Researchers from Deakin University’s Institute for Mental and Physical Health and Translation (IMPACT) have received $5 million in funding through the 2024 National Health and Medical Research Council’s (NHMRC) Synergy Grants scheme, to help lead the discovery of new treatments for schizophrenia.
SYNDICAT – led by Deakin Distinguished Professor Michael Berk and Professor Ken Walder – recognises schizophrenia as one of the most debilitating chronic brain disorders in the world and aims to discover new treatments to reduce the individual, social and economic burden, including a high prevalence of homelessness, suicide, illness and death.
Professor Berk highlights the lack of current effective treatments and says there’s an urgent need to provide people with schizophrenia and their carers hope of improved quality of life and renewed ability to contribute to their families, workplaces, and society.
‘Existing pharmacotherapies are often inadequate, with only a quarter of those with psychosis fully returning to their normal lives.’
‘Development of new chemical entities costs hundreds of millions of dollars and takes 1-2 decades. Millions of lives could be saved and improved with better treatment options,’ he says.
The project aims to identify if existing drugs currently approved to treat other health conditions and disorders, can be safely repurposed for the treatment of schizophrenia.
Professor Ken Walder’s team will use human stem cells to generate patient derived co-cultures of neurons and astrocytes, essentially a brain in a dish.
‘The cells retain the entire genetic material of the donors and are the best available cell system for modelling mental health disorders and drug discovery.’
‘This approach bypasses our lack of understanding of the biology of schizophrenia and will identify candidate drugs for repurposing,’ he says.
Over the next five years, the project aims to generate evidence that will benefit the community and position Australia as a world leader in psychiatric treatment discovery and will foster a new generation of mental health researchers.
SYNDICAT builds on Professor Berk and Walder’s previous leadership and collaborations that resulted in groundbreaking discoveries in neurobiological sciences and new therapies for disorders including major depression and bipolar disorder.
