris Reid from The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health based here in Melbourne. My guests today will share their insights and perspectives on the sector and explained the strength and capabilities of Victoria's neuroscience ecosystem. First up today is Dr. Irene Kourtis. Irene is the CEO at Neuroscience Trials Australia. She is a highly regarded leader having built a career within life science and service industries, supporting diagnostics, medical research, genomics, and forensic medicine for improved clinical outcomes. Irene has a track record of establishing world class infrastructure and supporting the translation of R&D into clinical applications. As CEO of Neuroscience Trials Australia, Irene is excellently placed to discuss the neuroscience capabilities of Melbourne and Victoria. Hi, Irene, and thanks for joining me.
Irene Kourtis 02:40
Hi, Megan. Hi, listeners. It's great to be here.
Dr Megan Robertson 02:45
So let's start with the basics so that we're all on the same page could you begin by telling us what is the field of neurosciences?
Irene Kourtis 02:54
Neurosciences encompasses all the sciences that deal with the structure or function of the nervous system and the brain?
Dr Megan Robertson 03:02
So how does that work in Victoria, can you give us an overview of the neuroscience landscape in Victoria?
Irene Kourtis 03:09
To be able to address that question, Megan, I'd like to begin with the clinical trial landscape across Australia and then progress further into the Victorian specifics. Australia is ranked 12th in the world in terms of the number of clinical trials that we conduct, which is fantastic, given that our population is around 25.7 million. Today, this translates to just over 13,000 clinical trials conducted in Australia. While we are ranked 12th in the world for the number of clinical trials, we actually 5th in terms of the number of patients we recruit, once again, that's quite significant for our population and size. Furthermore, neuroscience and the neuroscience space, Australia is ranked number one in the in the number of clinical trials we conduct which is phenomenal. Now to move on to why Victoria is a great place to conduct clinical trials in neuroscience. For us in Victoria there are more than 200 public and private hospitals across Melbourne and regional Victoria. Victoria is well placed to conduct neuroscience clinical trials across the whole state because of our strong research precincts in the neuroscience sector. This includes the Florey Institute, with our special guest Chris, which is the largest brain research institute in the southern hemisphere. It also includes the Royal Melbourne Hospital, the Royal Women's Hospital, the Royal Children's, Peter Mac, Melbourne Uni and St Vincent's Hospital. Victoria is the leader in medical research and innovation across precincts for both Parkville and Monash. In addition, we have add a suburb areas that specialise in offering leading health care and support that cover areas such as Footscray Hospital, Northern Hospital, The Alfred, The Burnett and a number of others. Our regional hospital infrastructure across Victoria is also quite strong, which also supports research. They include the Frankston Hospital, Geelong, Ballarat, and Bendigo.
Dr Megan Robertson 05:17
Thanks, Irene. And I think you highlight a really important point, which is that the sector is extensive across Melbourne, and Victoria, including our regional areas. And it's a very cohesive sector, I'm sure you work with and link into all those areas you've just talked about. So at neuroscience trials Australia, what kind of research are you involved in? What kind of companies do you engage with, and what type of trials go through NTA?
Irene Kourtis 05:45
NTA is the go to CRO for all neurological clinical trials. And we support phase one to phase four activity. Currently, we work with local and global biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, as well as cell therapy and device companies. We also run a number of investigator led studies from a number of medical research institutes and hospitals, and they are a full service CRO offering start to end clinical development activity. Our trials are conducted in all of the neuroscience indications that include epilepsy, stroke, and stroke related conditions, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's and dementia, mental health, Parkinson's, brain injury, movement disorder, pain, sleep, and the list goes on. Across all of our projects, we have the pleasure of collaborating and working with 200 CNS focus sites alone. Furthermore, we are increasingly involved in supporting our client portfolios in other therapeutic areas that are aligned and synergistic with all things neuroscience, and some of those include endocrinology and ophthalmology, including psychological and oncology traces.
