Neuroscience and Pain

At the Kolling, we have world-leading expertise driving innovative research to better understand disorders that effect the brain, muscles and nerves.

Neurodegenerative disorders, mental health disorders and pain management represent some of the greatest health challenges today.

Our neuroscience research focuses on the diseases, disorders and injuries of the nervous system such as Parkinson’s, mitochondrial diseases, mental health disorders, spinal cord injury, brain cancer and pain.

Our pain management team is recognised as national leaders in pain research, effectively translating biomedical research into improved clinical care and education programs. An estimated one in five Australians suffer from chronic pain, locking many patients in to a cycle of medication, depression and bed rest, and costing the economy billions of dollars a year. We bring together a multidisciplinary group of clinicians, researchers and educators to improve our understanding of all forms of pain and their treatments, from acute to chronic pain and cancer pain management.

Areas of strength

Ageing and Pharmacology

Ageing & Pharmacology

Researchers within the Laboratory of Ageing and Pharmacology are working to improve healthy ageing in older people. Our focus is on prevention and better management of the geriatric syndromes, including frailty, falls and confusion.

We are part of the Penney Ageing Research Unit and our research aims to improve the safety and effectiveness of medicines for older adults. We use laboratory, clinical and population based studies to understand the risks and benefits of medicines in older people, particularly with those with multiple chronic medical conditions. Our research aims to inform drug choices, doses and formulations of medicines for older people. This will help older people benefit from medicines and minimise adverse effects.

We have developed a pharmacological risk assessment tool, the Drug Burden Index, to assess the impact of an older person’s medicines on their physical function. We have demonstrated that higher Drug Burden Index is linked to loss of independence, more falls, frailty, longer stays in hospital and a greater mortality.

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Brain Cancer

Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory

The Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory is the research arm of the Medical Oncology Department at Royal North Shore Hospital.

We focus on increasing our understanding of cancer biology and how cancer will behave. We are also working to identify better ways to diagnose cancer.

Through our research we are improving cancer treatment and offering better outcomes for those with the disease.

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Cancer Surgery

Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory

The Bill Walsh Translational Cancer Research Laboratory is the research arm of the Medical Oncology Department at Royal North Shore Hospital.

We focus on increasing our understanding of cancer biology and how cancer will behave. We are also working to identify better ways to diagnose cancer.

Through our research we are improving cancer treatment and offering better outcomes for those with the disease.

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Dementia

Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre

Our research at the Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre focuses on developing and communicating evidence-based research for best practice dementia care in the clinical and community settings.

We are a team with expertise across a range of disciplines, all working to improve the lives of people with dementia. We focus on priority areas in dementia care so that our research findings can lead to improved practices.

By bringing together people with dementia, their carers, researchers, clinicians, health care organisations and industry partners, we are well placed to translate our research into practice.

Our team addresses areas of national interest and examines these from the perspective of those receiving, delivering, managing and governing services.

The Cognitive Decline Partnership Centre was named the first National Health and Medical Research Council Partnership Centre for Better Health and continues to work with the NHMRC, the Department of Health, Dementia Australia and three innovative industry partners, HammondCare, Helping Hand Aged Care and Brightwater Care Group.

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Dermatology

At the Royal North Shore Hospital Department of Dermatology Clinical and Translational Medicine Laboratory, we focus on three key areas including clinical trials, clinical projects and translational studies.

It can take more than 30 years from the discovery of a new medicine in the laboratory to the approved use of that compound with a patient in a clinic. It can then be another decade before that medicine is widely adopted by the medical community.

Our research team accelerates this entire process in three important ways. Firstly, by being actively involved in clinical trials, we can offer our patients immediate access to the latest and most advanced medicines.

Secondly, we conduct clinical studies to improve our understanding of the use of existing and new medicines, alongside projects to improve the early diagnosis and recognition of diseases.

And lastly, we perform laboratory experiments, with a focus on clinical observation and human tissues to better understand the causes of these conditions.

Ultimately, this means we are able to contribute to the discovery of new and targeted therapies for all dermatological conditions.

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Neuromuscular Imaging

Allied Health

Research within the Kolling Institute focuses on the role of allied health professionals in patient care, from assessment and diagnosis to the management of patients.

Across the Northern Sydney Local Health District, there are more than 1,300 allied health professionals, representing 11 per cent of the workforce. These teams not only provide vital support in hospitals and specialist clinics, but in community settings as well.

The Northern Sydney Local Health District Allied Health Research team undertakes activities which encourage the participation of allied health clinicians in research activities. We are working collaboratively to build a culture of research which will ultimately inform best-practice care for patients.

