On June 20, UHN established the Krembil Brain Institute to formally create an academic health sciences entity that harmonizes the institution's clinical and research priorities in the neurosciences.
The new Institute will help clinicians and researchers at Toronto Western Hospital and across UHN work together to seek better treatments and cures for diseases of the brain, spine and nerves.
Dr. Gelareh Zadeh, neurosurgeon, Scientist and Program Medical Director, Krembil Neuroscience Centre at UHN, and Dr. Donald Weaver, dementia neurologist, medicinal chemist and Director of the Krembil Research Institute, will act as co-directors of the Krembil Brain Institute.
"Aligning the clinical and research priorities at Krembil is crucial to making a bigger impact in our field and the community we serve, and for improving outcomes and wellness of the aging brain," said Dr. Zadeh.
"It is important that we devise strategies that accelerate and focus our research discoveries, education and training towards improving clinical outcomes and standards of care in order to advance early detection, prevention and treatment of brain conditions," she said.
The Krembil Neuroscience Centre and the Krembil Research Institute will remain as operational entities within UHN alongside the Krembil Brain Institute; however, UHN will move towards the use of a single Krembil Brain Institute brand for neuroscience activities.
It is estimated that one in three Canadians will be affected by a brain disease, disorder or injury in their lifetime and that 3.6 million Canadians are currently affected by a neurological condition.
"In this coming century, the diagnosis and treatment of brain diseases will emerge as one of the pre-eminent pursuits of modern medicine," said Dr. Weaver.
The Krembil Brain Institute will give UHN a competitive advantage over other organizations by establishing a single identity and offering integrated, multidisciplinary, comprehensive neuroscience health care that is second to none in Canada and among the best in the world.
The new Institute is also expected to help UHN recruit leaders in the neuroscience field, attract high-quality students and build on pre-existing partnerships with the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute, The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and other organizations provincially, nationally and internationally.
"We have the expertise, the people power and the ambition to take neurosciences to the next phase, which is to understand where we can make the biggest impact on outcomes," said Dr. Zadeh.
"Establishing the Krembil Brain Institute allows us to position ourselves to be the predominant leader in brain medicine now and in the years to come," added Dr. Weaver.
This is an adaptation of a story originally published by UHN News on www.uhn.ca.
The Krembil Brain Institute will be led by co-directors Drs. Gelareh Zadeh and Donald Weaver (Photo: UHN).