Dr Megan Robertson 07:08
Thanks, Irene. Now, Neuroscience Trials Australia, you've mentioned that you work with the health sector and you work with the research institutes. You also have a strong engagement with some of the patient advocacy groups within Victoria, how does that work for you?
Irene Kourtis 07:24
With the 20 year history in supporting neuroscience, we have been able to forge great relationships with leading networks that specialise in all things neurology. They include Dementia Trials Australia, Australasian Stroke Trials Network, MS Research Australia, Movement Disorders Society of Australia, Australasian Epilepsy Clinical Trial Network, and the Australian Neuro Muscular Network to name a few. Our focus is to connect and bring together bright minds across science, medical clinicians, and our clients to lead and forge clinical trial activity in neuroscience.
Dr Megan Robertson 08:09
Thanks, Irene. Can you give us an example about a success story that Neuroscience Trials Australia was involved in, in which a product was perhaps started on its path to market?
Irene Kourtis 08:21
Great question. Thank you, Megan. The first example is a Victorian led neuroscience trial, where NTA supported a world first drug and device combination approach for the treatment of epilepsy. The trial focused on an innovative drug delivery system to the affected area of the brain and offered a novel treatment approach to patients with epilepsy. It was actually conducted at the St. Vincent's Hospital in Melbourne. The trial was massively successful, where it changed the quality of life for many patients with refractory epilepsy, where one would experience more than 15 seizures a day and through this trial, they became seizure free and could lead, and conduct normal day-to-day activity.
Dr Megan Robertson 09:11
Thank you. Now, NTA works with international companies who sponsor and conduct clinical trials in Victoria. And I know NTA has a history of engaging quite extensively globally. Can you tell us about how this works and why Australia, and Victoria in particular, is so attractive for overseas companies to run clinical trials?
Irene Kourtis 09:34
Neuroscience Trials Australia can act as the local Australian sponsor for overseas entities and can be responsible for a range of activities. This includes site contractual arrangements, indemnity and site payments, financial disclosures, sourcing, competitive clinical trial insurances, and involved in safety reporting to the TGA. Australia is the ideal place to conduct research for three very strong reasons. The first, Australia offers the world's most attractive benefits to companies who have less than $20 million turnover, where you are able to almost double your spend on a clinical trial program in Australia and recover up to 43.5 cents for every dollar spent. The second significant reason why Australia is the go to destination for clinical trials is that we offer efficient and fast tracked regulatory environment opportunities. That means clinical trials can start without having an IND, saving up to one year in regulatory timelines and considerable costs to the client. Australia's TGA system also requires only notification of trials and defers responsibility to the HREC (Human Research Ethics Committee) resulting in faster startup times. Australia also has one of the most advanced medical training systems in the world, including many of the world's leading neuroscience specialists, clinicians and networks. Australia's healthcare system is also one of the best in the world with a high regard for quality and its accessibility to all members of our community and population. Now for why is Victoria a great place to conduct clinical trials in neuroscience, there are more than 200 public and private hospitals across Melbourne and regional Victoria. We are also well placed to conduct neuroscience clinical trials as we have a strong precinct of medical research across Parkville and Monash. We have The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, which is the largest brain research institute in the southern hemisphere, and that is flanked by a number of leading hospitals. Our outer suburbs also play a vital role in supporting our population across various areas on four sides of Victoria. Our regional hospital infrastructure is also important as that supports access to patients and hospitals and healthcare in support of well-rounded clinical trials. All of our great activity in Victoria is underpinned by NTAs ability to connect clients with the leading specialist clinicians and sites to ensure great clinical trials service underpinned by quality and strong recruitment outcomes. Additional benefits include a 20 year history with partnerships with leading networks such as Dementia Trials Australia, the Stroke Network, MS Research Australia, movement disorders, Epilepsy Clinical Trials, and Neuromuscular Networks across Australia.
