Hostname: page-component-7b7567c8c-wxvwp Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-14T22:29:45.246Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

NISAD's ‘Gift of Hope’ Brain Donor Program: a postmortem brain donor program for people with schizophrenia and allied disorders and those without mental illness

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 June 2014

Y Lim,
T Garrick,
V Carr and
C Harper
Y Lim
Affiliation:
Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (NISAD)
T Garrick
Affiliation:
Discipline of Pathology, The University of Sydney, Australia
V Carr
Affiliation:
Neuroscience Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (NISAD)Centre for Mental Health Studies, University of Newcastle, Newcastle, Australia
C Harper
Affiliation:
Discipline of Pathology, The University of Sydney, Australia
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

An abstract is not available for this content. As you have access to this content, full HTML content is provided on this page. A PDF of this content is also available in through the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

Information

Type
Abstracts from ‘Brainwaves’— The Australasian Society for Psychiatric Research Annual Meeting 2006, 6–8 December, Sydney, Australia
Information
Acta Neuropsychiatrica , Volume 18 , Issue 6 , December 2006, pp. 297
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 Blackwell Munksgaard

Background:

Research using human brain tissue has a vital role to play in increasing our understanding of the neurobiology of schizophrenia and related disorders. Such research has been limited by an inability to meet demands for well-characterized tissue from clinical populations. To help address this issue, 1Neuro-science Institute of Schizophrenia and Allied Disorders (NISAD) established the ‘Gift of Hope’ Brain Donor Program (GoH). The program invites people to consent to donating their brain postmortem for medical research into neuropsychiatric disorders. At the time of death, NISAD staff coordinate and facilitate the donation. Australian and international research groups may then apply for access to use these stored tissues for research.

Methods:

As donation for research purposes is a separate and specific consent from organ donation for transplantation, donors give consent to noncoronial autopsy and donation. A clinical interview using the Diagnostic Interview for Psychosis is conducted, lifestyle and medical information is collected and neuro-psychological assessments are performed. Assessments are repeated at regular intervals to document changes in brain function. To ensure high-quality tissue for biomedical research, rapid notification protocols are in place to minimize postmortem delay. Projects are evaluated by a scientific advisory committee prior to allocation of tissues to researchers.

Results:

The program has registered 378 expressions of interest and completed 143 enrollments, including 33 donors with schizophrenia. Since 1998, three donations have been successfully facilitated and incorporated into the NSW Tissue Resource Centre.

Conclusions:

The GoH has received strong community support and will be critical to future schizophrenia research.