The Howard Florey Institute, previously known as the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiologyand applied research into treatments to combat brain

Brain

The brain is the center of the nervous system in all vertebrate and most invertebrate animals—only a few primitive invertebrates such as sponges, jellyfish, sea squirts and starfishes do not have one. It is located in the head, usually close to primary sensory apparatus such as vision, hearing,...

 and mind

Mind

The concept of mind is understood in many different ways by many different traditions, ranging from panpsychism and animism to traditional and organized religious views, as well as secular and materialist philosophies. Most agree that minds are constituted by conscious experience and intelligent...

 disorders and the cardiovascular system. The institute is based at the University of Melbourne

University of Melbourne

The University of Melbourne is a public university located in Melbourne, Victoria. Founded in 1853, it is the second oldest university in Australia and the oldest in Victoria...

 and in 2007 employed 300 staff and students, including many scientists and postgraduate students from overseas.

Areas being researched by scientists include: Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disorder of the central nervous system...

, stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

, motor neuron disease, traumatic brain and spinal cord injury

Spinal cord injury

A spinal cord injury refers to any injury to the spinal cord that is caused by trauma instead of disease. Depending on where the spinal cord and nerve roots are damaged, the symptoms can vary widely, from pain to paralysis to incontinence...

, addiction

Substance dependence

The section about substance dependence in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders does not use the word addiction at all. It explains:...

, epilepsy

Epilepsy

Epilepsy is a common chronic neurological disorder characterized by seizures. These seizures are transient signs and/or symptoms of abnormal, excessive or hypersynchronous neuronal activity in the brain.About 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy, and nearly two out of every three new cases...

, multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis

Multiple sclerosis is an inflammatory disease in which the fatty myelin sheaths around the axons of the brain and spinal cord are damaged, leading to demyelination and scarring as well as a broad spectrum of signs and symptoms...

, brain development in premature babies, Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease

Huntington's disease, chorea, or disorder , is a neurodegenerative genetic disorder that affects muscle coordination and leads to cognitive decline and dementia. It typically becomes noticeable in middle age. HD is the most common genetic cause of abnormal involuntary writhing movements called chorea...

, depression, schizophrenia

Schizophrenia

Schizophrenia is a mental disorder characterized by a disintegration of thought processes and of emotional responsiveness. It most commonly manifests itself as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions, or disorganized speech and thinking, and it is accompanied by significant social...

, brain function in health and disease, heart failure, and dementia

Dementia

Dementia is a serious loss of cognitive ability in a previously unimpaired person, beyond what might be expected from normal aging...

.

History

The origins of the institute are based on the 1947 ground breaking work of the founder, Dr Derek Denton, and the investigation of the team of scientists, Prof R D Wright,Prof J P Coghlan and Prof Marelyn Wintour-Coghlan into the control of salt and water balance in health and disease.
The Institute was formally established in 1971 by the Victorian State Government and named after Howard Florey, the Australian Nobel prize

Nobel Prize

The Nobel Prizes are annual international awards bestowed by Scandinavian committees in recognition of cultural and scientific advances. The will of the Swedish chemist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite, established the prizes in 1895...

 winning scientist who isolated the active principle that is penicillin and developed the first manufacturing process for penicillin

Penicillin

Penicillin is a group of antibiotics derived from Penicillium fungi. They include penicillin G, procaine penicillin, benzathine penicillin, and penicillin V....

. The Institute became a global leader in the scientific areas of: physiological control of body fluid and electrolyte balance, especially the regulation of the adrenal salt-retaining hormone, aldosterone

Aldosterone

Aldosterone is a hormone that increases the reabsorption of sodium ions and water and the release of potassium in the collecting ducts and distal convoluted tubule of the kidneys' functional unit, the nephron. This increases blood volume and, therefore, increases blood pressure. Drugs that...

;micro measurement of hormones; hybridization histochemistry; instincts that control ingestion

Ingestion

Ingestion is the consumption of a substance by an organism. In animals, it normally is accomplished by taking in the substance through the mouth into the gastrointestinal tract, such as through eating or drinking...

; and the Relaxin

Relaxin

Relaxin is a protein hormone first described in 1926 by Frederick Hisaw.The relaxin-like peptide family belongs in the insulin superfamily and consists of 7 peptides of high structural but low sequence similarity; relaxin-1 , 2 and 3 , and the insulin-like peptides, INSL3, INSL4, INSL5 and INSL6...

 hormone

Hormone

A hormone is a chemical released by a cell or a gland in one part of the body that sends out messages that affect cells in other parts of the organism. Only a small amount of hormone is required to alter cell metabolism. In essence, it is a chemical messenger that transports a signal from one...

.

A neuroscience knowledge explosion occurred during the 1990s. In 1997 the Board made the strategic decision to change the Institute’s focus to brain disorders. Since 1997, eminent neuroscientist, Professor Frederick Mendelsohn AO, has steered the Florey to become one of Australia’s premiere brain research institutes.

Plans

On 1 July 2007, the legislation that created the Howard Florey Institute of Experimental Physiology and Medicine was repealed, paving the way for the Florey to amalgamate with the Brain Research Institute and the National Stroke Research Institute to become collectively known as the Florey Neuroscience Institutes (FNI).

As part of the amalgamation process, two new research facilities will be constructed to house the FNI, the Mental Health Research Institute and researchers from the University of Melbourne. This will result in a group of researchers from different disciplines working on the brain. A hands on research approach hopes to ensure the millions of Australians affected directly and indirectly by brain disorders can benefit from the research undertaken at the FNI.