Dr Megan Robertson 12:36
Thanks, Irene. you've highlighted there some really important things about the Australian ecosystem, which is world's best R&D tax benefits, the fact that our regulatory process is actually devolved from the TGA, which is the FDA equivalent, to effectively the local IRBs which in Australia are called human research and ethics committees HRECs. And the third is that we have a very high quality health system. However, once we get to Victoria, that's then bolstered for Neuroscience Trials Australia, by things like world-leading key opinion leaders, fantastic clinical networks, and a really strong research sector across health and medical research. And this is reflected in the National Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC) and other grants, which are distributed across Australia regularly, Victoria gets more than 40% of all national funding. And that reflects the high level of high quality, basic and clinical research that occurs across Victoria. Thanks so much, Irene. We'll chat again later for the panel discussion with Chris.
Irene Kourtis 13:47
Thanks, Megan. It's been a pleasure.
Dr Megan Robertson 13:50
We'll be back in a moment with my next guest from The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health Professor Chris Reid.
Dr Megan Robertson 14:02
Australia's Research and Development Tax Incentive provides up to a massive 43.5% cash refund which is available to both local and international companies.
Dr Megan Robertson 14:20
I now have the pleasure of welcoming Associate Professor Chris Reid, Principal Research Fellow member of Faculty and Head of the Networks and Neuro Development Research team as well as leading his own Epilepsy Research Group at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health, or for short, The Florey. Chris is a translational neuroscientist and leads a multidisciplinary team, that investigates the molecular and cellular causes of epilepsy. He has strong engagement with industry and clinical partners, providing a translational path that includes collaborating with BioCurate and CSL. He also contributes significantly to the global neuroscience community, acting as Director of the Australasian Course in Advanced Neuroscience and sitting on the International League Against Epilepsy and the American Epilepsy Society Genetic Taskforces. Welcome, Chris. It's lovely to have you here.
Chris Reid 15:22
Hi, Megan. Absolutely wonderful to be here.
Dr Megan Robertson 15:24
The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health is the largest brain research group in southern hemisphere, as we've just heard. Could you give us a little background on Florey who was he? And why is the Institute named after him?
Chris Reid 15:38
It's a good question. And not absolutely intuitive considering that we're in our Neuroscience Institute, Howard Florey discovered penicillin, back in the 40s. And I think many of us know that. And before we actually evolved as an idea in the 60s when medical institutes were becoming clearly needed. And I guess the reason that they named it after Howard Florey was because he was such a famous individual, an Australian that had won the Nobel Prize for his discovery of penicillin. The Institute evolved and has done many iterations through the decades, mostly early on, it was physiology more broadly. Fred Mendelsohn actually changed tact to The Florey, probably about 20 years ago now, we're really became much more focused on neuroscience.
Dr Megan Robertson 16:25
Thanks, Chris. So can you give us a little background on The Florey in terms of the particular areas of neuroscience that The Florey now focuses on
Chris Reid 16:34
The Florey has an interest in solving the underlying mechanisms of a number of neurological diseases and ultimately trying to develop treatments for these. They include things like Alzheimer's Disease, Motor Neuron Disease, stroke, Parkinson's Disease, depression, Alzheimer's Addiction, to name but a few. As you have aware, that also have very strong expertise in epilepsy, which has a lot of interest, that I've got the most knowledge about.
Dr Megan Robertson 16:58
So as Head of the Neurophysiology of Excitable Networks Laboratory, great name at The Florey, tell us a little about the research that your own lab does.