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Neuroscience

Our group investigates the way neurogenetic disorders develop.

We focus on Mitochondrial diseases and movement disorders. We also provide diagnostic support for our large clinic for patients with mitochondrial diseases and movement disorders.

Our focus is to develop accurate methods of diagnosis and advance understanding of how genetic mutations cause neurological disease. Ultimately, we aim to translate the results of our research into improved clinical care for our patients with neurological disorders.

Defining an individual’s disease-causing mutations provides clinicians and patients with information for appropriate treatment and genetic counselling. We use next-generation sequencing methods to discover and identify new gene mutations in individuals who may have unusual disease symptoms.

Our specific goal is to identify key molecular pathways involved in the development of neurological diseases, with a particular focus on mitochondrial function. To understand an individual’s genetic mutation, we use various methods including molecular biological techniques, mitochondrial function assays, biomarker measurement and patient derived stem cells to create in vitro models of neurological disease.

Our clinical studies are aimed at determining the history of mitochondrial diseases, identifying factors that can predict disease progression and severity, and developing tools to monitor disease progression to enhance the performance of clinical trials.

Funding sources include the Mito Foundation, the National Health and Medical Research Council, HSP Research Foundation, Parkinson’s NSW, the Hughie Foundation and the Rebecca Cooper Medical Research Foundation.

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Osteoarthritis

Osteoarthritis Research

The Osteoarthritis Research Team is a large and highly collaborative team which focuses on all aspects of clinical and translational research in osteoarthritis.

We work closely with multidisciplinary teams, including the Back Pain Research Team and are committed to designing and testing innovative, accessible, technology-based interventions that could accelerate recovery and decrease the burden of musculoskeletal pain globally.

Our research focuses on numerous aspects of osteoarthritis including the epidemiology of osteoarthritis, imaging in osteoarthritis, clinical trials, novel therapies in disease management and health services research for chronic disease management.

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Pain

At the Pain Management Research Institute, our vision is to be a global leader in comprehensive pain management solutions. We strive to achieve this by undertaking cutting-edge research and delivering education and training to clinicians caring for people with chronic pain.

Since our inception in 1991, we have focused on patient advocacy and integrating our research and training with clinical services. Through this process, the latest research can inform future care.

The Pain Management Research Institute is part of the University of Sydney’s Faculty of Medicine and Health. It has academic and lab space within the Kolling Institute building, as well as facilities in the Douglas building at Royal North Shore Hospital.

From here, our clinical research is undertaken alongside the nationally and internationally-recognised pain education program. Patients with acute pain, cancer pain and chronic non-cancer pain receive treatment in collaboration with the Michael J Cousins’ Pain Management & Research Centre.

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Physiotherapy

Allied Health

Research within the Kolling Institute focuses on the role of allied health professionals in patient care, from assessment and diagnosis to the management of patients.

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Psychiatry

Research in psychiatry is integrated into clinical practice, and involves a number of academic and clinical psychiatry groups. It spans mood disorders, consultation liaison psychiatry and drug and alcohol services. A good example of this integration is the CADE Clinic, which is embedded within the Department of Academic Psychiatry. The clinic is a state-wide specialist service that is based at Royal North Shore Hospital. As part of the Northern Sydney Local Health District, the University of Sydney and Kolling Institute, the clinic acts as a hub for clinical research and education.

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Rehabilitation and spinal cord injury

Rehabilitation

The John Walsh Centre for Rehabilitation Research focuses on research and education in rehabilitation and injury-related disability.

Our centre is part of the University of Sydney and the Kolling Institute, and our team has broad experience across a range of disciplines.

Our primary goals are to:

Generate new knowledge to improve health outcomes for people with injury related disability
Promote links with the research community, partner organisations, patient advocacy groups and non-government organisations, to support the effective transfer of research outcomes into health policy
Improve clinical care for people with injury-related disability and translate research outcomes into clinical practice.

The centre, which was formerly the Rehabilitation Studies Unit, receives major financial support from the NSW State Insurance Regulatory Authority and NSW icare Lifetime Care.

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Rheumatoid Arthritis

Sutton Arthritis Research Laboratory

The Sutton Arthritis Research Laboratory focuses on solving health issues related to inflammatory arthritis, particularly rheumatoid arthritis. Our ultimate aim is to find a cure.

We also investigate other inflammatory forms of arthritis, including psoriatic arthritis, as well as inflammatory skin conditions.

Our research is both laboratory-based basic science and patient focused. This combination allows our research findings to be directly incorporated into clinical practice.

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