Research

Our institute supports research to enhance mental health, neurological health, vision, hearing, and cognitive functioning and to reduce the burden of related disorders through prevention strategies, screening, diagnosis, treatment, support systems, and palliation. Associated research advances our understanding of human thought, emotion, behaviour, sensation (sight, hearing, touch, taste, smell), perception, learning and memory.

Research areas include but are not limited to:

  • mental health and neurological health promotion policies and strategies

  • addiction prevention policies and strategies

  • health determinants - to elucidate the multi-dimensional factors that affect the health of populations and lead to a differential prevalence of health concerns

  • identification of health advantage and health risk factors related to the interaction of environments (cultural, social, psychological, behavioural, physical, genetic)

  • disease, injury and disability prevention strategies at the individual and population levels

  • head injury prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation

  • addiction, mental health, and dysfunction of the nervous system affecting sensation, cognition, emotion, behaviour, movement, communication, and autonomic function

  • clinical research and health outcomes research into diagnostic technologies and methods; therapies; treatment, care, and rehabilitation models (long and short-term)

  • co-morbidity of conditions and impacts on prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and rehabilitation

  • design and implementation of health services delivery - from prevention, to screening, to diagnosis, to intervention or treatment, to rehabilitation, to palliation

  • development and implementation of health technologies and tools (e.g. imaging, bio-engineering, drug delivery technologies)

  • development, regulation, function and dysfunction of the central, peripheral, and autonomic nervous systems

  • human psychology, cognition and behaviour; sleep and circadian biology; pain

  • ethics issues related to research, care strategies, and access to care (e.g. informed consent; hospitalization; addiction, mental health and the justice system)