Chris Reid 17:09
It is a bit of a mouthful, isn't it? My major interests are in understanding and eventually developing novel therapeutics for epilepsy. I've been very, very fortunate to be part of a world leading team that's investigated the genetics of epilepsy. The team is led by clinical are all clinicians by the names of Sam Berkovic and Ingrid Scheffer. Well recognised in the Australian science world. They were the first to discover an epilepsy gene back in 1995. I joined the team about 20 years ago now, and I've worked closely with another colleague, Professor Steven Petrou. And I'll come back to where that the circle closes later. And over the last 20 years, we've really taken the genetic information that the clinicians have delivered to us and integrated them into mouse models, and other varying models to really get an understanding of what the mechanisms underlying the epilepsy diseases are. And the benefit of that is allows us to design and create precision medicines, medicines that are specific for an individual. This is best exemplified by Ebony's story, Ebony is little girl in South Australia, she has a form of epilepsy, a very, very, very severe form of epilepsy that's based on a mutation in a gene called HCN1. And we, her father actually approached me a little while back and said, we've got this little girl we'd like to see, or be able to help her as much as we can. On the back of that we actually created a mouse with the same variant that she does or mutation that she does. And the mouse does all the things that you would expect to do. One of the nice aspects of the story is the mum's actually seen the mouse and called it the Ebony Mouse. So in the lab, now, it's called Ebony, which, which is, I think, a nice twist. But really, from a more important perspective, we can use this mouse to understand what's wrong, and we've actually started to develop precision based medicines. Now, this is a specific case. But the general paradigm is incredibly powerful. What it's actually allowed for many of these is the successful has actually led to the successful creation of Praxis Precision Medicines, which I know you talk a bit about later. This is a company that was created by Professor Petrou. And it was really started on this concept of precision medicine, using mice models to test these. And that's actually grown considerably over the years. I don't have a direct connection commercially to it, but I have been very involved in the preclinical work associated with it. So what I've described is a perfect example of how clinicians and fundamental sciences work together to push forward new strategies to treat severe epilepsy. And that the scientific ecosystem in Victoria supports and encourages this translational type of neuroscience.
Dr Megan Robertson 19:51
So how is your research been supported and advanced by the local Melbourne ecosystem and your global links?
19:57
Melbourne in general, and the Parkville Precinct in particular, is recognised throughout the world for its high standard of research. I am a fundamental scientist that working closely with teaching hospitals, with significant input from clinicians, keeps our science relevant. The set of framework in which important clinical questions are set and the fundamental preclinical work that's needed can be more easily recognised. The other clear advantage of Melbourne is the concentration of highly regarded institutes and universities. This provides a critical mass that means access to world-class scientific equipment, and expertise to run these. I personally collaborated with Monash, Deakin, WEHI, but it is a common theme among many of The Florey's neuroscientists, collaborating with a variety of local universities and institutes. It's very much acknowledged the excellence of Victorian science globally and what that allows is the attraction of global collaborators. Talking from my own personal research, I work closely with international consortia that are geared to finding genetic causes of epilepsy. And a recent example of that is investigating potential genetic causes of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy and allowed us to tap into an international database. And that created at least some evidence that we might have some genetic biomarkers for what is really a very devastating consequence of epilepsy. So the international database is known as HIPAA 25k (The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act). And it's run through the US but patient samples come from Australia and throughout the world. And again, that's heavily involved has heavy involvement from Sam Berkovic and Ingrid Scheffer as well.
Dr Megan Robertson 21:35
So Chris, thank you, you've again highlighted, as Irene did, the importance of that close collaboration, and the cross-disciplinary if you like, connections, and I think we talk a lot about bench-to-bedside, but we fail to recognise how important it is for the bedside to go back to the bench again. And what we get in Victoria, and particularly in the Melbourne precincts, are the interactions between the academia with university, the specialised research institutes like the one that you belong to The Florey, and the close colocation and interaction with the clinical setting. And that's really a few like the special sauce. It's that close network, and the ecosystem that allows all those bits to interact, really, in a very functional and continuous manner. So we go bench-to-bedside and back to bench. And we can do with an iterative process to ensure that we're really getting the benefit out of our basic scientists and our clinical trial expertise. Now, I understand you're currently developing a new treatment for epilepsy with BioCurate, can you tell us a bit about BioCurate, and your collaboration with them?
