A discovery made 25 years ago about how the brain controls blood pressure regulation is only now being explored with the help of scientists from the Howard Florey Institute.
Eminent German scientist, Prof Wilfrid Jänig, is in Melbourne this month to collaborate with Florey scientists, Dr Robin McAllen and Dr Bradford Bratton, on his research involving a pathway in the brain that controls blood pressure and may worsen cardiovascular disease.
When Prof Jänig first discovered this new concept of looking at blood pressure regulation, other scientists could not get their head around his idea.
“It had nothing to do with the technology available at the time as it would have been possible to develop the technology for this research,” Prof Jänig said.
Dr McAllen, who has previously worked with Prof Jänig on other brain research, further explains why it took 25 years for the idea to evolve and be explored.
“Prof Jänig was 25 years ahead of his time. It is not uncommon for scientists to detect something in their research that the scientific community is not ready to accept,” Dr McAllen said.
Prof Jänig’s collaboration with the Florey may have important consequences as sympathetic nerves are known to be overactive in cardiovascular diseases such as hypertension and heart failure, and this worsens the disease. Their research is trying to find a way to block this overactivity without blocking normal activity.
Prof Jänig, a world leader in the study of the central nervous system, is from the Christian-Abrechts-University in Kiel and is the recipient of the 2007 Allan and Maria Myers Travel Fellowship at the Howard Florey Institute.
The Allan and Maria Myers Fellowship was created in 2005 after a generous $1 million donation by the philanthropic Melbourne couple to foster international science collaborations. This is the second Fellowship awarded since its conception.
Prof Jänig, whose medical career spans 40 years, has been awarded many honours including the Max Planck Prize in 1993 together with the renowned Australian scientist Prof Elspeth McLachlan.
His book, The Integrative action of the autonomic nervous system: neurobiology of homeostasis was published in 2006 and he has also contributed important research on neuropathic pain.
The Howard Florey Institute is Australia’s largest brain research centre. We continue to grow as we embark on a bold journey that will see us join forces with the Brain Research Institute, National Stroke Research Institute to form the Florey Neuroscience Institutes. Our united effort will result in a critical mass of skilled researchers from different disciplines focused exclusively on the brain. This will accelerate discoveries to benefit those affected directly and indirectly by brain disorders. The Florey’s research areas cover a range of brain and mind disorders including Parkinson’s disease, stroke, motor neuron disease, addiction, epilepsy, multiple sclerosis, and dementia.