Chris Reid 22:52
Certainly, the BioCurate project really has been a fantastic experience and it highlights much of the advantages that the Victorian ecosystem provides. As a fundamental neuroscience have investigated the roles of ion channels in the brain, and have begun to understand how these contribute to the excitability of the brain and potentially how this could lead to seizures. So from these basic building blocks, I've identified a target that I think is important. My research suggests that if we block these ion channels, we can change the excitability of neurons and hopefully reduce seizures in patients where they are refractory to the current therapeutics. But the next step is not easy. What I need and what we're doing is to develop a drug that works on a channel. And to do this I need medicinal chemistry, and most importantly, I need money. That's where BioCurate stepped in. So there's a little bit of background BioCurate is, a venture capitalist that was formed in a collaboration between Monash University, Melbourne University and the State Government. The goal is to translate fundamental ideas like mine, to a therapeutic. They provide money, but not only that they provide the know how on things that I wasn't familiar with. It's a basic scientist, which included the medicinal chemists. And over the last two years, we have developed the chemical library for about 600 compounds that work on the ion channels that I have identified. The process is not easy, and there's been many ups and downs as you would expect, but I feel confident that we've generated an asset that has significantly increased the likelihood of taking my idea to the clinic. As Irene has discussed as we move our compounds into humans, we can tap into local knowledge and begin trials here within Australia. I feel this is a perfect case study for on how neuroscience can be translated in Victoria, and in highlights what a fantastic place it is to do this type of work.
Dr Megan Robertson 24:37
Thank you. So you mentioned BioCurate. BioCurate was established five years ago, as you said as a tripartite agreement between Monash University and Melbourne University. Melbourne is very lucky to host two universities that rank in the top 100 in the world, and the State Government who are very supportive of the health and medical research sector. When they established this, of course, we were lucky enough to attract back, Professor Glenn Begley, who came from being Head of R&D at Amgen. Prior to that, of course, he'd been involved in the first clinical trials of G-CSF, which was discovered at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute (WEHI) back in the 1970s. So he brought a huge wealth of experience, but I think it's that depth of experience, which means that we continue to grow. So we go from the Howard Floreys, the Sir MacFarlane-Burnet, Gustav Nossal, Peter Doherty. And then people like Glenn Begley, who bring their experience back and really enrich and mentor the sector as we go forwards. Of course, the current Head of BioCurate is Dr. Damien Bates, who was involved in the development of a cell therapy company in the San Francisco Bay area. So we have a lot of interacting pieces experience in different ways that support our basic sciences, support our clinicians, and support our Clinical Trials Network. Can you tell us a little bit more of your experience with the crossover between academia and industry, how have you found that?
Chris Reid 26:13
Obviously, my best example is BioCurate, that's the one that I've worked most closely with. And although as I've said it was not without its challenges, it's clearly highlights a path that were fundamental science in Victoria can be translated. The other powerful example is that I have some involvement with Praxis Precision Medicine. Although I have no commercial interests, it's very gratifying to see some of the preclinical work that I have been involved in being translated on quite a large scale. Another example where I've had strong industry engagement is with working with CSL. CSL's clearly a global player and that are based in the Parkville Precinct so again that ability to interact very closely. In this collaboration, I provide my expertise and skills to test the hypothesis that they came up with. This was a dynamic collaboration and highlights how industry engagement can work the other way. In other words, how a company can come to me with an idea and I can use the wealth of experience that I have, and clearly the wealth experiments experience that's evident throughout the Precinct to realise experimental evidence that they needed.
Dr Megan Robertson 27:23
Thank you. And of course, CSL is one of Melbourne's great success stories. Having started off as the Commonwealth Serum Laboratories, it went through an IPO process to become privatised, and really has now become a global force. Which is wonderful to have located both within the Parkville Precinct but also more broadly located within Victoria, and certainly a major contributor in terms of industry into our sector here. Thanks, Chris. That's been a great insight.
Chris Reid 27:52
That was a pleasure. Thanks, Megan.
Dr Megan Robertson 28:00
Catch us on Twitter, at Global underscore Vic.
Dr Megan Robertson 28:07
We've heard some really interesting perspectives today and learned a lot about the neuroscience ecosystem of Victoria. Now, we'll finish up with a short panel segment with both of today's guests. So welcome back, Irene and Chris.
Irene Kourtis 28:22
Hi, and thank you, Megan.
Chris Reid 28:25
Thanks, Megan.
Dr Megan Robertson 28:26
What do you think makes Victoria such a collaborative environment to conduct neuroscience research, both preclinical and clinical trials? And do you have any examples you'd like to share with us? We've heard about Ebony, we've heard about some clinical trials. What about emerging technologies and therapeutic options in neuroscience?
Irene Kourtis 28:46
Another great example of a world-first clinical trial in neuroscience is a trial that NTA helped deliver, which was the use of new stem cell therapies for the treatment of Parkinson's Disease. It was actually a phase one study performed at the Royal Melbourne Hospital. And that trial involved technology that was never reviewed or approved elsewhere in the world. And what that required Megan was a couple of special things. It includes a development of a regulatory document portfolio to support our client. It also involves negotiating the regulatory approval process via the Clinical Trial Application Scheme. And NTA really played a pivotal role in the oversight and the support of that, which included ethics and sites, regulatory, device manufacturing collaborations, access to suitable capabilities to lead this world-first, stem cell therapy, and also to deliver the project on time and under budget with protocols and supporting documents. Although the underlying cause of Parkinson's is unknown, it is knowing which cells and areas of the brain are involved. Because a single, well-defined, type of cell is affected. Through this trial it was possible to treat Parkinson's by replacing lost neurons with healthy new cells. The study examined whether the investigational product, being human derived neural stem cells, were safe and did not cause serious adverse events. Another aim was to determine whether the cells were able to improve some of the symptoms of the disease without troublesome graft induced dyskinesias or tumors.
Dr Megan Robertson 30:23
Thanks, Irene. We've really spoken about innovative therapies and early phase clinical trials, which is a particular area of expertise in Australia, and also particularly strong in Neuroscience Trials Australia. Now that expertise is also important, Chris, from your perspective, does it help you as a basic scientist, give you a path to implementation or clinical translation of your discoveries?
Chris Reid 30:51
Absolutely. I think there's a couple of answers to that question. The first, which I've alluded to, is that very strong interactions with the clinical counterparts that allow us to frame the question and frame the way that we're going to approach the preclinical models to make it easier to translate into humans. The second aspect, I guess really is the knowledge that that that there is the ability to do that here in Victoria, so that we can go down the corridor literally, and knock on the door and say, Well, we have an opportunity for first-in-man with a compounds that we've got a little way off from that, but at least there is a clear pathway for that to be achieved here in Victoria.
Dr Megan Robertson 31:32
So you've got the pathway that is both the basic science pathway, the clinical interlink, and then you've got BioCurate assisting you with all their commercialisation industry linkages. And the other, I suppose skill set that us as clinicians and clinical triallists and perhaps research scientist don't necessarily have.
Chris Reid 31:51
Absolutely, I mean, I think one of the big, big positives of the BioCurate collaboration has just been that, that ability to talk a language that I don't have, and will probably never have. But you know, it's lovely to take your idea and see it transform into something real. And clearly, those skill sets are necessary for that to occur.
Dr Megan Robertson 32:12
So we're describing the ecosystem here in Melbourne, and Victoria, really is a team effort.
Irene Kourtis 32:17
Absolutely, Megan.
Dr Megan Robertson 32:19
And it's great to get collaborators into that team effort, be they local, national, or global. And I think actually, that brings up Australia, and in particular, Melbourne's benefits. We're a very friendly place, we're a great place to visit, you might feel like we're on the other side of the world, but we're actually very close. And that's proven by the effective collaborations that you've had, in particular, Chris, and also by your international companies coming down here. What exciting research is currently underway in neuroscience and Victoria, what's cutting edge?
Irene Kourtis 32:48
Great question. 75% of activity in Neuroscience Trials Australia is across neuroscience and some of the exciting and groundbreaking research that we're currently doing alongside traditional pharmaceutical product trials are looking at new diagnostics for diagnosing Alzheimer's and schizophrenia. We are also supporting many successful phase one trials into clinics, which is a great success story for our clients that come to Victoria. As they can progress, their innovation to achieve real life outcomes for our patients and the communities.
Dr Megan Robertson 33:22
Thank you. And, Chris, we've heard about your really exciting work in the genetics of epilepsy. What other areas are cutting edge across The Florey at the moment?
Chris Reid 33:32
I mean, there's a number, and I wouldn't say I was an expert in any of them, but stem cell therapies are definitely growing. And there's two aspects to that the one that you've already described in terms of as a therapy itself, but also as model systems that are more closely linked to the human condition and some of the animal models that we historically have used. So that's been a big plus, moving forward. A lot of the therapies, precision based therapies now and this is not just in epilepsy, but across the board have a genetic underpinning. So the use of antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) is an example that Steve Petrou, for example, has, has used to be, has successfully used at least in animal models to treat severe epilepsy, that basic paradigm is getting played out now, probably across the world. You know, the ability to know the gene to know the thing that's broken and to be able to fix that isn't particularly powerful. So those are probably the two things that I feel are the most cutting edge that we've that we're doing at the present time.
Dr Megan Robertson 34:36
And that actually represents a major change in the clinical paradigm. Because traditionally, we've looked at the brain as not being able to be healed, and not being able to be fixed, if you like, once there is a problem. But with this precision medicine, we get so much more opportunity to actually intervene and to cure things that previously were incurable, and were really just seen as management issues rather than looking at a better outcome.
Chris Reid 35:06
Absolutely.
Dr Megan Robertson 35:07
So as a final question, if you could share one thing in the world about Victoria, and Melbourne, and neuroscience, what would it be? Irene, over to you first?
Irene Kourtis 35:18
Thank you, Megan. That's a great question. The impact of neurological disease globally is growing. Some of our listeners may be surprised to learn that dementia, for example, is the second leading cause of death in Australia, and the leading cause of death in women. Supporting innovation and research to find cures, and treatment where possible is critical and Victoria is well primed to lead all clinical trials and be the destination of choice.
Dr Megan Robertson 35:46
Thanks, Irene. Over to you, Chris.
Chris Reid 35:49
I think to me, the clearest drinks that Victoria offers is critical mass. The Victorian neuroscience ecosystem provides amazing fundamental science, amazing expertise in equipment and the use of that equipment. From a translatability perspective, we have mechanisms that allow the discovery of therapeutics and the ability to take those into the clinic through early phase trials. So I guess what I'm saying is that we have everything we need to develop treatments for some of the most debilitating neurological conditions right here in Victoria.
Dr Megan Robertson 36:22
Thank you, Chris and Irene for your time today, we've had an excellent discussion. You've really given us an insight into the depth of neuroscience research and capability in Victoria, and particularly in the precincts in Melbourne, going from basic research with specialised areas, specialised institutions, and also through to clinical trials. And we've talked about that bench-to-bedside and back to the bench. We've touched on research that covers drug discovery, with medicinal chemists, devices with clinical trials to deliver epilepsy drugs, digital and diagnostics. And here in Victoria, in neurosciences, you can do it all. So thank you, and thank you to you, our listeners.
Dr Megan Robertson 37:11
I hope you've enjoyed what you've heard today. And if you're keen on more information, then check out the links and information in our show notes. And remember, Victoria is a great destination for all things Healthtech, were open for business, and we're only an email or phone call away. I'm Dr. Megan Robertson. Join me for the next episode of Global Victoria Healthtech Talks.